- 21 hours ago
For educational purposes
Perhaps the most important victory won by the allies in the West was the triumph over the deadly German U-boat.
Once a harbinger of death for merchant shipping and its escorts, by 1943 the British and American fleets had gained the upper hand and the U-boat had become the hunted rather than the hunter.
This film features extensive footage from the Battle of the Atlantic, and of U-534 the last surviving U-Boat in Western Europe, it was sunk in the Baltic in 1945 and raised again to the surface intact in 1993.
On board U-534 the treasures of World War II were preserved as if in aspic. Now for the first time in over 50 years we can experience again the claustrophobic world of the U-boats.
Perhaps the most important victory won by the allies in the West was the triumph over the deadly German U-boat.
Once a harbinger of death for merchant shipping and its escorts, by 1943 the British and American fleets had gained the upper hand and the U-boat had become the hunted rather than the hunter.
This film features extensive footage from the Battle of the Atlantic, and of U-534 the last surviving U-Boat in Western Europe, it was sunk in the Baltic in 1945 and raised again to the surface intact in 1993.
On board U-534 the treasures of World War II were preserved as if in aspic. Now for the first time in over 50 years we can experience again the claustrophobic world of the U-boats.
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LearningTranscript
00:01On June the 21st, 1919, in the dark, calm waters of Scarpa Flow in the Orkneys, the grand fleet of
00:10the Imperial German Navy, interned by the British after World War I, scuttled its ships in one last act of
00:18defiance towards its captains.
00:21In a few brief moments, German sea power literally disappeared from the face of the earth. Yet only 20 years
00:30later, the naval forces of the Third Reich would again challenge British supremacy of the oceans. Once again, the U
00:38-boats would be at the cutting edge of the battle.
01:02The U-boats would be at the cutting edge of the sea.
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.
02:05Very 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.
02:18And 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.
03:09The Scharnhorst.
03:11The Prince Eugen.
03:13And 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.
03:53Despite the impressive start he'd made to the Navy, Hitler'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.
04:40Conservancy and Norway.
04:50Were both in a phase 30,000 soldiers on the sea.
04:52The voices of the U.S. Army teams that had lived by the Navy.
04:56The kolossist in the military war was completely abandoned with the soldiers on the sea.
05:02But it was a terrible state.
05:03training ship with her ancient armament she opened fire on the fortress for the
05:17Kriegsmarine war had begun once again they had to contend with the prospect
05:22of powerful Allied navies the war had come several years too early for the
05:30German Navy in the latter years of the 1930s Germany had embarked upon an
05:36ambitious construction program for 200 U-boats but by the time war broke out
05:44fewer than 50 were operational Grand Admiral Eric Raider's message to the
05:54fleet commanders ordering them to take our battle stations ended on a note of
05:59finality gentlemen we have no choice total engagement die with dignity although her
06:10ships were superbly engineered and very modern in design the Kriegsmarine was
06:15still highly outnumbered by the Royal Navy fleet-to-fleet conflict was therefore
06:20unthinkable but when they could choose the place and time the German Navy was able to
06:26operate remarkably effectively at the cutting edge of those operations were
06:34the U-boats the U-boats which were at sea were divided into three main categories
06:41the small type 2 class was used for coastal patrol and mine laying the type 7 for
06:47medium endurance operations and the double hulled type 9 for oceanic warfare
06:54fittingly this crumbling survivor of the U-boat fleets was an ocean-going craft she was actually on her
07:01way to Argentina and safety when she was sunk on the second to last day of the war
07:09when U-534 settled onto the muddy floor of the Baltic the open hatchways through which her crew had escaped
07:16rapidly allowed the silt of the seabed to fill the submarine in this way the treasures of World War II
07:24were preserved as if in Aspic pencil notes on log books can still be read discarded uniforms
07:32gramophone records books food stocks and even an old ship's broom are still there as if it were yesterday
