- 2 days ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:02On June the 21st, 1919, in the dark, calm waters of Scarpaflow in the Orkneys, the grand fleet of the
00:11Imperial German Navy, interned by the British after World War I, scuttled its ships in one last act of defiance
00:19towards its captains.
00:21In a few brief moments, German sea power literally disappeared from the face of the earth.
00:28Yet only 20 years later, the naval forces of the Third Reich would again challenge British supremacy of the oceans.
00:37Once again, the U-boats would be at the cutting edge of the battle.
01:00The U-boats
01:30This is one of the last surviving U-boats in the world.
01:36Standing peacefully in a quiet corner of Birkenhead Docks, Liverpool, U-534 presents a sorry, melancholy spectacle, a ghost of
01:46the menacing craft which once hunted with the deadly wolf packs.
01:52We can still clearly see the marks left by the impact of the depth charges which sank her.
02:01Beneath the rusting exterior lurks the lean profile of the Predator.
02:06Very faintly, we can still sense a few echoes of the glory days.
02:11We can imagine the torpedoes primed for action, the noise of the crew assembling at battle stations.
02:17And suddenly, the years roll back to 1939, when the U-boats stood on the brink of their greatest challenge.
02:36On the eve of World War II, Germany's Kriegsmarine prepared to join battle with its implacable enemy, the Royal Navy.
02:46For over a decade, the German Navy had been rebuilding in secret.
02:52Once Adolf Hitler was safely settled into power, all pretense was cast aside.
02:58A new grand fleet of revolutionary warships emerged from the slipways of German docks.
03:05Their names became bywords throughout the world, the Scharnhorst, the Prince Eugen, and the Bismarck.
03:16The new Kriegsmarine presented an impressive order of battle.
03:21Its officers were of the highest quality.
03:24Many had served in the old Imperial Navy.
03:29As a breed, they frowned upon the excesses of Nazi fanaticism.
03:35But some of their own harsh naval traditions were no less extreme.
03:43Nonetheless, this was a war which would be fought on ruthless terms.
03:47And these were the men for just such a task.
03:54Despite the impressive start he'd made to the Navy,
03:57Hitler's military preoccupation was primarily with land forces.
04:01And his conquests were made by a series of rapid campaigns fought at lightning speed through continental Europe.
04:11In this grand strategy, Hitler had envisaged a very limited role for the Navy.
04:17It was their job to guard Germany against any threat from the sea.
04:22Of course, national pride demanded a modern German fleet.
04:26But it was not part of Hitler's plans to enter into a serious naval rivalry with the might of Great
04:33Britain.
04:51On September 1st, 1939, as Hitler invaded Poland,
04:56the entry of the German navy into the war was signalled not by the guns of the Grand Fleet,
05:01but by those of a lone training ship with her ancient armament she opened fire
05:09on the fortress for the Kriegs marine war had begun once again they had to
05:21contend with the prospect of powerful allied natives the war had come several
05:28years too early for the German Navy in the latter years of the 1930s Germany had
05:36embarked upon an ambitious construction program for 200 U-boats but by the time
05:43war broke out fewer than 50 were operational
05:51Grand Admiral Eric Raider's message to the fleet commanders ordering them to take
05:56up battle stations ended on a note of finality gentlemen we have no choice
06:03total engagement die with dignity although her ships were superbly engineered and
06:12very modern in design the Kriegs marine was still highly outnumbered by the Royal
06:17Navy fleet-to-fleet conflict was therefore unthinkable but when they could choose
06:23the place in time the German Navy was able to operate remarkably effectively at the
06:31cutting edge of those operations were the U-boats the U-boats which were at sea were
06:39divided into three main categories the small type 2 class was used for coastal
06:44patrol and mine laying the type 7 for medium endurance operations and the double
06:50hull type 9 for oceanic warfare fittingly this crumbling survivor of the U-boat
06:57fleets was an ocean-going craft she was actually on her way to Argentina and safety
07:03when she was sunk on the second to last day of the war when you 534 settled onto the
07:12muddy floor of the Baltic the open hatchways through which her crew had escaped rapidly
07:17allowed the silt of the seabed to fill the submarine in this way the treasures of World
07:23War two were preserved as if in aspect pencil notes on log books can still be read discarded
07:31uniforms gramophone records books food stocks and even an old ship's broom are still there as if it
07:39were yesterday most eerily of all when she was raised to the surface the Kriegs marine flag still
07:47hung limply from her masthead fortunately for you 534 she was hit while still on the surface a death
