In both World War 1 and World War 2, Germany was able to use submarines or U-boats ( which is short for unterseeboot) with varying levels of success. In world war 2, Hitler disregarded the treaty of Versailles and restarted the creation of submarines. Initially, he limited the use of the boats in order to not provoke the US.
However, after the US had officially gone to way, Hitler gave Karl Donitz, the head of the submarine program, freedom to attack however he saw fit. During the early stages of the war, these submarines were extremely effective and were greatly feared by all allied ships. The US and Britain didn't really have any technology that could be used against these submarines, and the u-boats were able to destroy thousands of tons of materials and army supplies. As the allies began to protect merchant ships with armed convoys, the Germans developed a tactic where submarines would travel in groups for a larger chance of destroying a ship. These groups were called wolf packs.
During this time, the Americans could not do much to stop the submarines; their main anti-submarine force consisted of a couple wooden boats and a private fleet made up of civilians, including the author Ernest Hemingway. However, this began to change as the use of radar became more and more common. With radar, the allies could actually find the submarines before being hit, and this severely limited the destructive power of the U-boats.
The Nazis too tried to develop their weapons to better combat the developments of the allies. After the use of radar, germans developed a way to find out when they were being detected by the radar. Additionally, they created a newer and more sophisticated type of submarine, that was able to spend the majority of its time underwater, instead of submerging only when attacking like earlier subs. The Germans also worked on different types of torpedoes; these types included magnetic torpedoes and sound seeking torpedoes. Both were extremely unreliable, as the magnetic torpedoes sometimes wouldn't explode, and would merely bounce off the sides of their intended targets. The sound seeking torpedoes were even worse, and there have been at least two accounts were the torpedoes were fired, and then turned around and destroyed the U-boat they were fired from.
Over the course of the war, the U-boats were able to sink 3,000 allied ships, and totaled over 11 million tons of supplies destroyed. Even with the different technological advancements from the allies, U-boats were a force to be reckoned with during World War 2.
https://www.britannica.com/technology/U-boat
https://uboat.net/boats.htm
https://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/ww2-german-uboats.asp
Interesting post, Alan! I liked how you discussed the advancement in technology that allowed for the military success of the U-boats. Often, this success came at the cost of sailors' health and happiness. Many first hand accounts report submarine life to be terrible: there is no space to stretch your legs, the food is abysmal, and a lack of showers and hygiene is all too apparent. However, these horrible conditions often allow units to form great bonds and work cooperatively with each other that allows for success and long lasting friendships.
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