"Wolves of Deniz" and submarines of the Third Reich

The importance of sea communications in the Second World War can not be overestimated. Since 1939, the issues of supplying troops, delivering military aid, food, fuel, medicines and other strategic goods directly influenced the ability of Britain to withstand the onslaught of Nazi Germany.

Since 1941, Lend-Lease supplies to the belligerent Soviet Union have plagued Hitler, and he has done everything to prevent the northern convoys on their way to Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. The most important role in this battle was played by Luftwaffe aircraft and submarines of the Third Reich.

The role of submarines in the naval theater of war was estimated in the years of the First World War. Despite the imperfection of the technical base, the main technical solutions, which became the basis of modern models, were worked out just then. After the defeat, Germany lost the right to have a full-fledged military fleet, and in the ensuing years of economic stagnation it was not up to him.

However, there were people who dreamed of a rematch. Erich Raeder, the hero of the sea battles, and the admiral, who became minister after the scandalous resignation of his predecessor Adolf Zenker, in a secrecy environment, developed a program for the revival of the Kriegsmarine.

Submarines of the Third Reich officially took up combat duty after 1935. The Treaty of Versailles, with the connivance of European powers, was declared invalid, and its provisions could already be ignored. In the summer of the same year in London, Germany and the United Kingdom signed an agreement canceling tonnage limits for the German Navy.

Another event in 1935, which was not appreciated in time by military experts: the submarines of the Third Reich entered the administration of Admiral Doenitz. This talented naval commander, respected and beloved by German sailors, will still create many problems.

By the beginning of the Second World War, all Reich submarines were divided into three classes: large (displacement 600-1000 tons), medium (740 tons) and shuttle (250 tons). They were few in number, there were only 46 units in the Kriegsmarine. It did not bother Deniz, he knew about the capabilities of the German shipyards and understood that it was preferable to act rather than by number.

Even then, 22 submarines were converted for long-range raids. The German leadership understood the inevitability of the conflict with the US, and was preparing to cut the sea routes across the Atlantic. Subsequently, the Reich submarines conducted bold operations near the East coast.

The effectiveness of submarines in the initial period of the war is explained by the use of new tactics, previously unknown and invented by Karl Doetz. He himself called his submarine formations "wolf packs," and their actions were fully consistent with this image.

The sea blockade of the British Isles created a direct threat to the very existence of the metropolis, not to mention its connection with the colonies. In the summer of 1940 every day 2-3 ships left for the bottom, in seven months the submarines of Deniz sank 343 units of the merchant fleet. Winston Churchill in the postwar years assessed this situation as even more critical than the outcome of the aerial "battle for England."

The new acoustic and sonar equipment of American manufacture, which was supplied to the fleets of Britain and the USSR, helped to combat the threat emanating from the ocean depths. Submarines of the Third Reich began to suffer serious losses, and the bearded "Doenitz wolves" became something like Japanese kamikazes.

From 1939 to 1945, the German shipyards produced 1162 submarines with an estimated total number of crew members of 40 thousand people. More than 30 thousand German submariners took a terrible death in their "iron coffins." On the seabed there were 790 submarines of Admiral Doenitz, who lost two sons and a nephew in this terrible war.