07:57charge which had lodged next to the conning tower exploded on being rolled into the sea rendering the ship
08:03unsubmersible a second depth charge blew in the side of the craft all of her crew managed to escape
08:11the sinking even the five crew members trapped in the hull survived as she sank to the bottom and
08:17settled in the shallow depths they escaped through the torpedo tubes although three crewmen later died of
08:25exposure you five three four was not a war grave so she could be salvaged and we are spared the
08:32awful
08:32resonances from hundreds of other u-boat sinkings where the steel hull is also a coffin for her crew
08:41there is a sense of justice in the fact the sinking of the u-boat should rank among the very
08:46last acts of
08:47that titanic conflict because on the first day of the war it was a u-boat that torpedoed and sank
08:53the
08:53passenger liner athenia in flagrant breach of international law the leader of the u-boat fleet
09:01was admiral karl durnitz a submarine veteran of the great war under him the u-boat fleet enjoyed
09:09immediate and startling success in the atlantic and the north sea they knew from experience that
09:16the coming campaign would be brutal and savage there was no room for sentimentality this was to
09:23be a dirty nasty and devious fight to the death the first casualty was to be human decency in a
09:33taste
09:33of what was to come survivors from stricken merchant ships were machine-gunned as they struggled to life
09:39rafts although it was not habitual acts like this certainly took place on more than one occasion
09:53the sudden onset of war had left the giant merchant fleets of britain scattered across the oceans of the
09:59world as the unescorted and defenseless ships dashed frantically for safe havens they fell easy prey to the
10:06u-boats and the auxiliary cruisers throughout the winter months there was massive destruction of allied shipping
10:16this destruction took place frequently on the surface the u-boat would sink the unarmed ships by fire from
10:23its deck gun although this was a dangerous maneuver there was often no choice german torpedoes were plagued by
10:30development problems which caused many to fail to explode in early 1939 hurried arrangements were
10:39implemented for british merchant ships to travel in tight escorted convoys which allowed the unarmed ships
10:45to be guided by destroyers and cruisers in these early days the system was clumsy and the speed of the
10:53convoy it was that of the slowest ship but it significantly increased the chances of survival overall
11:03in that first year of the war to travel alone constituted instant death from beneath the waves
11:14despite the losses from the first world war the royal navy was caught ill-prepared for the new
11:20submarine menace the vast seaways provided ample scope for an elusive u-boat the chances of discovering
11:28a u-boat were minimal and the british warships themselves were not immune from danger on september
11:35the 17th the aircraft carrier courageous was sunk with the loss of over 500 men it was a major loss
11:43to the
11:49the royal navy
11:50in a daring solo run u-boat 47 under the command of lieutenant prime undercover of darkness found a passage
12:01into scarpa flow and sank the royal oak stricken battleships settled amidst the wreckage of the old
12:08german imperial fleet eight hundred and thirty-three british seamen died whilst the u-47 escaped unscathed
12:19leutnant prime and his crew returned to a hero's welcome in germany enthusiasm reached new heights when
12:27it was revealed that durnitz himself had masterminded the raid he'd gained experience of the harbor during
12:34his time as a captive with the german fleet after the first world war durnitz's personal role in the
12:40raid was widely publicized and he played it to full advantage durnitz was rewarded with promotion and he
12:49used his new celebrity status to extract a promise from hitler to build many more of the vital u-boats
13:11this early success meant that the full fury of submarine warfare would soon be unleashed
13:17against the british merchant marine
13:25the german war at sea was dominated by two commanders admiral raider the architect of the
13:31kriegs marine who was a fine strategist and his subordinate durnitz who was an outstanding fleet
13:37commander both were products of the imperial german navy this was a class instilled with a deep sense
13:45of duty and obedience to the state neither condoned hitler's regime and both contrived to avoid the
13:53politics and intrigue of berlin the two men agreed that the key to victory over britain lay in cutting
14:01supply lines but they could not agree as to how best this might be achieved durnitz strongly advocated
14:08the submarine weapon whereas raider favored the grand battle fleet the stalemate was about to be decided
14:27by events
14:27the pocket battleship graph spay at large in the indian ocean had sunk nine ships by december of 1939 when
14:36she was cited by three british cruisers the engagement left the ship badly damaged and she took refuge for the
