Germanys U-boat fleet had almost brought Britain
to its knees in the First World war, twenty years later the story was
very similar. the German U-boat arm came perilously close to cutting the
lifeline that crossed the Atlantic between North America and Britain. in
the early years of the war Donitz realised that keeping his U-boats at
sea for as long as possible would greatly increase their chances of
success. here U-93 (left) and U-94 take fuel from the auxiliary cruiser
Kormoran whilst in the mid-Atlantic during 1941
Time To Go by Robert Barbour A type VIIC U-boat of the German navys 6th-7th Flotilla slowly
manouevres within the confines of the Saint Nazaire submarine pens. The
type VIIC was armed with 4 torpedo tubes in the bow and one in the stern,
and had a range of patrol of approximately 9,700 nautical miles.
Atlantic Rendezvous by Robert Barbour A U-boat wallows on the surface in typical Atlantic winter weather in
February, 1944. approaching at low level is a Luftwaffe FW 200 C-8 Condor of 111KG 40 from the base at
Bordeaux-Marignac in S.W.
France.
Atlantic Comrades by Ivan Berryman The Scharnhorst is pictured in 1939 when she and her sister ship Gneisenau
menacingly prowled the North Atlantic. She is shown at dawn as two type VII
U-Boats glide towards her for a friendly rendezvous and to take on much needed
supplies, as well as a few of the luxuries that the tiny u-boats were simply too
small to carry.
Kriegsmarine U-boats
1939-45 (1) by Gordon Williamson.
This, the first of two volumes on
Germanys World War
II U-boats, traces their development from the early U-boats of the Kaisers Navy, through the prohibition on German submarines following the
Armistice in 1918 and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles, their secret
development through a cover-firm in Holland, culminating in the
formation of the 1st U-boat Flotilla in 1935 with the modern Type
II. The operational history section includes examples from the Type
VIIA, Type VIIB, VIID, VIIE and VIIF Classes before concentrating on the
mainstay of the U-boat arm, the Type VIIC. Comparisons are also made
with the standard allied submarines, their strengths, weaknesses and
U-boat tactics.
Kriegsmarine U-boats
1939-45 (2) by Gordon Williamson.
