U-Boats at War in 100 Objects, 1939–1945

Gordon Williamson

• Publisher: Frontline Books
• Year: 2019
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781526759030
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

'The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril, ' wrote Winston Churchill in his history of the Second World War. 'I was even more anxious about this battle than I had been about the glorious air fight called the Battle of Britain." In reality, the Kriegsmarine had been woefully unprepared for the war into which it was thrown. The Command-in-Chief of submarines, Karl Dönitz, himself a verteran U-boat captain from the First World War, felt that he could bring Britain to its knees with a fleet of 300 U-Boats. But when war broke out, he had just twenty-four available for operational use. Despite this, the U-Boat arm scored some incredible successes in the early part of the war, raising the status of the submarine commanders and crews to that of national heroes in the eyes of the German people. The 'Grey Wolves' had become super-stars. Small wonder then that the U-Boat war has fascinated students of military history ever since. This book, using a carefully selected range of both wartime images and colour images of surviving U-boat memorabilia from private collections, describes 100 iconic elements of the U-Boat service and its campaigns. The array of objects include important individuals and the major U-Boat types, through to the uniforms and insignias the men wore. The weapons, equipment and technology used are explored, as are the conditions in which the U-boat crews served, from cooking facilities and general hygiene down to the crude toilet facilities. Importantly, the enemy that they faced is also covered, examining the ship-borne and airborne anti-submarine weaponry utilised against the U-boats. The U-Boats began the war, though small in number, more than a match for the Allies and created carnage amongst merchant shipping as well as sinking several major warships. The pace of technological development, however, failed to match that of Allied anti-submarine warfare weaponry and the U-Bootwaffe was ultimately doomed to defeat but not before, at one point, coming close to bringing Britain to its knees.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. Grossadmiral Dr H. C. Erich Raeder
• 2. Basic Training
• 3. The Type II U-Boat
• 4. The U-Boat War Badge
• 5. Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien
• 6. Korvettenkapitän Wolfgang Lüth
• 7. Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz
• 8. Tradition Badges
• 9. The Type VII U-Boat
• 10. Torpedoes
• 11. U-178 and the Monsun Boats
• 12. The Deck Gun
• 13. Anti-Aircraft Weapons
• 14. The Sea Mine
• 15. The Snorkel (Schnorchel)
• 16. U-Boat Badge with Diamonds
• 17. Sonar
• 18. Radar
• 19. Air Support
• 20. Enigma
• 21. U-Boat Diesels
• 22. The Sextant
• 23. The Gyro Compass
• 24. The U-Boot Päckchen
• 25. Cap Tallies
• 26. Award Documents
• 27. Heldentod Certificate
• 28. Equator Certificate
• 29. Wehrpass
• 30. Soldbuch
• 31. UZO
• 32. Binoculars
• 33. Clocks
• 34. Timepieces
• 35. Civilian Workers
• 36. Periscopes
• 37. U-Boat Tenders
• 38. Accommodation Ships
• 39. The Leather U-Boat Clothing
• 40. The Dress Dagger
• 41. The Ship’s Bell
• 42. The Ehrendolch
• 43. The Atlantic Bunkers
• 44. Valentin
• 45. Iron Cross
• 46. The German Cross
• 47. The Tauchretter
• 48. Victory Pennants
• 49. The Matrosenmütze (Sailor’s Cap)
• 50. The Bordmütze
• 51. The Visor Cap
• 52. The Pea Jacket
• 53. The Reefer Jacket
• 54. Enigma Quadrant Maps
• 55. Recognition Manuals
• 56. Personal Performance Records
• 57. Toilet Facilities
• 58. Galley
• 59. The Norwegian Bases
• 60. The Manufacturing Yards
• 61. Morale
• 62. The Dönitz Grand Admiral Baton
• 63. Convoy PQ 17
• 64. The Star Globe (Sternfinder)
• 65. Propaganda
• 66. Service Conditions
• 67. The Bachstelze Autogyro
• 68. Italian Submarines
• 69. U-Boats Overland
• 70. Hygiene
• 71. Electric Powerplant
• 72. The Milchkuh
• 73. Escort Vessels
• 74. The Walter Boats
• 75. Tropical Dress
• 76. Crash Dive
• 77. The Laconia Incident
• 78. The IWO (First Watch Officer)
• 79. The L. I. (Engineering Officer)
• 80. The IIWO (Second Watch Officers)
• 81. U-Bootsfrontspange
• 82. Evasion and Countermeasures
• 83. CAM Merchantmen
• 84. The Depth Charge
• 85. Hedgehog
• 86. ASDIC
• 87. The Flower-Class Corvette
• 88. Destroyer Escorts
• 89. Escort Carriers
• 90. The Leigh Light
• 91. Coastal Command
• 92. The Convoy System
• 93. The Reichskriegsflagge
• 94. Donald Macintyre – The U-Boat killer
• 95. The Wolfpacks
• 96. The Kleinkampfverbände
• 97. Operations Regenbogen and Deadlight
• 98. HMS Graph
• 99. The Type XXI Elektroboot
• 100. The Type XXIII U-Boat