14:43maximum of four days in neutral montevideo harbor mistakenly believing that his ship faced certain
14:50destruction by a superior british force her captain sailed the graph spay to the harbor mouth and ordered
14:57the magazines to be blown on learning of his error he shot himself for hitler and his high command it
15:05was a
15:06humiliating debacle under the full gaze of the world the success of the u-boats compared to the humiliation
15:15suffered by the graph spay swung the tide of opinion behind durnitz and his u-boats
15:23for the kriegs marine the main burden of the surface fight at sea was now carried by the smaller craft
15:29destroyers torpedo boats and mine layers
15:36in the early months of the war the most successful weapon employed by the surface fleet was the mine
15:42of these the most effectual and the most feared was the magnetic mine
15:47unnoticed by british observers german destroyers clandestinely completed 11 mine laying missions off the
15:55english coast even venturing into the thames estuary itself the mines wreaked havoc amongst the channel
16:02traffic 67 ships including two destroyers were lost these losses added to the steadily rising toll taken
16:13by the u-boats clearly showed the way ahead the u-boats had won the political war
16:21but could they also be relied upon to win the real war it seemed hitler needed one more lesson to
16:29convince him
16:42in april 1940 hitler launched a pre-emptive strike against norway
16:48he was relying on a combination of air and sea power
17:03this was the only major amphibious operation the germans would undertake during world war ii
17:11the kriegs marine committed the greater part of its surface fleet
17:16and the u-boat fleet was recalled from the atlantic to provide protection
17:24the allies knew nothing of german intentions and it was only a chance sighting
17:30that led to the first naval engagement in which the german cruiser hippa was left severely damaged
17:44the norwegian shore batteries took a bruising toll of the german shipping and from out to sea the royal
17:50navy too was closing in although the u-boat fleet attacked 20 british warships not one of the action
17:59succeeded as the torpedoes which struck had failed to detonate a solution would soon be found but not
18:07soon enough to prevent a humiliating setback for dermits and the kriegs marine in the battle which followed
18:16the cost to the german surface fleet was considerable the heavy cruiser blucher and the hippa were crippled
18:24and 13 destroyers were lost the kriegs marines operational surface fleet was reduced to one
18:31heavy cruiser two light cruisers and four destroyers hitler consoled his adjutants with the less than
18:39convincing sentiment that if the german navy were to do nothing else in the war it had amply justified
18:46its existence by its contribution to the norwegian campaign ironically his words were to prove highly
18:54prophetic from now on the only real impact on the war at sea would be made by the u-boats
19:11the u-boats role was increasingly vital to the war at sea the acquisition of french and norwegian coasts
19:18increased the westward range of the u-boats and in the five months to october 1940 274 merchant ships
19:38for britain such loss rates were unsustainable there was a real possibility that britain could be
19:44starved into submission a concerted submarine offensive mounted at this stage of the war
19:50could have proved decisive yet despite durnitz's pleas he was denied the resources to exploit this golden
19:59opportunity in 1939 the first year of the war 28 new u-boats were built but these were exactly enough
20:09to replace those which had been lost hitler had reneged on his earlier promise
20:19amongst the intrigues and power brokers of the nazi hierarchy the kriegs marine was poorly represented
20:26and came a poor third to the army and the luftwaffe in the allocation of resources not only was the
20:33nazi
20:33system corrupt it was also inefficient as a result germany continued with the construction of a prestigious
20:40but largely useless grand fleet at the expense of the u-boat fleet
20:48since goering insisted on keeping all air power as his personal fiefdom a naval air arm could not be
20:55developed in the war at sea close cooperation between air and sea forces was paramount but no german
21:03aircraft carrier was ever launched for the whole of 1939 and into 1940 the u-boats operated blind it was
21:14not
21:14until the late summer of 1940 that the kriegs marine received effective air power in the form of a limited
21:20quantity of long-range focke-wolf condors working directly with the u-boats these reconnaissance aircraft
21:28immediately proved their worth in the first two months of operations 30 allied ships were sunk
21:43despite their limited resources by the autumn of 1940 durnitz and his captains had perfected new tactics
21:51the chief among these was the evolution of the wolf pack it was an efficient mode of attack
