German Submarine Warfare 1914-1918 in the Eyes - British Naval ...
German Submarine Warfare 1914-1918 in the Eyes - British Naval ...
German Submarine Warfare 1914-1918 in the Eyes - British Naval ...
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Lessons Learned: <strong>British</strong> <strong>in</strong>telligence<br />
Insiders were not bl<strong>in</strong>d to <strong>the</strong> system’s deficiencies. They were quite conscious<br />
that precious time was be<strong>in</strong>g lost <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> process from decipher<strong>in</strong>g to analysis to<br />
reach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> front, and that coord<strong>in</strong>ation between <strong>the</strong> army and navy never m<strong>in</strong>d<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>in</strong>telligence branches, was severely want<strong>in</strong>g. Assign<strong>in</strong>g blame reached a peak<br />
<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> summer of 1916 when Room 40 deciphered <strong>German</strong> naval messages dur<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>the</strong> runn<strong>in</strong>g Battle of Jutland a scant few m<strong>in</strong>utes after <strong>the</strong>y had been sent, but<br />
could not expeditiously pass <strong>the</strong>m on to Admiral Jellicoe. It has been argued that<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>telligence failure denied him <strong>the</strong> opportunity to annihilate <strong>the</strong> High Seas<br />
Fleet. The battle outcome was <strong>in</strong>conclusive. The <strong>German</strong>s escaped. Reorganisation<br />
of Room 40 followed, but it was not before <strong>1918</strong> that <strong>the</strong> system worked to <strong>the</strong><br />
satisfaction of its staff and <strong>the</strong> benefit of <strong>the</strong> Royal Navy.<br />
<strong>German</strong> submar<strong>in</strong>e warfare <strong>1914</strong>-<strong>1918</strong><br />
Table 7: U-boat merchant war 1915-<strong>1918</strong>, North Sea and Atlantic 39<br />
5.000<br />
4.500<br />
4.000<br />
3.500<br />
3.000<br />
2.500<br />
2.000<br />
1.500<br />
1.000<br />
500<br />
0<br />
864<br />
716<br />
1 000 BRT sunk<br />
Uboats out per day on merchant war<br />
BRT sunk per uboat and day out<br />
500<br />
952<br />
4.343<br />
416<br />
1.790<br />
201<br />
2 5 29 29<br />
1915 1916 1917 <strong>1918</strong><br />
Table 7 presents somewhat of an enigma. For <strong>the</strong> North Sea and Atlantic <strong>in</strong><br />
1915, an average of two <strong>German</strong> ocean-go<strong>in</strong>g submar<strong>in</strong>es per day patrolled off <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>British</strong> Isles with <strong>the</strong> mission to seek out and destroy merchant shipp<strong>in</strong>g. The<br />
“BRT sunk” numbers show that <strong>in</strong> 1915 merchant vessels amount<strong>in</strong>g to 716 000<br />
BRT were sunk by submar<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> North Sea and Atlantic. Per boat on cruise<br />
this makes a daily average of 864 BRT sunk.<br />
38 Halpern, <strong>Naval</strong> History, p. 367.<br />
39 Numbers based on: NA, HW 7/3; on: NA/ADM 137/3921; on: NA, ADM 137/4817; on: NA,<br />
ADM 137/4814; on: NA, ADM 1/8509/1; on: Sp<strong>in</strong>dler, Handelskrieg; on: Bendler, UB- und UC-<br />
Boote.<br />
xxi<br />
1000<br />
750<br />
500<br />
250<br />
0