General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Doenitz started with <300
Posted by:
kurt
()
Date: June 18, 2001 06:39PM
<HTML>Doenitz got to start the Battle of the Atlantic with a lot less than 300 boats - I think 50 or so was closer to the truth, with a number of them tiny Type II \'ducks\' that were usefull for little more than training and coastal patrol. On top of that, the Type VIIA\'s that were then the mainstay of the U-boat battle fleet had to be later withdrawn as unfit for combat because of various design flaws - especially the engine exhaust valves, which tended to leak badly at depth or with damage. In other words Doentiz\'s U-boat force at the start of the war was almost nothing - it had to be built from almost from scratch during the war.
There were as few as two or three U-boats actually on station in the Atlantic at various times in 1939-40. Not much to mount a blockade with!
Basically, Germany in general and the Kreigsmarine was caught flat footed by the Anglo-French declaration of War in Sept \'39 - the Kreigsmarine was geared towards a start of the war in 1945, and a guarantee from Hitler that diplomacy would keep England out of the war till then.
It is interesting that Admiral Reader, in his first speech as Kriegsmmarine commander after the declaration of war by England, did not give his top officers a rousing war speech but rather gave a defensive lawyerly argument of how Hitler had promised there would be no war and the lack of prepardeness of the Kreigsmarine for war was therefore not his (Reader\'s) fault. Hardly very inspiring, but quite revealing.
The Kreigsmarine was totally unprepared for war in \'39, having barely starting a major buildup. Doentiz had stated that he felt he needed 300 boats to successfully carry out the U-boat war - but he did not get this many boats on active combat duty in the atlantic till so late in the war that allied ASW had strengthened to the point that the achievement was useless. Most of the \'succesfull\' phase (from the U-boat point of view) of the BOA was fought with only a tiny fraction of the 300 U-boats Doenitz had wanted. If 300 had been available,....but that is a different thread
Not only were the starting numbers small, but boats were constantly diverted by training needs, the Norway invasion, demands for patrols in the far North, Med, and other distant points, and design problems. Doenitz had a very frustrating time building up his forces in the first few years.
Superkraut had a good posting awhile back (after the great Gummi crash?) about the practical limitations in building U-boats in the pre-war years - a combination of treaty limits and practical industrial resources really made the 300 number impractical to achieve by Sept \'39 in any case. </HTML>
There were as few as two or three U-boats actually on station in the Atlantic at various times in 1939-40. Not much to mount a blockade with!
Basically, Germany in general and the Kreigsmarine was caught flat footed by the Anglo-French declaration of War in Sept \'39 - the Kreigsmarine was geared towards a start of the war in 1945, and a guarantee from Hitler that diplomacy would keep England out of the war till then.
It is interesting that Admiral Reader, in his first speech as Kriegsmmarine commander after the declaration of war by England, did not give his top officers a rousing war speech but rather gave a defensive lawyerly argument of how Hitler had promised there would be no war and the lack of prepardeness of the Kreigsmarine for war was therefore not his (Reader\'s) fault. Hardly very inspiring, but quite revealing.
The Kreigsmarine was totally unprepared for war in \'39, having barely starting a major buildup. Doentiz had stated that he felt he needed 300 boats to successfully carry out the U-boat war - but he did not get this many boats on active combat duty in the atlantic till so late in the war that allied ASW had strengthened to the point that the achievement was useless. Most of the \'succesfull\' phase (from the U-boat point of view) of the BOA was fought with only a tiny fraction of the 300 U-boats Doenitz had wanted. If 300 had been available,....but that is a different thread
Not only were the starting numbers small, but boats were constantly diverted by training needs, the Norway invasion, demands for patrols in the far North, Med, and other distant points, and design problems. Doenitz had a very frustrating time building up his forces in the first few years.
Superkraut had a good posting awhile back (after the great Gummi crash?) about the practical limitations in building U-boats in the pre-war years - a combination of treaty limits and practical industrial resources really made the 300 number impractical to achieve by Sept \'39 in any case. </HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Adolph and the U-boot.
|
Tim | 06/17/2001 04:51AM |
|
RE: Adolph and the U-boot.
|
Clint Mitchell | 06/17/2001 06:44AM |
|
Doenitz as successor
|
JohnV | 06/17/2001 10:03AM |
|
RE: Doenitz as successor
|
parade | 06/17/2001 01:58PM |
|
RE: American baiting
|
Tim | 06/17/2001 04:36PM |
|
RE: Hitler and the boats/American baiting
|
Lawrence | 06/17/2001 07:53PM |
|
Leaving it to Doenitz
|
JohnV | 06/18/2001 11:52PM |
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RE: Leaving it to Doenitz
|
Lawrence | 06/19/2001 07:15AM |
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RE: Leaving it to Doenitz, Drumbeat
|
Clint Mitchell | 06/19/2001 11:24AM |
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RE: Doenitz as successor
|
Rainer Kolbicz | 06/17/2001 09:33PM |
|
RE: Doenitz as successor
|
JD Thomas, USN (ret) | 06/19/2001 12:12AM |
|
RE: Doenitz as successor
|
Craig McLean | 06/19/2001 02:28PM |
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RE: Adolph and the U-boot.
|
JD Thomas, USN (ret) | 06/18/2001 02:25PM |
|
Doenitz started with <300
|
kurt | 06/18/2001 06:39PM |
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RE: Doenitz started with <300
|
Rainer Bruns | 06/18/2001 08:36PM |
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RE: Adolph and the U-boot.
|
Craig McLean | 06/19/2001 02:32PM |