21:59against the atlantic convoys which were still only lightly escorted
22:06the huge atlantic sea lanes were patrolled by dispersed groups of u-boats each operating independently
22:14when an individual boat sighted a convoy the position was signaled to base control expertly coordinated
22:21by durnitz and his staff the other u-boats rapidly gathered together to converge on the prey shadowing
22:28the convoy by day and attacking by night there were several reasons for preferring the night attack
22:37while it was submerged a u-boat traveled very slowly eight knots was the maximum practical speed and the
22:44duration of the dive was strictly limited on the surface a u-boat could maintain 16 knots giving the
22:52boats a hugely increased range in the early stages of the war the convoy still relied mainly on visual
22:59observation to detect submarines in the dark the low profile of the u-boat was easily missed
23:07the u-boat's much larger targets were clearly silhouetted against the sky particularly if another
23:13vessel had been set alight as they gained experience in their deadly trade the wolf packs became bolder
23:22and some adventurous captains even took to striking within the convoy itself
23:27where the escorts dared not use their guns for fear of hitting their own ships
23:39for the merchant seamen working on the convoys their working world had become a nightmare
23:45they had to endure weeks of tension anxiously waiting in their noisy uncomfortable ships hoping
23:52against hope that this time it was not their turn if a torpedo struck there was little chance of
24:00survival no other ship would dare come to their rescue as they too would almost certainly fall victim
24:07to the prowling u-boat
24:17in the early years of the war the british had two devices for detecting submarines the first was the
24:24hydrophone a simple listening device which could detect propeller noise it could be defeated by the
24:30submarine shutting down its engine and it could only be used if the ship also stopped its own propellers
24:37much more was expected of the aztec a device which emitted high frequency sound and detected the reflections
24:45from the submarine the searching vessel could continue at full speed and could determine the
24:52submarine's position and course infuriatingly the early aztec sets lost the signal when they were
24:59immediately over the submarine making the accurate placing of the depth charges difficult additionally
25:06the u-boat crew alerted by the distinctive ping of the aztec would often alter course and slip away
25:16during the early phase of war known to their crews as the happy time the most successful u-boat
25:22commanders acquired celebrity status akin to that of the luftfaffers fighter races the public
25:29adulation was hard-earned the submariners were a breed apart
25:38this is the interior of hms onyx a british submarine built in the 1950s but the claustrophobic
25:46interior layout was not dissimilar to the cramped world of the u-boat crews who shared their dangers
25:53with a fierce sense of pride and companionship describing life on a u-boat one captain said
26:00it is my job as a submarine commander to sink ships to do this i need a cooperative crew so
26:08that
26:08everything clicks life aboard is monotonous for long stretches for many long periods one must be able to
26:16bear failures and when death charges are added life becomes a war of nerves life aboard a submarine is
26:24unnatural and unhealthy there is no change between night and day and the lights have to burn all the
26:31time there is no regular time for sleeping as most fighting is done at night in a submarine there is
26:39no
26:39no margin for error you are either alive or dead amongst the enemy the u-boats aroused fear and loathing
26:50their mode of warfare was utterly ruthless cunning and impersonal despite this a u-boat crew was an
26:59assortment of very human individuals living and fighting under exceptionally harsh conditions
27:05they remained in their uncomfortable claustrophobic vessels for perhaps months at a time rarely seeing
27:12daylight lack of water meant men sported beards and they lived in a cramped malodorous world of sweat
27:20oil noise and heat
27:25in addition to the unforgiving seas they knew if their craft were hit there was little chance of escape
27:33when pursued by a destroyer they must all endure that fear known only to the u-boat crew they huddled
27:41silently together tensely listening to the throb of engines overhead they knew that one well-placed depth
27:48charge would turn their underwater home into a steel grave a damaged hull would be marked by a torrent of
27:56water which would rapidly engulf the craft taking it to the bottom if the craft were merely damaged so
28:04that control was lost the hapless crew could do nothing but wait until it sank to the depth at which
28:11the hull imploded the worst nightmare was to be trapped alive on the floor of the ocean with
28:20the slow prospect of death by asphyxiation
