German Submarine Warfare 1914-1918 in the Eyes - British Naval ...

Meanwhile, the number of patrol and convoy guard vessels increased
exponentially. Dreadnought construction ceased in Britain in favour of smaller,
more manoeuvrable vessels. Pre-dreadnought battleships were de-commissioned;
their crews transferred to new warships.
The last year of the unrestricted submarine war
From October, 1917 submarine numbers and availability in Germany
decreased. New construction did not replace losses. Relative sinkings per boat
decreased. Still, what U-boats could be brought into service prosecuted the war
until near the end of hostilities. Their élan and determination can not be doubted.
Submarine Sinkings – Claims and Reality
Table 16: Mio BRT World Tonnage sunk 1914-1918 by different sources
Published By Submarines By Mines Total
German Admiralty 75 1914-1918 15.0 3.7 18.7*
British Admiralty 76 1919 11.1 1.1 12.2
Spindler 77 1966 11.0 1.2 12.2
* 9,506 BRT missing in sum, see footnote for Michelsen
Each month the naval staff in Berlin published a record of U-boat successes
by tonnage. These numbers were 50% higher than British figures for the same
period. Chalking up successes and failures in wartime should always be read with
tongue firmly planted in cheek. Each side has to balance political considerations as
well as public reaction. However, in Germany the Imperial Navy senior staff’s
fanciful concoctions stretched credibility beyond the breaking point
Later in 1917, the Imperial Navy’s inflated numbers climbed to 153% of
actual tonnage destroyed, and in 1918 to an astounding 193% of the truth. The
army and government used the fictional count as a basis for their political,
industrial and strategic calculations. Inside the Navy the real numbers were known
as the “captured German sinking lists” (see Chapter V) and were circulated among
U-boat-commanders and the High Seas Fleet. These numbers correspond quite
exactly with the numbers of the British Admiralty.
75 Following Michelsen, U-Bootskrieg, pp. 196-197. Michelsen published the ‘official numbers’,
announced by the German Admiralty Staff 1914-1918. There is a addition eror in the sum for
submarines and mines of 9,506 BRT in Michelsen.
Galster, 1925, p. 145, also uses the ‘official numbers’ of the Admiralty Staff: For Feb. 1917 – Dec
1917 he claims 8,916,500 BRT sunk, for Jan. to Sep. 1918 5,198,000.
Spindler, Vol. V, p. 345, gives the ‘official numbers 1914-1918’ as 17,223,096 BRT.
76 NA/ADM 137/3921. The same numbers for the British Admiralty also in: Salter, Allied Shipping
Control, pp. 355-359.
77 Spindler, Handelskrieg, Vol V, pp. 368-371. Also a 50,000 BRT mistake in the summation.
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