User:Oljones/History project

U-Boat

A German U-boat, otherwise referred to as a Unterseeboot, is a submarine used in Naval Warfare. They are warships, designed to sink military and merchant vessels. They were brought to popularity in World War I, when Germany started using them to sink merchant ships carrying cargo and people. U-Boat's fall into the attack submarine category, as many of them fired torpedoes at other ships. U-Boats could go basically undetected until the use of sonar and radar was used to locate them underwater.

World War I

WWI U-Boat in port.

When the U-Boat was introduced to the war, it changed the game of naval warfare immensely. They were used to locate and destroy other ships, as well as blockade off certain areas. At first, U-Boats rose to the surface to allow the crew of merchant ships to abandon ship before their vessel was attacked. Soon, however, this practice was no longer upheld, and ships were sunk without warning. This frightened many people. U-Boats became the terror of the seas by waging unrestricted war on Allied ships. Perhaps the most popular U-Boat attack was the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915. The ship was sank by U-20 U-Boat and killed over 1198 people. Recorded in many contemporary lists as a merchant cruiser of the Royal Naval Reserve, the liner was carrying cases of rifle ammunition and fuses, but the event was still shocking. The sinking of the Lusitania was looked down upon by many countries because the attack was uncalled for. The American press widely denounced what they called Germany’s act of “barbarism.” . This did not stop Germany, as many other merchant ships were sank soon after. These submarine attacks helped lead to the entry of the United Stated into the war in April 1917. Over the course of World War I, German U-Boats sank thousands of ships.

Uses

Naval Mine washed ashore.

Submarines have a variety of uses when it comes to warfare, attacking and sinking other ships are the main use, however. Torpedoes are the most common means of attack. Early U-Boats had an average of three torpedo tubes available for fire, but soon more developments were made and up to six torpedo tubes were being used. Germany was known to keep all of its ships in port during war times, and only send out U-Boats. Losing ships was something they did not want to risk. Though Germany used the U-Boats mainly for torpedo attacks, they had submarines of all shapes and sizes with different purposes. During the war, Germany built about three hundred U-Boats of all classes, with an average displacement between 550 and 850 tons. Blockades were a common practice for the Germany Navy. U-Boats are also capable of planting naval mines, which can blow a unsuspecting ship out of the water. Many U-Boats were sent out on surveillance mission, and to track the advances of others.

Anti-Submarine Warfare

Submarine Sonar.

U-Boats can patrol the undersea world undetected. Prior to Sonar and Radar, no technology was invented to located or warn of an approaching submarine. Boats were being sunk with no warning at all. The practice of surfacing and giving a ship a warning before being torpedoed was no longer being upheld by the Germans. After the sinking of the Sussex on March 24, 1916 , the United States of America started to cut all ties with Germany. In what became to be called the Sussex Pledge, the German government again promised that U-Boats would warn ships before attacking. With their ships being sunk without warning by Germans, other country’s soon began to jump into action. For all the success of the U-boats, the Allies were developing a large array of anti-submarine weapons including more modern depth charges, 'hedgehogs', 'squids' and more sophisticated radar equipment, including radar designed to see U-boats on the surface at night. Not all advances in detecting submarines were effective. Prior to World War II, the British were positive that in their active sonar (ASDIC) lay the absolute answer to the German U-boats. This did not prove to be true. Today, there are many more effective ways of location and detecting submarines.