28:25despite the dangers the u-boat pack still enjoyed success and as the magnitude of shipping losses sharply
28:33increased in late 1940 the british raced to develop a counter to durnitz's wolf packs to the u-boat sailors
28:42this period of easy victories was still the happy time
29:05by comparison with the submarines
29:07the performance of the main german surface fleet remained very poor
29:12fearful of a repetition of the humiliation which befell the graf spay
29:17hitler had ordered his ships to avoid confrontation with any but inferior forces
29:24but hitler's instructions could not always be followed
29:38in may 1941 the new battleship bismarck accompanied by the heavy cruiser prince eugen
29:45were engaged by a british naval force southwest of iceland
29:50the germans fought back fiercely destroying the british battlecruiser hood and crippling the battleship prince
29:57of wales but the bismarck herself had been hit and in the continuing fighting suffered further damage
30:04from an air strike launched from the ark royal
30:14there was no escaping the guns and torpedoes of the converging home fleet
30:20hitler's most powerful battleship finally sank on the morning of may the 27th
30:26with it went any last thoughts of fighting a surface campaign
30:33the u-boat remained the kriegs marines best weapon
30:37but its dominance too would soon be challenged
31:01in 1941 the end of the german invasion threat
31:06allowed extra british destroyers to be released for convoy duty
31:11every additional warship was desperately needed as the numbers grew the escorts also developed
31:17better tactical methods aided by the rapid improvements in wireless communications
31:23ironically the cohesiveness which made the wolf pack so successful
31:28was also the achilles heel which rendered them vulnerable
31:32when it became necessary for dispersed u-boats to gather together to form a wolf pack regular
31:38wireless contact with base was inevitable
31:41a new british apparatus the high frequency direction finder hfdf or huff duff allowed escort ships
31:49accurately to locate a u-boat from its frequent radio signals huff duff was a success
31:56but also introduced in 1941 was another device that changed the whole pattern of the war at sea
32:05during the course of 1941 radar scanners began to sprout from the mastheads of british destroyers
32:13the newly perfected radar would prove decisive in the long-fought battle of the atlantic
32:19the germans too had radar technology but under the nazi regime its potential had not been realized
32:26research was erratic their first countermeasure to the new detection system
32:31was the totally ineffectual ploy of maintaining radio silence
32:46radar allowed the fast destroyers to provide protective cover to a convoy even when out of sight
32:53the range over which they could seek out the enemy was also extended
32:58the happy time was over an early victim of the allied supremacy was the famous u-boat ace prime
33:14the kriegs marine was facing the prospect of defeat in the atlantic however the supply of new u-boats
33:22was improving rapidly and durnitz also deployed a number of submarines released from duties in the channel
33:29the moment of decision in the u-boat war was now imminent
33:33the moment
33:48june 1941 saw one of the war's most momentous turning points hitler's ill-fated invasion of the soviet union
33:57the hazardous allied convoy route along the north atlantic to mamansk and archangel would soon become
34:05a new hunting ground for the u-boats
34:10by late june 1941 the first u-boats appeared in arctic waters the most dangerous and inhospitable seas
34:18in the world they preyed on the allied convoys carrying supplies for the soviet war effort
34:25for the sailors of both sides conditions in the arctic were appalling a numbing unending nightmare of fog
34:32ice and blizzards although the threat of enemy action was the constant fear in a seaman's mind
34:39he could equally succumb to exposure frostbite or drowning in ferocious storms
34:47of the 81 vessels sunk on the arctic convoy routes during 1941
34:52the u-boat fleet accounted for all but three
34:5638 u-boats were lost with all hands in the same unforgiving waters
35:04in september 1941 u-boats were ordered to the mediterranean where the british were endeavouring
35:11to supply the garrison of malta from their egyptian bases and through the gibraltar straits
35:17despite their large and modern fleet the italians had suffered a string of naval reverses
35:23and hitler was wearily obliged to come to the assistance of his inept and troublesome ally
35:30at the same time the british were exacting heavy losses on the italian convoys supplying the axis
35:36armies in north africa to the extent that the entire africa corps was in jeopardy
35:42to move the wolf packs away from the atlantic at such a crucial stage was undoubtedly a grave
35:48strategic blunder though not entirely without compensation
35:58in their new sphere of action the u-boats not only claimed valuable supply shipping but also sank
