The Threat: German U-boats in the Atlantic As the Getman blitzkrieg rolled across Europe at the outbreak of the Second World War, a handful of type VII and type IX U-boats put to sea to blockade Great Britain. Despite earl y fears of Germany's large surface raiders, it was the U-boats that posed the greatest sing le threat to the Alli ed cause. The growing havoc caused by these un seen predators caught the Allies offguard and anything that could put to sea was thrown into the battle until spec iall y designed ships and effective tactics and technologies were developed. Type IX U-boats , like that shown at right, had a range of 14,300 mil es and carried 22 torpedoes with a crew of 48. On the surface they could crui se at 18 knots with a maximum submerged speed of 7 knots.
Admiral Karl Di:initz, himself a WWI U-boat commander, is shown inspecting U-boat crews. He organized the rebirth of the Getman submarine service between the wars and directed the U-boat war throughout the Battle of the Atlantic. He eventually was put in charge of the entire German Navy and succeeded Hitler as leader of the Third Reich . It was Di:initz who signed the surrender documents which ended the War in Europe. Looking through a peri scope, thi s U-boat commander (bottom ri ght), with hi s white cap and beard , was typica l of the new breed of U-boat aces who seemed to rule the waves during the first three years of the Battle of the Atlantic. Only a handful would survive the war.
SEA HISTORY 66, SUMMER 1993
9