General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Building Uboats, at the end?
Posted by:
adrian
()
Date: July 07, 2001 10:09AM
<HTML>G\'day,
Even though I don\'t have an answer for you, I thought that your question was interesting. When the tonnage of bombs and frequency of raids reached near saturation level, German production levels hit thier peak in 1944. Tanks, Artillery, and Fighter aircraft (and U Boats!) were all at peak production when everything pointed to otherwise. There could be a couple of reasons for this. Firstly german industry did not gear itself for \"total war\" until relatively late in the innings - 1943. Under the direction of Albert Speer production in all areas - with one exception,oil - was finally given a semblance of unity. Prior to Speers appointment as Minister for Armaments all branches of the Wehrmacht handled its own affairs including R&D. This produced inherent innefficency and production suffered accordingly. Many crackpot and plainly unworkable ideas (ie the 1500 ton tank and the Maus tank)took valuable craftsman and engineers from working on the practical eg the Electro Boats and the upgrade of the Panzer fleet.
Secondly, standardisation finally made its debut! Instead of 5 different tanks and 7 different 105mm guns it was realized that to make a base model and work from that would be far more efficient! Seems the Russian idea wasn\'t so crazy at all! This certainly freed up space on manufacturing schedules.
Thirdly, the dispersal of vital industry contributed to a flow of finished goods at all times. Even if part of the manufacturing base was destroyed other parts continued to function at least allowing spares to be made and supplied.
The biggest question in my mind is this. How effective was the Allied bombing? I mean it certainly makes you wonder about the strategic air offensive relentlessly pursued by Harris and Arnold doesnt it.
Cheers,
Adrian</HTML>
Even though I don\'t have an answer for you, I thought that your question was interesting. When the tonnage of bombs and frequency of raids reached near saturation level, German production levels hit thier peak in 1944. Tanks, Artillery, and Fighter aircraft (and U Boats!) were all at peak production when everything pointed to otherwise. There could be a couple of reasons for this. Firstly german industry did not gear itself for \"total war\" until relatively late in the innings - 1943. Under the direction of Albert Speer production in all areas - with one exception,oil - was finally given a semblance of unity. Prior to Speers appointment as Minister for Armaments all branches of the Wehrmacht handled its own affairs including R&D. This produced inherent innefficency and production suffered accordingly. Many crackpot and plainly unworkable ideas (ie the 1500 ton tank and the Maus tank)took valuable craftsman and engineers from working on the practical eg the Electro Boats and the upgrade of the Panzer fleet.
Secondly, standardisation finally made its debut! Instead of 5 different tanks and 7 different 105mm guns it was realized that to make a base model and work from that would be far more efficient! Seems the Russian idea wasn\'t so crazy at all! This certainly freed up space on manufacturing schedules.
Thirdly, the dispersal of vital industry contributed to a flow of finished goods at all times. Even if part of the manufacturing base was destroyed other parts continued to function at least allowing spares to be made and supplied.
The biggest question in my mind is this. How effective was the Allied bombing? I mean it certainly makes you wonder about the strategic air offensive relentlessly pursued by Harris and Arnold doesnt it.
Cheers,
Adrian</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Building Uboats, at the end?
|
Vin | 07/07/2001 08:53AM |
|
RE: Building Uboats, at the end?
|
adrian | 07/07/2001 10:09AM |
|
Turn question around
|
SuperKraut | 07/07/2001 04:01PM |
|
RE: Turn question around
|
adrian | 07/08/2001 04:21AM |
|
Resources
|
SuperKraut | 07/08/2001 07:53AM |
|
RE: Resources
|
adrian | 07/08/2001 08:38AM |
|
RE: Building Uboats, at the end?
|
Takeo | 07/09/2001 11:21AM |
|
RE: Building Uboats, at the end?
|
walter M | 07/07/2001 10:14AM |