36:04three destroyers and the carrier arc royal the price however was high seven u-boats with their battle
36:12seasoned crews were lost
36:21although the submarine arm was growing in size so too were its commitments by the end of 1941
36:28the u-boats were attempting to patrol three entirely separate operational zones the mediterranean the
36:36atlantic and the arctic
36:51in december 1941 the japanese attacked the u.s base at pearl harbor
37:00and days later hitler declared war on the united states
37:06of the united states
37:20up to this time the kriegs marine had respected america's neutrality
37:23and its coastal security zone
37:29donuts now launched an immediate all-out attack on american merchant shipping
37:43of the united states
37:44he only had five u-boats available but he used this slender force to lethal effect
38:00the u.s command had learned little from british experiences
38:04and was slow to organize convoy protection
38:07the eastern seaboard became a rich killing ground for the u-boats
38:12off the coast of america nearly 500 ships were sunk in the first six months of 1942
38:20the prospect of a second happy time loomed for the u-boats
38:24the british perfected a compact airborne radar system which could detect a surfaced submarine from several miles distance
38:41the unprepared u-boat commander could now expect to be surprised by allied aircraft dropping out of the clouds and
38:50flying straight at them on a bombing run
38:52u-boat losses mounted swiftly
38:55fortunately for the germans the aircraft radar was rapidly counted with the biscay cross
39:01a simple radar warning device which from august 1942 gave the submarines just enough warning of an approaching aircraft for
39:11them to crash dive to safety
39:13the pendulum had swung back tentatively in favor of the u-boats and by october the air sweeps were again
39:20ineffective
39:25once again allied shipping losses spiraled and in march 1943 alone six hundred and twenty seven thousand tons were lost
39:57with both britain and america at war with germany the air gap that portion
40:03of the atlantic out of reach to allied aircraft was substantially reduced with new better types of
40:09aircraft the air gap continued to close the vast industrial resources of the u.s
40:15soon began to produce the much needed carriers and radar equipped aircraft
40:25increasingly the wolf packs were supplied re-armed and even repaired at sea it was a dangerous
40:31operation even in calm weather and without the prospect of enemy attack so great was the allied
40:38domination of the oceans that the supply ships themselves were usually specially adapted submarines
41:07by 1943 with the arrival of larger craft u-boats sailing from japanese-controlled indonesia
41:14penetrated the indian ocean and the waters down to south africa but these forays were little more
41:21more than a token gesture to hitler's japanese allies the kriegs marines war remained centered on europe
41:35and the atlantic
41:37and the atlantic
41:52and the atlantic
42:17By this time, the British and American strategic bombing offensive
42:21was wreaking daily destruction on German cities.
42:24The Kriegsmarine could not remain immune when the bases at Hamburg were devastated.
42:29Furthermore, the demands of the Russian Front constituted a huge drain on all available
42:36manpower and war production.
42:44From this point onwards, the fighting capabilities of the German Navy were steadily eroded.
42:51For Hitler, 1943 opened with the disastrous loss of the 6th Army at Stalingrad.
43:01Everywhere, the German forces were in retreat.
43:14In January, Rader was driven to resign.
43:17He had been increasingly frustrated at the stream of contradictory orders and impossible
43:23demands continually issued by the Reich Chancellery.
43:29Dönitz, now Grand Admiral, proved more assertive than his predecessor.
43:34He was, of course, still a champion of the U-boat fleet.
43:37In him, the Wolfpacks had at last gained a determined voice in the councils of war.
43:44But it was too late.
43:55Inexorably, the balance was tipping against the Kriegsmarine in the Atlantic.
43:59The rate of Allied shipbuilding was climbing far above losses.
44:04In the first three months of 1940, when on average 14 U-boats were on patrol, over 800,000
44:13tons of Allied shipping had been sunk.
44:16In a similar period in 1943, with 115 boats operating, the tally was only 550,000 tons.
44:26100 more U-boats were sinking only some three-quarters of the tonnage.
44:32More significantly, U-boat losses were growing at an alarming rate.
44:37The conventional submarines, which had fared so well in the first winter of the war, were
44:43now highly vulnerable to the Allied hunter-killer groups.
44:52It became rare for a U-boat to survive more than two sorties.
44:59This awful statistic meant that it was impossible to produce experienced crews, and many new submarines
45:06were put to sea commanded by just one officer in his twenties, with less than the full crew.
45:12Very often, both the ship and its young crew were lost on their first voyage.
