In the German language itself , the term U - Boot apply to all military submarines , is not limited to military submarines Germany alone . For non - military submarine Tauchboot terms used .
Interest in the use of submarines for the purpose of war began to increase with the use of the HL Hunley submarine at the 1864 American Civil War . German Empire originally had no interest in it . In 1897 an attempt was made though Howaldt manufacture submarines in Kiel at his own expense in 1902 which was then considered to be a failure and scrap metal . A decade later development of the submarine is primarily intended for military purposes .
Submarine SM U 1
In 1902 in Germany created an experimental prototype 200 ton submarine named Forelle and tested intensively . The submarine is the main attraction and then made three more submarines for export to Russia . Having considered also to create a military unit for the German submarine which was then handed over to Gustav Berling to design and make submarines . Berling request assistance Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel . The design is based on the previous three submarines were exported to Russia with important changes that delay the delivery . Making a new start in April 1905 . Especially important updates related to the pressure hull , drafting horizontal torpedo tubes and the motor that uses kerosene fuel that has not been made . On December 14, 1906 after a lot of testing , the Navy submarine SM U 1 of the German Empire ( Seiner Majestät Unterseebot 1 ) began to be used in the service .
With the start of the First World War , submarines initially used as trade submarines ( Handels - U - Boot ) or used for military purposes , especially in the German Imperial Navy ( also by the British navy ) .
Submarine capability has not actually used during the first world war . Resulting mainly from the least battery and oxygen that can be taken so that the submarine can not linger in the water . The absence of radio nexus resulting in submarine when it should perform their own attack . Most submarine sail is not too far from the beach and a lot more side activities such as spreading the mines rather than torpedo boats . Many more like a submarine captain in action at the surface than in the water .
No matter how many successes achieved submarines during the First World War . This is mainly due to British naval yet have a way to protect trade ships at the beginning of the war . Many victims of convoy attack submarine . In the end the allies use the bomb . This weapon is a serious threat to the submarine at the time of the second world war .
Action U - Boot is famous in the first world war was the attack on the ship RMS Lusitania by submarine U - 20 in 1915 that killed 1198 people [ 1 ] , 123 to 128 of whom are American citizens , so the U.S. decided to join war on the allied side .
After the first world war under the Treaty of Versailles , the German navy is limited . In this period , particularly in the Netherlands and the UK , submarine technologies progress rapidly .
At the beginning of the second world war , German submarines a great success despite the existing submarines amounted to only 53 units with technical and logistical limitations . This success convinced Hitler initially skeptical to approve the construction of the submarine program stronger .
Based on the experience of the first world war , attack submarines are designed for a night on the surface and still dilengkapai with low-capacity battery causing submarine can not be sped up quite quickly under the water surface . U - Boot Type XXI was the first submarine designed to go faster under water than above the surface and , with the snorkel and the ability to go with mute ( Schleichfahrt ) , can dive longer.
Memorial to the crew of U - Boot that fall during the two world wars , Heikendorf bei Kiel ( Schleswig - Holstein )
U - Boot reached its heyday between the years 1939-1942 by sinking a lot of allied ships that the British navy was on the verge of defeat in 1942 . Was only after the invention of radar and solved the Enigma code by scientists allies , U - Boot have been reversed upside of hunters under the sea becomes the hunted by anti-submarine aircraft and allied warships . Almost all U - Boot eventually successfully delivered to the seabed by the allies at the end of World War II .
If only Hitler was the sea like British Prime Minister Winston Churchill or American President Franklin D. Roosevelt , then of course Germany will digdaya until late in the ocean !
Churchill before World War II broke out once a Lord of the Admiralty . While Roosevelt had served the United States Secretary of the Navy . While Hitler ? Only former German soldier in World War I rank of corporal ! No wonder he better understand the land and uphold the power of this dimension .
As a result , when World War II broke out , the Kriegsmarine ( German Navy ) only had 57 U -boats ( only 22 units ready for operation ) and not 1,000 units as required to destroy the UK and the U.S. . Units of U-boat commander Admiral Karl Doenitz course complain of this problem .
Though the U - boat is one of the most reasonable alternative to destroying Allied supply lines to Europe !