07:41most eerily of all when she was raised to the surface the Kriegs marine flag still hung limply from her
07:49masthead
07:52fortunately for U-534 she was hit was still on the surface a death charge which had lodged next to
07:59the conning tower exploded on being rolled into the sea rendering the ship unsubmersible a second depth charge blew in
08:07the side of the craft all of her crew managed to escape the sinking
08:11even the five crew members trapped in the hull survived as she sank to the bottom and settled in the
08:18shallow depths they escaped through the torpedo tubes
08:23although three crewmen later died of exposure U-534 was not a war grave so she could be salvaged and
08:31we are spared the awful resonances from hundreds of other U-boat sinkings
08:35where the steel hull is also a coffin for her crew
08:40there is a sense of justice in the fact that the sinking of the U-boat should rank among the
08:45very last acts of that titanic conflict because on the first day of the war it was a U-boat
08:52that torpedoed and sank the passenger liner Athenia in flagrant breach of international law
08:59the leader of the U-boat fleet was admiral Karl Dönitz a submarine veteran of the great war under him
09:07the U-boat fleet enjoyed immediate and startling success in the Atlantic and the North Sea they knew from experience
09:15that the coming campaign would be brutal and savage there was no room for sentimentality this was to be a
09:23dirty nasty and devious fight to the death
09:27the first casualty was to be human decency in a taste of what was to come survivors from stricken merchant
09:36ships were machine gunned as they struggled to life rafts although it was not habitual acts like this certainly took
09:44place on more than one occasion
09:52the sudden onset of war had left the giant merchant fleets of Britain scattered across the oceans of the world
09:59as the unescorted and defenseless ships dashed frantically for safe havens they fell easy prey to the U-boats and
10:07the auxiliary cruisers
10:11throughout the winter months there was massive destruction of allied shipping this destruction took place frequently on the surface the
10:20U-boat would sink the unarmed ships by fire from its deck gun
10:24although this was a dangerous maneuver there was often no choice German torpedoes were plagued by development problems which caused
10:32many to fail to explode
10:35in early 1939 hurried arrangements were implemented for British merchant ships to travel in tight escorted convoys which allowed the
10:44unarmed ships to be guided by destroyers and cruisers
10:48in these early days the system was clumsy and the speed of the convoy was that of the slowest ship
10:55but it significantly increased the chances of survival overall
11:02in 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 submarine menace
11:21the vast sea waves provided ample scope for an elusive U-boat
11:26the chances of discovering a U-boat were minimal and the British warships themselves were not immune from danger
11:33on September the 17th the aircraft carrier courageous was sunk with the loss of over 500 men
11:40it was a major loss to the Royal Navy
11:51in a daring solo run
11:53in a daring solo run
11:54U-boat 47
11:55under the command of
11:56Leutnant Prine
11:58under cover of darkness
11:59found a passage into scarper flow
12:02and sank the Royal Oak
12:04stricken battleships settled
12:06amidst the wreckage of the old German Imperial Fleet
12:11833 British seamen died
12:13whilst the U-47 escaped unscathed
12:19Leutnant Prine and his crew returned to a hero's welcome in Germany
12:25enthusiasm reached new heights
12:27when it was revealed that Dönitz himself had masterminded the raid
12:31he'd gained experience of the harbour during his time as a captive with the German fleet
12:36after the First World War
12:38Dönitz's personal role in the raid was widely publicised
12:42and he played it to full advantage
12:46Dönitz was rewarded with promotion
12:48and he used his new celebrity status to extract a promise from Hitler
12:53to 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
13:29Admiral Rader, the architect of the Kriegsmarine
13:32who was a fine strategist
13:34and his subordinate Dönitz
13:36who was an outstanding fleet commander
13:38both were products of the Imperial German Navy
13:42this was a class instilled with a deep sense of duty
13:45and obedience to the state
13:47neither condoned Hitler's regime
13:50and both contrived to avoid the politics and intrigue of Berlin
13:56the two men agreed that the key to victory over Britain
13:59lay in cutting supply lines
