Post by richard on Dec 31, 2005 13:41:37 GMT
Round One 1914 - 1918
At the time of the World War One naval power had changed war ships were now metal long gone the age of the wooded sail ship this was a new age. And a arms race started on the seas the Dreadnoughts were here both England and Germany had these warships but for Germany they had less but in there shadow was the U-Boat a new untested weapon.
It was to play more of a role than the Capital warships that Germany had through out the conflict the Germany navy stood firm in home waters until 1916 when at long last they came out to fight. The battle of Jutland bought about the great debate even to day its undecided the British claimed victory for when it was all over the German Navy bolted home and never came out of port again.
For the Germans they inflicted a greater kill rate on the British fleet and so they also claimed victory. And yet in the shadow of the capital ship the U-Boat was proving to be a formidable new weapon and came close to starving England out the war in 1917 but by then the British started to improve on the convoy system and to engage the U-Boat. On land in 1918 the Germans launched a new radical attack but unfortunately failed to follow up the break though the Allie's hit back which resulted in ending the war in Europe.
Result on the Naval war showed one thing the German navy had failed to show any real power with her capital ships and there was no real need for them for Germany the age of the U-Boat was to be there weapon at sea.
Collapse and Rebirth 1918 - 1939
Germany was to pay the price of starting the war in Europe that price was so high it would go on to spark the fuse for the next war. As a final act of defiance the Germany navy sunk many of there own ships and U-Boats. The navy was reduced in size for many years.
Until 1935 when Hitler took total control of Germany the navy was rebuilt two men head the navy from the old school Eric Reader a capital ship man. The other was from the new school of thinking the man who saw the U-Boat as the way forward Karl Donitz. This rebirth was to split the Navy right down the middle which caused conflict the lesson of the first war was not learned.
Round Two 1939 - 1945
It is true to say that this time around the German surface fleet went to war but before the end of the year the German Pocket Battle ship Graf Spee played out the last act in the Battle of the River Plate sent to the bottom by her own Captain this was a miscalculation.
In 1940 the German Navy suffered again in the Norway campaign and in 1941 the Bismarck was hunted down and destroyed not before Bismarck sent the British Battleship H.M.S Hood to the bottom in a fluke kill. Fearing his navy would fall under attack in the French ports in 1942 Hitler ordered them home in the Channel Dash (officially known as Operation Cerberus) which was a brilliant plan and was pulled off to the embracement of the British.
In 1943 England got an early Christmas present the battle of North Cape saw the last capital ship engagement the sinking of the Battle Cruiser Scharnhorst. As for the Tirpitz she was wasted in being tied up in Norway and fell under a number of different attacks causing her to be under constant repair before she finally was sunk.
Germany had some very powerful capital warships and they tied up the British fleet but in the end these ships were not used in the correct way. It’s possible to say they could have caused more damage but in reality Germany is part of Europe and the land war was far more important.
The U-Boat war was a different matter and for Churchill he saw it as action replay and the U-Boats got off to a good start the first happy times had arrived and for 1939/40 they were good times but as Hitler advanced on land this was to over stretch the U-Boat fleet Donitz said on the eve of war "This war has come seven years to early for us"
The U-Boats were sent to new hunting grounds leaving big gaps in the Atlantic 1941 saw the end of the first happy times. 1942 opened up with Hitler declaring war on the United States for the U-Boats the second happy times had arrived this was now the peak for the U-Boats the result was they failed to starve England out of the war.
The tide turned in to the Allies favour in 1943 for the U-Boats there was only one place left that was not yet patrolled by Allie aircraft it was known as torpedo ally but that to be closed by the end of the year. The U-Boats had lost the fight not because of aggression it was lost in the back rooms the war of technology the secret war.
1944/45 saw the total collapse at sea the Navy had lost and it was only a matter of time before Germany was forced to surrender.
Conclusion Germany adopted the same attitude of world war one in the second world war it would have been much better if the U-Boats were given a higher status. The age of the Battleship was over the Aircraft Carrier saw to that. Japans surprise attack on Pearl Harbour was carried out by Aircraft Carriers and with in six months America hit back at the battle of Midway.
The case for Germany was clear cut the U-Boat was there weapon it should have been mass produced and the technology kept up to date and better tactics instead of building Battleships after all when Churchill wrote his book “The only thing that really scared me was the U-Boats”
The Type XXI U-Boat was a radical design and was on the lines of a true submarine this boat should have been at sea in late 1942 early 1943.
For example on 30th April 1945 U-2511 set sail from her base at Bergan on May 4th U-2511 made contact with the British Cruiser HMS Norfolk and got within 500 meters of the warship and was not detected by the Destroyer screen. Some hours early U-2511 received the cease fire order so the captain made a dummy attack and concluded if the attack was real HMS Norfolk would had been sunk.