Just imagine , half of the food needs of the people of England met through the ship . Likewise, the two- thirds of the country's military-industrial materials are also supplied by ship . No exaggeration when Doenitz once said , " If we want to fight against the British or the Americans , then the first one should be incapacitated is their ocean supply lines . "
However, fortunately Hitler had Admiral Doenitz , the former commander of the German submarine during World War I. Although the capital strength mediocre , Doenitz succeeded in fostering the spirit of the submarine corps at the time later managed to destroy digdaya logistics ships in the U.S. and UK the beginning of the war .
Doenitz succeeded in forming the commander of the German submarine into individuals brave on the battlefield . Call it Günther Prien , Wolfgang Lüth , Otto Kretschmer , Engelbert Endrass , Joachim Schepke , Erich Topp and others.
Prien in U - 47 sank the battleship Royal Oak ( 30,000 tons ) in the waters belonging to British command of the Royal Navy at Scapa Flow on October 14, 1939 . 800 crew in the waters of the Royal Oak a silent witness to the greatness of the U - boat . Previously , in September 1939 Otto Schuhart also managed Sink aircraft carrier Courageous ( 25,000 tons ) .
The most ace of German U-boats held Otto Kretschmer . Kretschmer to the U - 99 even be one of the top submarine commander of all time . Drafter night 's attack sank a total of 265,000 tons of Allied supply ships !
Between the years 1939-1940 the little cayenne pepper U -boats sank 222 British merchant ships . When World War II ended , Nazi Germany's U-boats managed to Sink a total of five million tons of enemy merchant ships !
For the U.S. and the UK where the U - boat in the sea war itself is an obstacle . Vessels sized 60 -meter length of the bottom of the sea like a ghost very horrible . Without being detected , know - know blaarr ... , surface ship torpedo exploded in the attack which sent the U - boat !
The greatness of the U - boat immediately recognized by Churchill . After the war openly Churchill said , "The only thing that makes me very afraid in battle is the presence of U - boat ! "
During World War II, the Kriegsmarine ( German Navy ) make various types of U - boat with the growing technology . Of the many production Kriegsmarine U -boats split into several types . In between are used in PD H is of Type VII , Type IX , Type X , Type XIV , Type XVII , Type XVIII , Type XXI and Type XXIII . Type VII is the type most widely made . A total of 700 units of this type are derived in the Battle of the Atlantic .
U - boat commander in World War II legend :
* Otto Kretschmer
Regarded as commander of the most successful U- Boot by sinking 47 ships with a total tonnage owned allies 274 333 tonnes in less than 2 years ( September 1939 - March 1941 ) . Throughout his career Kretschmer led three submarine U - Boot , ie U - 35 , U - 23 and U - 99 . Dubbed " Otto den Schweigsamen " or Silent Otto ( because his talents run U - Boot with almost no sound ) and got a special medal eisernen Knight zum Kreuz und mit Oak Leaves Schwertern of Kriegsmarine .
Otto Kretschmer died on August 5, 1998 in an accident aboard while celebrating his wedding anniversary is the 50th .
* Wolfgang Lüth
In 17 operations during 609 days at sea with U 9 , U 138 , U 43 and U 181 drown 47 vessels with deadweight tonnage of 225,755 . Together Albrecht Brandi became commander of U - Boot that was awarded the Knight's Cross des eisernen Kreuzes mit Oak Leaves , Schwertern und Brillanten .
* Günther Prien
With its U - Boot 47 ( U - 47 ) , successfully sink the British battleship HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow base on October 14, 1939 . These results are considered very brilliant because it managed to break into the dock which is very heavily guarded by the British Navy , then returned safely to Germany . Hitler himself is reported that the Knight's Cross medal pinned des eisernen Kreuzes on Günther Prien . In total he has sunk more than 30 ships with a total tonnage belonging to allies around 200,000 .
U - 47 were missing on March 7, 1941 and to this day , not a detailed explanation of what happened at the U - 47 and its 45 crew .
U - 47
* Erich Topp
34 ships with a total deadweight tonnage of 200,000 that had been sunk . Getting conferment eisernen Knight zum Kreuz mit und Schwertern Oak Leaves .