The outcome of any war depends on many factors, among which, of course, armament is of considerable importance. Despite the fact that absolutely all German submarines of World War II were very powerful, since Adolf Hitler personally considered them the most important weapon and paid considerable attention to the development of this industry, they were not able to inflict damage on opponents that would significantly affect the course of the war. Why did it happen? Who stands at the origins of the creation of the submarine army? Were the German submarines of World War II so invincible? Why were such prudent Nazis unable to defeat the Red Army? You will find the answer to these and other questions in the review.
general information
Together, all the equipment that was in service with the Third Reich during the Second World War was called the Kriegsmarine, and submarines made up a significant part of the arsenal. Underwater equipment moved into a separate industry on November 1, 1934, and the fleet was disbanded after the war ended, that is, having existed for less than a decade. For such a short period of time, German submarines of World War II brought a lot of fear to the souls of their opponents, leaving their huge mark on the bloody pages of the history of the Third Reich. Thousands of dead, hundreds of sunken ships, all this remained on the conscience of the surviving Nazis and their subordinates.
Commander-in-Chief Kriegsmarine
During the Second World War, one of the most famous Nazis - Karl Doenitz stood at the helm of the Kriegsmarine. German submarines in World War II certainly played an important role, but without this man this would not have happened. He was personally involved in creating plans for attacking opponents, participated in attacks on many ships and achieved success on this path, for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross and Oak Leaves - one of the most significant awards of Nazi Germany. Doenitz was an admirer of Hitler and was his successor, which did much harm to him during the Nuremberg trials, because after the death of the Fuhrer he was considered commander in chief of the Third Reich.
Specifications
It is easy to guess that the state of the submarine army was responsible for Karl Doenitz. German submarines in World War II, the photos of which prove their power, had impressive parameters.
In total, Kriegsmarine was armed with 21 types of submarines. They possessed such characteristics:
- displacement: from 275 to 2710 tons;
- surface speed: from 9.7 to 19.2 knots;
- underwater speed: from 6.9 to 17.2;
- immersion depth: from 150 to 280 meters.
This proves that the German submarines of World War II were not just powerful, they were the most powerful among the weapons of countries that fought with Germany.
Composition Kriegsmarine
The German Navy's military boats included 1,154 submarines. It is noteworthy that until September 1939 there were only 57 submarines, the rest were built specifically to participate in the war. Some of them were captured. So, there were 5 Dutch, 4 Italian, 2 Norwegian and one English and French submarines. All of them were also in service with the Third Reich.
Navy Achievements
Kriegsmarine throughout the war caused considerable damage to his opponents. So, for example, the most productive captain Otto Kretschmer sunk almost fifty enemy ships. There are also champions among the courts. For example, the German submarine U-48 sank 52 ships.
Throughout World War II, the German naval forces managed to destroy 63 destroyers, 9 cruisers, 7 aircraft carriers and even 2 battleships. The largest and most remarkable victory for the German army among them can be considered the flooding of the Royal Oak battleship, whose crew consisted of thousands of people, and its displacement was 31,200 tons.
Plan z
Since Hitler considered his fleet to be extremely important for the triumph of Germany over other countries and had extremely positive feelings for him, he paid considerable attention to him and did not limit funding. In 1939, a development plan was developed for Kriegsmarine for the next 10 years, which, fortunately, did not succeed. According to this plan, several hundred of the most powerful battleships, cruisers and submarines were to be built.
Powerful German submarines of World War II
Photos of some preserved German submarine equipment give an idea of the power of the Third Reich navy , but only weakly reflect how strong this army was. Most of all in the German fleet there were type VII submarines, they had optimal navigational qualities, had medium sizes, and most importantly, their construction was relatively inexpensive, which is important in wartime.
They could dive to a depth of up to 320 meters with a displacement of up to 769 tons, the crew consisted of 42 to 52 employees. Despite the fact that the “sevens” were pretty high-quality boats, over time, the enemy countries of Germany improved their weapons, so the Germans also had to work on modernizing their offspring. As a result of this, a few more modifications appeared at the boat. The most popular of them was the VIIC model, which became not only the personification of the military power of Germany during the attack on the Atlantic, but was also much more convenient than previous versions. The impressive dimensions made it possible to install more powerful diesel engines, and subsequent modifications were also distinguished by strong bodies, which allowed deeper immersion.
German submarines of World War II underwent a constant, as they would say now, upgrade. One of the most innovative models is considered to be type XXI. In this submarine, an air conditioning system and additional equipment were created, which was designed for a longer stay of the team under water. A total of 118 boats of this type were built.
Kriegsmarine Results
German submarines of World War II, photos of which can often be found in books on military equipment, played a very important role in the advance of the Third Reich. Their power should not be underestimated, but it should be borne in mind that even with such a patronage from the bloodiest Fuhrer in world history, the German fleet did not manage to bring their power closer to victory. Probably, not only good equipment and a strong army are not enough, for the victory of Germany did not have the wit and courage that the brave soldiers of the Soviet Union possessed. Everyone knows that the Nazis were incredibly bloodthirsty and on their way did not shun anything, but neither the incredibly equipped army nor the lack of principles helped them. Armored vehicles, a huge amount of ammunition and the latest developments did not bring the Third Reich the expected results.