14:01but they could not agree as to how best this might be achieved
14:06Dönitz strongly advocated the submarine weapon
14:09whereas Rader favoured the grand battle fleet
14:12the stalemate was about to be decided by events
14:27the pocket battleship Graf Spee at large in the Indian Ocean
14:32had sunk nine ships by December of 1939
14:35when she was sighted by three British cruisers
14:38the engagement left the ship badly damaged
14:41and she took refuge for the maximum of four days
14:44in neutral Montevideo harbour
14:47mistakenly believing that his ship
14:49faced certain destruction by a superior British force
14:53her captain sailed the Graf Spee to the harbour mouth
14:56and ordered the magazines to be blown
14:59on learning of his error he shot himself
15:02for Hitler and his high command
15:05it was a humiliating debacle under the full gaze of the world
15:11the success of the U-boats compared to the humiliation
15:15suffered by the Graf Spee
15:16swung the tide of opinion behind Dönitz and his U-boats
15:23for the Kriegsmarine the main burden of the surface fight at sea
15:27was now carried by the smaller craft destroyers torpedo boats and mine layers
15:36in the early months of the war the most successful weapon employed by the surface fleet
15:40was the mine
15:42of these the most effectual and the most feared was the magnetic mine
15:46unnoticed by British observers
15:49German destroyers clandestinely completed 11 mine laying missions off the English coast
15:55even venturing into the Thames estuary itself
15:59the mines wreaked havoc amongst the channel traffic
16:03sixty-seven ships including two destroyers were lost
16:08these losses added to the steadily rising toll taken by the U-boats
16:14clearly showed the way ahead
16:17the U-boats had won the political war
16:21but could they also be relied upon to win the real war?
16:25it seemed Hitler needed one more lesson to convince him
16:42in April 1940 Hitler launched a pre-emptive strike against Norway
16:47he 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 2
17:11the Kriegsmarine committed the greater part of its surface fleet
17:15and the U-boat fleet was recalled from the Atlantic to provide protection
17:24the Allies knew nothing of German intentions
17:27and it was only a chance sighting that led to the first naval engagement
17:32in which the German cruiser HIPAA was left severely damaged
17:44the Norwegian shore batteries took a bruising toll of the German shipping
17:48and from out to sea the Royal Navy too was closing in
17:54although the U-boat fleet attacked 20 British warships
17:57not one of the actions succeeded
18:00as the torpedoes which struck had failed to detonate
18:04a solution would soon be found
18:07but not soon enough to prevent a humiliating setback for Dönitz and the Kriegsmarine
18:14in the battle which followed the cost to the German surface fleet was considerable
18:20the heavy cruiser BlĂĽcher and the HIPAA were crippled
18:24and 13 destroyers were lost
18:27the Kriegsmarine's operational surface fleet was reduced to one heavy cruiser
18:31two light cruisers and four destroyers
18:36Hitler consoled his adjutants with the less than convincing sentiment that
18:40if the German Navy were to do nothing else in the war
18:44it had amply justified its existence by its contribution to the Norwegian campaign
18:51ironically his words were to prove highly prophetic
18:54from 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
19:14the acquisition of French and Norwegian coasts increased the westward range of the U-boats
19:20and in the five months to October 1940
19:25274 merchant ships were sunk for the loss of only six U-boats
19:38for Britain such loss rates were unsustainable
19:41there was a real possibility that Britain could be starved into submission
19:46a concerted submarine offensive mounted at this stage of the war could have proved decisive
19:53yet despite Dönitz's pleas he was denied the resources to exploit this golden opportunity
20:01in 1939 the first year of the war 28 new U-boats were built
20:07but these were exactly enough to replace those which had been lost
20:11Hitler had reneged on his earlier promise
20:19amongst the intrigues and power brokers of the Nazi hierarchy
20:23the Kriegsmarine was poorly represented
20:26and came a poor third to the army and the Luftwaffe in the allocation of resources
20:31not only was the Nazi system corrupt it was also inefficient
20:36as 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
20:53a naval air arm could not be developed
20:56in the war at sea close cooperation between air and sea forces was paramount
