Page 66 - All About History - Issue 19-14

The Deadly Wolfpack

Taming the
wolfpack
How the Allies defeated the
U-boat threat German U-boats surrender
at Lisahally, Northern
The ‘Happy Time’ of 1940 came to an end for Ireland, 25 May 1945
the U-boats as Allied anti-submarine warfare
(ASW) capabilities improved. RAF aircraft
were now equipped with radar and started to
hunt boats on the surface. The first successful
employment of radar against German U-boats
brought about the neutering of U-99 and U-100
in March 1941. In May 1941, the improved Type
271 radar was fitted to British warships and in
July the first High Frequency Direction Finder
(HFDF) equipment was installed on Royal Navy
ships. This could track U-boats, allowing the
RAF and Royal Navy to target them. In 1943,
the Allies seized the initiative when they put
more escorts and carriers into the Atlantic and
closed the mid-Atlantic ‘air gap’ by launching
long-range bombers from North America,
Iceland and the UK. During 1943, only 451 Allied
merchant ships were lost, less than half the
number sunk in the previous year.

to wear the same clothes throughout the entire Added to this monotony was the continuous in a Type VII; the rest of the crew ate where they
duration of the voyage. climate in the boat. A U-boat might pass from cold stood. The quality of what they ate, though, was
Type VII submarines like Kretschmer’s U-99, or European waters to the tropics, but conditions good. Hitler’s navy, or Kriegsmarine, valued its
Lüth’s Type IX boats, like U-138 or U-181, operated inside would remain the same. No regular time submariners’ health and fed them well, especially at
with a crew of over 40 men, and each sailor had to was set aside for sleeping for the crew either, “since the start of the voyage as the cook worked his way
share the confined space with hundreds of tons of mostofthefightingisdoneatnight,”accordingto through the fresh fruit and vegetables. Normally,
fuel, equipment and weaponry. Every inch of space alcohol was forbidden. “However, the men are very
on board the sub was utilised; cooked meats hung “Life on board grateful if they can take a swig from the bottle now
suspended from the overhead piping and the smell and then on a special occasion, as when a steamer
of diesel hung heavy in the odorous air. The stench was dangerous, has been sunk,” said Lüth. Given the successes
was part of everyday life for a U-boat crew. claustrophobic, enjoyed by Lüth’s and Kretschmer’s crews, these
The unsanitary nature of U-boat service was commanders must have seen their private booze
made all the more pronounced by the lack of unsanitary and supplies dwindle rapidly.
sufficient toilet facilities. The Type VII, for instance, Those who served aboard the U-boats sacrificed
was fitted with two toilets, although one was not for the faint- much in the service of their country. Not only did
invariably removed from service to make extra hearted” they endure great discomfort and hardship during
room for supplies, leaving the entire crew to share their everyday existence; they also suffered a
just one working system, which could not be used Lüth. When sleeping was permitted, the conditions shockingly high death rate. Close to 40,000 men
once the U-boat dived more than 24 metres (80 were uncomfortable, with the majority of the crew served in the U-boat Waffe and all but 7,000 died
feet) below the surface. sleeping in slim bunks that were slotted in either at sea. Germany lost more than 750 submarines
A U-boat mission could easily last up to six side of the central passageway. The men coming during WWII. Still, the deep-sea aces – warriors like
months —Lüth once spent seven-and-a-half months off duty clambered into a cot surrendered by a man Silent Otto, Wolfgang Lüth or Joachim Schepke –
at sea — and life on board could be monotonous going on duty – personal space was an unheard-of wrought chaos among Allied shipping. By the war’s
until the action kicked in. “There is no constant luxury. Those serving in the torpedo room and end in 1945, the sea-borne marauders had sunk
change between day and night, for the lights have not housed in the smattering of bunks wedged more than 14 million tonnes of merchant shipping;
to burn all the time inside the boat,” said Lüth. between the equipment and missiles were forced to the German submariners were brave men and their
“There are no Sundays and no weekdays, and there sleep on the floor. gallantry deserves its place in the history books.
is no regular change of seasons. Therefore life is When it came to mealtimes, officers and NCOs Churchill was right to fear the U-boats – they very
monotonous and without rhythm.” dined around a table, but there was no mess area nearly cost him the war.

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