45:18The commander of U-534 was just 26 when his ship was sunk by depth charges from an RAF Liberator.
45:27Fortunately for Capitan-Leutnant Nollau and his crew, they were hit while still on the surface,
45:33and all 53 hands got out alive.
45:37Theirs was a rare escape.
45:44On all fronts, the Allies were winning the electronic surveillance war.
45:58By March 1943, the air cover gap was bridged, which meant that no part of the Atlantic was
46:05out of range of aircraft from Britain or America.
46:09British Wellingtons and American Liberators fitted with long-range tanks meant that there
46:15was no safe haven for U-boats to surface and recharge their batteries.
46:21A chance capture of the secret German Enigma codebook from a crippled U-boat was to have disastrous
46:27consequences. All signals to U-boats were coded and could only be decoded on the Enigma codebook.
46:34For months, the German commanders were unaware that their codes had been broken.
46:39Once again, losses rose dramatically.
46:44In the single month of May 1943, over 40 U-boats were destroyed.
46:50Dönitz was finally forced to order the withdrawal of the U-boat fleet from the North Atlantic.
46:56The Germans had lost the battle, and with it, all chance of strangling the fortress island of Britain.
47:11With the U-boat fleet under intolerable pressure, the German surface fleet was by now largely impotent.
47:21The Scharnhorst made one last sortie before being engaged and sunk in a skilful night action,
47:28and almost a year later, the last chapter in the demise of Germany's grand fleet was written.
47:38The Tirpitz, which Hitler himself had launched five years previously,
47:43was bombed at anchor and went down with one thousand of her crew.
47:47She had been nearly three years in Norwegian waters, during which time she'd attracted 17 major attacks.
47:56Yet her huge armaments had never once been used against enemy shipping.
48:03Technological improvements were sought on the German side, but it was always too little, too late.
48:09In 1944, the snorkel device was introduced, which, by feeding air to the engines, enabled U-boats to run submerged
48:18for longer periods.
48:19This reduced the dangers of air attack, but speed and flexibility were lost,
48:24and in rough seas, the crews had to contend with choking and toxic fumes.
48:31When the Allies sent their vast D-Day invasion fleet across the channel in June 1944, the U-boat struck
48:39one last defiant blow.
48:46Forty-five submarines were amassed to strike the Allied fleet. Thirty were lost.
48:58Nonetheless, 56,000 tons of Allied shipping were destroyed.
49:04As if it were a real consolation, the German propaganda ministry calculated that to inflict comparable losses by bombing,
49:129,000 aircraft sorties would have been required.
49:23The Pyrrhic victory, if it could be called that, was to be their last success.
49:28But to the last hour of the last day of the war, the U-boats continued to fulfil their duties.
49:35U-534 is a rarity.
49:38She survived from 1942 right through to the second last day of the war.
49:44Even then, her young captain and his crew rode the luck, surviving the sinking,
49:49to be rescued by one of the few remaining German surface ships.
49:54In the early months of 1945, as armies battered Germany from east and west,
50:01the war in Europe came to its inevitable close.
50:05Nolau and his crew slipped out of harbour on a mission to escape for Argentina and safety.
50:11They were caught by the ever-present Allied Air Force and sunk by two depth charges.
50:18Like U-534, Hitler's grand designs died with him in the chancellery bunker.
50:25He was replaced as head of state by, of all people, Admiral Dönitz.
50:30And fittingly, it was Dönitz who issued the order for the U-boats to cease hostilities.
50:36My U-boat men, six years of warfare lies behind us. You have fought like lions against a crushingly superior
50:46force, but unbroken in your warlike courage, you are laying down your arms after an heroic fight which knows no
50:54equal.
50:55In reverence, we think of our comrades who have died. Comrades, maintain your U-boat spirit with which you fought
51:04most bravely and unflinchingly during the long years.
51:08It was a poignant valediction to a brave and dedicated fighting force.
51:15Of a total of 39,000 men, 5,000 had been captured and 28,000 killed in action.
51:24Churchill wrote of the U-boats,
51:30Man's fear of hidden and deadly perils and of a predator that stalked its prey has reserved for the U
51:38-boat a well-deserved reputation.
51:41The U-boat was Germany's most sinister and ruthless weapon of destruction.
52:13The U-boats
Comments