General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Inflation of Tonnage
Posted by:
Geoffrey
()
Date: January 16, 2001 04:20PM
<HTML>It should be noted here that Hardegen was not alone in his inflated sinking totals. As has been noted in countless books, overclaims were part of life in the U-boat war. Commanders often put the tonnage values of their victims well above what they actually were. (As Timothy Mulligan pointed out in his book \"Lone Wolf\", about the only commander who seemed to be close to his actual sinkings was Werner Henke) Bad weather, poor surface conditions and faulty torpedoes are all linked to the cause of such over estimates. Often commanders claimed hits when, in fact, nothing had been hit at all. Also, it was generally assumed by most commanders that a target hit was a target sunk. And after 1943 commanders did not have the luxury of following up on their victims to make sure that was indeed the case.
Yes numbers were also inflated by not only Donitz, but also by the Propaganda Ministry which was desperate to find new heroes after Prien, Schepke and Kretschmer. (See C. Blair - Hitler\'s Uboat War Vol. I) And the tonnage requirements for winning a Knights Cross also dropped as the war progressed. Once given just for tonnage sunk over 100,000 GRT, the RitterKreuz soon was awarded for what Donitz considered to be acts of daring and bravery and the tonnage requirements fell below 50,000 GRT. (See both C. Blair - Hitler\'s Uboat War Vol. I and P. Cremer\'s - Uboat Commander)
But life and history move on......as should this thread!</HTML>
Yes numbers were also inflated by not only Donitz, but also by the Propaganda Ministry which was desperate to find new heroes after Prien, Schepke and Kretschmer. (See C. Blair - Hitler\'s Uboat War Vol. I) And the tonnage requirements for winning a Knights Cross also dropped as the war progressed. Once given just for tonnage sunk over 100,000 GRT, the RitterKreuz soon was awarded for what Donitz considered to be acts of daring and bravery and the tonnage requirements fell below 50,000 GRT. (See both C. Blair - Hitler\'s Uboat War Vol. I and P. Cremer\'s - Uboat Commander)
But life and history move on......as should this thread!</HTML>