21:01but no German aircraft carrier was ever launched
21:06for the whole of 1939 and into 1940 the U-boats operated blind
21:12it was not until the late summer of 1940
21:15that the Kriegsmarine received effective air power
21:19in the form of a limited quantity of long-range Focke-Wulf condors
21:23working directly with the U-boats
21:27in the first two months of operations
21:32in the first two months of operations
21:33thirty allied ships were sunk
21:42despite their limited resources
21:45by the autumn of 1940
21:47Dönitz and his captains had perfected new tactics
21:51chief among these was the evolution of the Wolfpack
21:56it was an efficient mode of attack against the Atlantic convoys
22:01which were still only lightly escorted
22:06the huge Atlantic sea lanes were patrolled by dispersed groups of U-boats
22:11each operating independently
22:13when an individual boat sighted a convoy
22:16the position was signaled to base control
22:20expertly coordinated by Dönitz and his staff
22:23the other U-boats rapidly gathered together to converge on the prey
22:28shadowing the convoy by day and attacking by night
22:33there were several reasons for preferring the night attack
22:36while it was submerged a U-boat travelled very slowly
22:40eight knots was the maximum practical speed
22:43and the duration of the dive was strictly limited
22:47on the surface a U-boat could maintain sixteen knots
22:51giving the boats a hugely increased range
22:55in the early stages of the war
22:57the convoy still relied mainly on visual observation
23:00to detect submarines
23:01in the dark the low profile of the U-boat was easily missed
23:06the U-boats much larger targets were clearly silhouetted against the sky
23:12particularly if another vessel had been set alight
23:16as they gained experience in their deadly trade
23:20the 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
23:42their working world had become a nightmare
23:45they had to endure weeks of tension
23:48anxiously waiting in their noisy uncomfortable ships
23:51hoping against hope that this time it was not their turn
23:57if a torpedo struck there was little chance of survival
24:00no other ship would dare come to their rescue
24:03as they too would almost certainly fall victim to the prowling U-boat
24:17in the early years of the war the British had two devices for detecting submarines
24:22the first was the hydrophone
24:24a simple listening device which could detect propeller noise
24:29it could be defeated by the submarine shutting down its engine
24:32and it could only be used if the ship also stopped its own propellers
24:37much more was expected of the ASDIC
24:40a device which emitted high frequency sound
24:43and detected the reflections from the submarine
24:48the searching vessel could continue at full speed
24:51and could determine the submarine's position and course
24:55infuriatingly the early ASDIC sets lost the signal when they were immediately over the submarine
25:01making the accurate placing of the depth charges difficult
25:05additionally the U-boat crew alerted by the distinctive ping of the ASDIC
25:10would often alter course and slip away
25:16during the early phase of the war known to their crews as the happy time
25:20the most successful U-boat commanders acquired celebrity status
25:25akin to that of the Luftwaffe's fighter races
25:28the public adulation was hard earned
25:30the submariners were a breed apart
25:38this is the interior of HMS Onyx
25:41a British submarine built in the 1950s
25:44but the claustrophobic interior layout
25:47was not dissimilar to the cramped world of the U-boat crews
25:51who shared their dangers with a fierce sense of pride and companionship
25:57describing life on a U-boat
25:59one captain said
26:00it is my job as a submarine commander to sink ships
26:04to do this I need a cooperative crew
26:07so that everything clicks
26:09life aboard is monotonous for long stretches
26:12for many long periods
26:15one must be able to bear failures
26:17and when death charges are added
26:19life becomes a war of nerves
26:22life aboard a submarine is unnatural and unhealthy
26:26there is no change between night and day
26:29and the lights have to burn all the time
26:32there is no regular time for sleeping as most fighting is done at night
26:36in a submarine there is no margin for error
26:40you are either alive or dead
26:46amongst the enemy the U-boats aroused fear and loathing
26:50their mode of warfare was utterly ruthless
26:53cunning and impersonal
26:56despite this a U-boat crew was an assortment of very human individuals
27:01living and fighting under exceptionally harsh conditions
