Hitler waited too long to see the value of the U-boats, the wolf packs, and Donitz's plans. So, what went wrong? The hunting of the wolf packs In the first months of 1942, sinkings skyrocket and Germany averages almost 900,000 tons per month, 50% higher than Donitz's plans. The U-boats often had a great idea of where convoys were, hunted in packs, and threatened Britain with collapse. Meanwhile, for all the talk of British success cracking the Enigma codes, Germany actually had great cryptological hygiene compared to the Allies and its own crack unit for breaking enemy encryption. It was a terrifying time for Allied sailors and merchant marines. In 1941, Germany expanded its U-boat construction and Donitz could keep 36 boats on patrol. on its East Coast, in the Caribbean, and in the Gulf of Mexico.Īnd Hitler eventually took notice. Indeed, after the successes of 1939-1941, Donitz even sent his U-boats across the Atlantic to attack the U.S. USS Barham underway at low speed, mid-1930s. In late 1941, U-boats sank the British carrier HMS Ark Royal and the battleship HMS Barham. Despite the tiny fleet size, they were well on their way to reaching Donitz's goal of 600,000 tons. In May 1940, U-boats sank 55,580 tons of shipping. It quickly crippled British commerce, killed half of the sailors it forced into the North Atlantic, and forced the overstretched British fleet to dedicate resources to convoy escort. The U-boats claimed 70% of the ships sunk by the Navy. The U-boat threatĭespite the tiny size of the fleet, Donitz quickly proved the effectiveness of the crews and weapons. When he was careful and saved up, Donitz could get 30 of them into the water at once, but sometimes had as few as 12 on patrol as the rest underwent maintenance or were in transit. Instead, he he started the war 43 and had just 57 when Britain joined. Raeder had limited respect for submarines and Hitler, at the start of the war, had even less.ĭonitz wanted to take the war to the British fleet and sink 600,000 tons per month. Raeder firmly focused on surface fleets, creating Plan Zebra to expand Germany's navy, largely through constructing aircraft carriers, new battleships, and cruisers. But Britain, alongside France immediately joined the conflict as Germany invaded Poland.Īnd Donitz wasn't the lead admiral speaking in Hitler's ear. He wanted to push west, punish France for its victory in World War I, conquer territory, and keep Great Britain from joining the war before turning east. Hitler's initial plans for Europe were ambitious and evil but rational. If he had just signed off on the one, admittedly very large, purchase order of U-boats from Admiral Karl Donitz, he might've won. But I have an impactful and easily overlooked alternative: A failure to properly fund his U-boat fleet, the actual wonder weapon that worked, had a good record, and could have knocked Britain and its empire out of the war. The use of amphetamines and encouraging its use by his troops? The fascination with wonder weapons?Īll solid, defendable choices. Taking on Italian failures in North Africa and committing needed resources there is also solid. If you had to decide what the stupidest thing Hitler did was, what would you pick? Besides, you know, being a racist fascist? The invasion of the Soviet Union is a good option, as is the subsequent abandonment of Moscow to split his forces against Stalingrad and the oil fields. Dönitz observing the arrival of U-94 at St Nazaire in France in June 1941.
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