General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Treaty yes, Versailles no
Posted by:
SuperKraut
()
Date: May 03, 2001 09:50AM
<HTML>According to Versailles, Germany was allowed NO U-boats of any size. Hitler did have some respect for the British view on U-boats, so he waited rather a long time before tearing up the U-boat restriction. The early Type II were designed in secret and kits were also built in secret starting in 1934. By August 1934, there were 6 Type II kits ready for assembly, but Hitler postponed assembly to 1935 for political reasons. Crew training was started in secret in October 1933 in an ASW school (UAS) in Kiel. The assembly of the first 6 Type II A (U 1 - 6) started on Feb. 8, 1935 at DWK. Assembly for the second set of 6 II B (U 7 - 12) was started in March at GW. The first Type VII A, U 33, was commissioned in July 1936, the biggest U-boat year until 1940 with 21 commissioned boats (vs. 26 in 1940).
On June 18, 1935 Hitler signed the German-British Naval treaty which allowed Germany a total naval tonnage of 35% of British tonnage and an equal tonnage in submarines, however, Germany initially limited itself to 45% of the submarine tonnage. There were no restrictions on U-boat size, but the initial tonnage limit was 23,700 standard tonnes (Type II = 250 standard tonnes, Type VII = 500 standard tonnes, Type IX = 740 standard tonnes). To everyone\'s surprise, U 1 was commissioned later that month and U 2 - 12 followed by end September 1935. The U-boat tonnage limit increased to 31,500 standard tonnes in 1937 and was renegotiated to 70,000 standard tonnes in late 1938.
There was never a size limit per boat, but the rather small total tonnage limit favored compact design. The tonnage limit per boat was a NATO limit imposed in 1955 when W. Germany rearmed. That limit was gradually raised and finally eliminated in 1980.
Regards,
SuperKraut
</HTML>
On June 18, 1935 Hitler signed the German-British Naval treaty which allowed Germany a total naval tonnage of 35% of British tonnage and an equal tonnage in submarines, however, Germany initially limited itself to 45% of the submarine tonnage. There were no restrictions on U-boat size, but the initial tonnage limit was 23,700 standard tonnes (Type II = 250 standard tonnes, Type VII = 500 standard tonnes, Type IX = 740 standard tonnes). To everyone\'s surprise, U 1 was commissioned later that month and U 2 - 12 followed by end September 1935. The U-boat tonnage limit increased to 31,500 standard tonnes in 1937 and was renegotiated to 70,000 standard tonnes in late 1938.
There was never a size limit per boat, but the rather small total tonnage limit favored compact design. The tonnage limit per boat was a NATO limit imposed in 1955 when W. Germany rearmed. That limit was gradually raised and finally eliminated in 1980.
Regards,
SuperKraut
</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Why were the U-boats so small?
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Frank Blazich | 05/02/2001 02:43AM |
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RE: Why were the U-boats so small?
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Visje | 05/02/2001 09:09AM |
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RE: Why were the U-boats so small?
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AL Wellman | 05/03/2001 02:21AM |
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RE: Why were the U-boats so small?
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Frank Blazich | 05/03/2001 02:34AM |
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RE: Why were the U-boats so small?
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AL Wellman | 05/03/2001 05:37PM |
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RE: Why were the U-boats so small?
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Joe Brennan | 05/03/2001 06:09AM |
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Treaty yes, Versailles no
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SuperKraut | 05/03/2001 09:50AM |
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RE: Treaty yes, Versailles no
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Joe Brennan | 05/04/2001 02:31AM |
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RE: Why were the U-boats so small?
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kurt | 05/03/2001 08:20PM |
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RE: Why were the U-boats so small?
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Rainer Bruns | 05/03/2001 10:31PM |
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RE: Why were the U-boats so small?
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kurt | 05/04/2001 03:31PM |
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RE: Why were the U-boats so small?
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Rainer Bruns | 05/04/2001 05:30PM |