27:05they remained in their uncomfortable claustrophobic vessels for perhaps months at a time
27:11rarely seeing daylight
27:13lack of water meant men sported beards
27:15and they lived in a cramped malodorous world of sweat, oil, noise and heat
27:24in addition to the unforgiving seas
27:27they knew if their craft were hit there was little chance of escape
27:32when pursued by a destroyer they must all endure that fear known only to the U-bird crew
27:39they huddled silently together tensely listening to the throb of engines overhead
27:45they knew that one well-placed depth charge would turn their underwater home into a steel grave
27:53a damaged hull would be marked by a torrent of water
27:57which would rapidly engulf the craft taking it to the bottom
28:02if the craft were merely damaged so that control was lost
28:05the hapless crew could do nothing but wait until it sank to the depth at which the hull imploded
28:14the worst nightmare was to be trapped alive on the floor of the ocean
28:19with the slow prospect of death by asphyxiation
28:25despite the dangers the U-boat pack still enjoyed success
28:30and as the magnitude of shipping losses sharply increased in late 1940
28:35the British raced to develop a counter to Durnitz's wolf packs
28:40to the U-boat sailors this period of easy victories was still the happy time
29:05by comparison with the submarines the performance of the main German surface
29:10of his fleet remained very poor fearful of the repetition of the humiliation which befell the Graf Spee
29:17Hitler had ordered his ships to avoid confrontation with any but inferior forces
29:24but Hitler's instructions could not always be followed
29:37in May 1941 the new battleship Bismarck
29:42accompanied by the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen
29:45were engaged by a British naval force southwest of Iceland
29:49the Germans fought back fiercely destroying the British battlecruiser Hood and crippling the battleship Prince of Wales
29:57but the Bismarck herself had been hit and in the continuing fighting suffered further damage from an airstrike launched from
30:06the Ark Royal
30:13there 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
30:25with it went any last thoughts of fighting a surface campaign
30:32the U-boat remained the Kriegsmarine's best weapon
30:36but its dominance too would soon be challenged
31:01in 1941 the end of the German invasion threat allowed extra British destroyers to be released for convoy duties
31:10every additional warship was desperately needed
31:13as the numbers grew the escorts also developed better tactical methods
31:18aided by the rapid improvements in wireless communications
31:23ironically the cohesiveness which made the Wolfpack so successful
31:28was also the Achilles heel which rendered them vulnerable
31:31when it became necessary for dispersed U-boats to gather together to form a Wolfpack
31:37regular wireless contact with base was inevitable
31:41a new British apparatus the high-frequency direction finder HFDF or HuffDuff
31:48allowed escort ships accurately to locate a U-boat from its frequent radio signals
31:54HuffDuff was a success but also introduced in 1941 was another device
32:00that changed the whole pattern of the war at sea
32:05during the course of 1941
32:08radar 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
32:22but under the Nazi regime its potential had not been realized
32:26research was erratic
32:28their first countermeasure to the new detection system was 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
32:52the range over which they could seek out the enemy was also extended
32:58the happy time was over
33:02an 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
33:19however the supply of new U-boats was improving rapidly
33:23and Dönitz also deployed a number of submarines released from duties in the channel
33:28the moment of decision in the U-boat war was now imminent
33:48June 1941 saw one of the war's most momentous turning points
33:53Hitler's ill-fated invasion of the Soviet Union
33:57the hazardous Allied convoy route along the North Atlantic to Mamansk and Archangel
34:03would soon become a new hunting ground for the U-boats
34:09by late June 1941 the first U-boats appeared in Arctic waters
34:15the most dangerous and inhospitable seas in the world
34:18they preyed on the Allied convoys carrying supplies for the Soviet war effort
34:24for the sailors of both sides conditions in the Arctic were appalling
34:29a numbing unending nightmare of fog ice and blizzards
34:35although 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