Richard
At the time of the World War One naval power had changed war ships were now metal long gone the age of the wooded sail ship this was a new age. And a arms race started on the seas the Dreadnoughts were here both England and Germany had these warships but for Germany they had less but in there shadow was the U-Boat a new untested weapon.
It was to play more of a role than the Capital warships that Germany had through out the conflict the Germany navy stood firm in home waters until 1916 when at long last they came out to fight. The battle of Jutland bought about the great debate even to day its undecided the British claimed victory for when it was all over the German Navy bolted home and never came out of port again.
For the Germans they inflicted a greater kill rate on the British fleet and so they also claimed victory. And yet in the shadow of the capital ship the U-Boat was proving to be a formidable new weapon and came close to starving England out the war in 1917 but by then the British started to improve on the convoy system and to engage the U-Boat. On land in 1918 the Germans launched a new radical attack but unfortunately failed to follow up the break though the Allie's hit back which resulted in ending the war in Europe.
Result on the Naval war showed one thing the German navy had failed to show any real power with her capital ships and there was no real need for them for Germany the age of the U-Boat was to be there weapon at sea.
Collapse and Rebirth 1918 - 1939
Germany was to pay the price of starting the war in Europe that price was so high it would go on to spark the fuse for the next war. As a final act of defiance the Germany navy sunk many of there own ships and U-Boats. The navy was reduced in size for many years.
Until 1935 when Hitler took total control of Germany the navy was rebuilt two men head the navy from the old school Eric Reader a capital ship man. The other was from the new school of thinking the man who saw the U-Boat as the way forward Karl Donitz. This rebirth was to split the Navy right down the middle which caused conflict the lesson of the first war was not learned.
Round Two 1939 - 1945
It is true to say that this time around the German surface fleet went to war but before the end of the year the German Pocket Battle ship Graf Spee played out the last act in the Battle of the River Plate sent to the bottom by her own Captain this was a miscalculation.
In 1940 the German Navy suffered again in the Norway campaign and in 1941 the Bismarck was hunted down and destroyed not before Bismarck sent the British Battleship H.M.S Hood to the bottom in a fluke kill. Fearing his navy would fall under attack in the French ports in 1942 Hitler ordered them home in the Channel Dash (officially known as Operation Cerberus) which was a brilliant plan and was pulled off to the embracement of the British.
In 1943 England got an early Christmas present the battle of North Cape saw the last capital ship engagement the sinking of the Battle Cruiser Scharnhorst. As for the Tirpitz she was wasted in being tied up in Norway and fell under a number of different attacks causing her to be under constant repair before she finally was sunk.
Germany had some very powerful capital warships and they tied up the British fleet but in the end these ships were not used in the correct way. It’s possible to say they could have caused more damage but in reality Germany is part of Europe and the land war was far more important.
The U-Boat war was a different matter and for Churchill he saw it as action replay and the U-Boats got off to a good start the first happy times had arrived and for 1939/40 they were good times but as Hitler advanced on land this was to over stretch the U-Boat fleet Donitz said on the eve of war "This war has come seven years to early for us"
The U-Boats were sent to new hunting grounds leaving big gaps in the Atlantic 1941 saw the end of the first happy times. 1942 opened up with Hitler declaring war on the United States for the U-Boats the second happy times had arrived this was now the peak for the U-Boats the result was they failed to starve England out of the war.
The tide turned in to the Allies favour in 1943 for the U-Boats there was only one place left that was not yet patrolled by Allie aircraft it was known as torpedo ally but that to be closed by the end of the year. The U-Boats had lost the fight not because of aggression it was lost in the back rooms the war of technology the secret war.
1944/45 saw the total collapse at sea the Navy had lost and it was only a matter of time before Germany was forced to surrender.
Conclusion Germany adopted the same attitude of world war one in the second world war it would have been much better if the U-Boats were given a higher status. The age of the Battleship was over the Aircraft Carrier saw to that. Japans surprise attack on Pearl Harbour was carried out by Aircraft Carriers and with in six months America hit back at the battle of Midway.
The case for Germany was clear cut the U-Boat was there weapon it should have been mass produced and the technology kept up to date and better tactics instead of building Battleships after all when Churchill wrote his book “The only thing that really scared me was the U-Boats”
The Type XXI U-Boat was a radical design and was on the lines of a true submarine this boat should have been at sea in late 1942 early 1943.
For example on 30th April 1945 U-2511 set sail from her base at Bergan on May 4th U-2511 made contact with the British Cruiser HMS Norfolk and got within 500 meters of the warship and was not detected by the Destroyer screen. Some hours early U-2511 received the cease fire order so the captain made a dummy attack and concluded if the attack was real HMS Norfolk would had been sunk.
Richard
