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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oats out daily on merchant war cruises. The number of deployable ocean-go<strong>in</strong>g<br />
boats was low, reflect<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>ir modest fifteen percent average usage <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
merchant war.<br />
In 1916, <strong>the</strong> number of available ocean-go<strong>in</strong>g boats <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> North Sea and<br />
Atlantic had more than doubled, but relative usage <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> merchant war was less<br />
than <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> year prior (13%). Most available submar<strong>in</strong>es were used for military<br />
purposes, like scout<strong>in</strong>g enterprises aga<strong>in</strong>st <strong>the</strong> Grand Fleet <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> North Sea. Until<br />
<strong>the</strong> summer of 1917 a small number of ocean-go<strong>in</strong>g submar<strong>in</strong>es were on patrol <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Baltic and <strong>the</strong> Black Sea, operat<strong>in</strong>g aga<strong>in</strong>st <strong>the</strong> Russian Fleet. 1917 and <strong>1918</strong> are<br />
<strong>the</strong> pivotal years of <strong>the</strong> submar<strong>in</strong>e merchant war <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> North Sea and Atlantic,<br />
when a high number of ocean-go<strong>in</strong>g boats were made available and <strong>the</strong>ir percentile<br />
usage had more than doubled to 33% and 36% respectively.<br />
Table 10: Ocean-go<strong>in</strong>g U-boats available 1915-<strong>1918</strong> 43<br />
Oceango<strong>in</strong>gUboats<br />
avail. per<br />
day<br />
North Sea + Atlantic Mediterranean<br />
Used on<br />
military<br />
patrols per<br />
day<br />
Used on<br />
merchant<br />
war per<br />
day<br />
Avail. Uboats<br />
used on<br />
merchant<br />
war<br />
Oceango<strong>in</strong>gUboats<br />
avail. per<br />
43 Numbers based on: NA, HW 7/3; on: Sp<strong>in</strong>dler, Handelskrieg; on: Bendler, UB- und UC-Boote.<br />
xxiv<br />
day<br />
Used on<br />
military<br />
patrols per<br />
day<br />
Used on<br />
merchant<br />
war per<br />
day<br />
Avail. Uboats<br />
used<br />
on<br />
merchant<br />
war<br />
1915 15 1 2 15% 2 1 37%<br />
1916 39 6 5 13% 12 1 4 31%<br />
1917 86 3 29 33% 30 10 32%<br />
<strong>1918</strong> 82 1 29 36% 32 1 9 29%<br />
The Mediterranean saw a steady upward tick of available boats along with a<br />
commensurate <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> target<strong>in</strong>g merchant traffic. From 1916 onwards more<br />
than a quarter of <strong>the</strong> <strong>German</strong> ocean-go<strong>in</strong>g submar<strong>in</strong>e force was stationed <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Mediterranean Sea.<br />
<strong>German</strong> <strong>Submar<strong>in</strong>e</strong> <strong>Warfare</strong> 1915<br />
The daily average of submar<strong>in</strong>es on merchant war cruise <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> North Sea and<br />
Atlantic for 1915 is a modest spread of zero to six boats. In fact, it appears that <strong>the</strong><br />
merchant war was suspended for a period of several months. Dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> first<br />
unrestricted submar<strong>in</strong>e warfare period <strong>in</strong> 1915, March to September, <strong>the</strong>re were<br />
never more than half a dozen boats at sea at any one time. When <strong>the</strong> eight- to ten-<br />
day transit time to and from North Sea bases is taken <strong>in</strong>to account, dur<strong>in</strong>g a rout<strong>in</strong>e<br />
patrol of about five weeks <strong>the</strong>re were never more than four boats operat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Atlantic. The hunt<strong>in</strong>g was meagre. Practically <strong>the</strong> only exceptions were <strong>the</strong> s<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g<br />
of <strong>the</strong> passenger l<strong>in</strong>ers Lusitania <strong>in</strong> May and Arabic <strong>in</strong> September. Pyrrhic victories,<br />
both. They brought <strong>German</strong>y <strong>in</strong>stant, sharp censure from President Wilson and<br />
catastrophic loss of American public support. Unrestricted warfare was suspended<br />
at once and stopped altoge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>in</strong> September. The s<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>gs had done <strong>in</strong>calculable