35:09where the British were endeavouring to supply the garrison at Malta
35:12from their Egyptian bases and through the Gibraltar Straits
35:17despite their large and modern fleet
35:20the 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
35:29at the same time the British were exacting heavy losses on the Italian convoys
35:35supplying the Axis armies in North Africa to the extent that the entire Africa Corps was in jeopardy
35:41to move the wolf packs away from the Atlantic at such a crucial stage
35:46was undoubtedly a grave strategic blunder
35:49though not entirely without compensation
35:57in their new sphere of action the U-boats not only claimed valuable supply shipping
36:03but also sank three destroyers and the carrier Ark Royal
36:07the price however was high
36:10seven U-boats with their battle-seasoned crews were lost
36:20although the submarine arm was growing in size so too were its commitments
36:25by the end of 1941 the U-boats were attempting to patrol three entirely separate operational zones
36:34the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Arctic
36:51in December 1941 the Japanese attacked the U-S base at Pearl Harbor
36:59and days later Hitler declared war on the United States
37:19up to this time the Kriegsmarine had respected America's neutrality and its coastal security zone
37:29Dönitz now launched an immediate all-out attack on American merchant shipping
37:43he only had five U-boats available but he used this slender force to lethal effect
37:59the US command had learned little from British experiences and 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
38:19the prospect of a second happy time loomed for the U-boats
38:24but once again the pendulum would swing against them
38:31in mid-1942 the British perfected a compact airborne radar system
38:37which could detect a surfaced submarine from several miles distance
38:41the unprepared U-boat commander could now expect to be surprised by allied aircraft
38:47dropping out of the clouds and flying 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
39:06gave the submarines just enough warning of an approaching aircraft
39:10for them to crash dive to safety
39:13the pendulum had swung back tentatively in favor of the U-boats
39:17and by October the air sweeps were again ineffective
39:25once again allied shipping losses spiraled
39:28and in March 1943 alone 627,000 tons were lost
39:57with both Britain and America at war with Germany
40:01the air gap that portion of the Atlantic out of reach to allied allies
40:05aircraft was substantially reduced
40:08with new better types of aircraft the air gap continued to close
40:12the vast industrial resources of the U.S. soon began to produce the much needed carriers
40:18and radar equipped aircraft
40:25increasingly the wolf packs were supplied, re-armed and even repaired at sea
40:30it was a dangerous operation even in calm weather and without the prospect of enemy attack
40:36so great was the allied domination of the oceans
40:39that the supply ships themselves were usually specially adapted submarines
41:07by 1943 with the arrival of larger craft
41:11U-boats sailing from Japanese controlled submarines
41:14penetrated the Indian Ocean and the waters down to South Africa
41:18but these forays were little more than a token gesture to Hitler's Japanese allies
41:32the Kriegs marines war remained centred on Europe and the Atlantic
41:36the Atlantic
41:37the Atlantic
42:17the British and American strategic bombing offensive was wreaking daily destruction on German cities
42:18by this time the British and American strategic bombing offensive was wreaking daily destruction on German cities
42:24the Kriegs marine could not remain immune when the bases at Hamburg were devastated
42:30furthermore the demands of the Russian front constituted a huge drain on all available manpower and the ships
42:36for war 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
43:00everywhere the German forces were in retreat
43:13in January
43:15Rader was driven to resign
43:17he had been increasingly frustrated
43:19at the stream of contradictory orders
43:22and impossible demands 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
43:46P
43:54the balance was tipping against the Kriegs marine in the Atlantic
43:59the rate of Allied ship building was climbing far above losses
44:04in the first three months of 1940 when on average 14 new boats were on patrol
44:11over 800,000 tons of Allied shipping had been sunk in a similar period in 1943 with 115 boats
44:21operating the tally was only 550,000 tons 100 more u-boats were sinking only some three-quarters of
44:31the tonnage more significantly u-boat losses were growing at an alarming rate the conventional
44:38submarines which had fared so well in the first winter of the war were now highly vulnerable to
44:44the Allied hunter-killer groups it became rare for a u-boat to survive more than two sorties this
44:59awful 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 20s with less than the full crew very often
45:13both
45:13the ship and its young crew were lost on their first voyage the commander of u-534 was just 26
45:22when his
45:23ship was sunk by depth charges from an RAF Liberator fortunately for Capitan Leutnant Nollau and his
45:31crew they were hit while still on the surface and all 53 hands got out alive theirs was a rare
45:38escape
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 out of
46:05range of
46:06aircraft from Britain or America British Wellingtons and American Liberators fitted with long-range tanks meant
46:14that there was no safe haven for u-boats to surface and recharge their batteries a chance capture of
46:22the secret German Enigma code book from a crippled u-boat was to have disastrous consequences all signals to
46:30the u-boats were coded and could only be decoded on the Enigma code book for months the German commanders
46:37were unaware that their codes had been broken once again losses rose dramatically in the single month of
46:45May 1943 over 40 u-boats were destroyed Dönitz was finally forced to order the withdrawal of the u-boat
46:54fleet fleet from the North Atlantic the Germans had lost the battle and with it all chance of strangling the
47:01fortress island of Britain with the u-boat fleet under intolerable pressure the German surface fleet was by now
47:17largely impotent the Sean Horst made one last sortie before being engaged and sunk in a skillful night
47:27action and almost a year later the last chapter in the demise of Germany's grand fleet was written
47:38the turpets which Hitler himself had launched five years previously was bombed at anchor and went down with 1,000
47:47of her crew she had been nearly three years in Norwegian waters during which time she'd
47:53attracted 17 major attacks yet 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 in 1944 the
48:11snorkel device was introduced which by feeding air to the engines enabled u-boats to run submerged for longer
48:18periods this reduced the dangers of air attack but speed and flexibility were lost and in rough seas the
48:26crews had to contend with choking and toxic fumes when the Allies sent their vast D-Day invasion fleet across
48:35the
48:35channel in June 1944 the u-boat struck one last defiant blow
48:4645 submarines were amassed to strike the Allied fleet 30 were lost
48:59nonetheless 56,000 tons of Allied shipping were destroyed as if it were a real consolation the German propaganda
49:07ministry calculated that to inflict comparable losses by bombing 9,000 aircraft sorties would have been
49:22required
49:22the pirate victory if it could be called that was to be their last success but to the last hour
49:29of the last
49:30day of the war the u-boats continued to fulfill their duties you 534 is a rarity she survived from
49:391942
49:40right through to the second last day of the war
49:43even then her young captain and his crew rode the luck surviving the sinking to be
49:50rescued by one of the few remaining German surface ships in the early months of 1945
49:57as armies battered Germany from east and west the war in Europe came to its inevitable close
50:04no allow and his crew slipped out of harbor 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 and fittingly it was
50:31Dönitz 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 were laying down your arms after an heroic fight
50:53which knows no equal in reverence we think of our comrades who have died comrades maintain your u-boat
51:02spirit with which you fought most bravely and unflinchingly during the long years
51:09it was a poignant valediction to a brave and dedicated fighting force of a total of 39,000 men
51:185,000 had been captured and 28,000 killed in action
51:23Churchill wrote of the u-boats they were the only thing that really frightened me
51:29man's fear of hidden and deadly perils and of a predator that stalked its prey
51:36has reserved for the u-boat a well-deserved reputation
51:40the u-boat was germany's most sinister and ruthless weapon of destruction
51:47the u-boat is a cute boy
51:49to an escape from the u-boat
51:54the u-boat is a great deal
52:03the u-boat is an u-boat
52:05the u-boat is an u-boat
52:14the u-boat is a natural
52:17so just a Rein did uh
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