{"product_id":"u-boats-in-the-atlantic-charles-river-9798346991533","title":"U-Boats in the Atlantic: The History of Germany's Submarines during World War I and World War II","description":"Submarine warfare began tentatively during the American Civil War (though the Netherlands and England made small prototypes centuries earlier, and the American sergeant Ezra Lee piloted the one-man \"Turtle\" vainly against HMS \u003ci\u003eEagle\u003c\/i\u003e near New York in 1776). But Robert Whitehead's invention of the torpedo introduced the weapon later used most frequently by submarines, and steady improvements to Whitehead's design led to the military torpedoes deployed against shipping during both World Wars. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWorld War I witnessed the First Battle of the Atlantic, when the \u003ci\u003eKaiserreich\u003c\/i\u003e unleashed its U-boats against England. During the war, the German submarines sent much of the British merchant marine to the bottom. Indeed, German reliance on U-boats in both World War I and World War II stemmed largely from their nation's geography. The Germans eventually recognized the superiority of the Royal Navy and its capacity to blockade Germany's short coastline in the event of war. While the British could easily interdict surface ships, submarines slipped from their Kiel or Hamburg anchorages unseen, able to prey upon England's merchant shipping. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe sleek hunter-killers lurking beneath the waves, using periscopes to close in unnoticed on their prey, added a new, nerve-wracking element to naval warfare. The mere threat of submarine attack immediately altered naval tactics and strategies employed by both the Western Allies and the Central Powers, shifting them towards a more cautious approach, especially at the war's start when the submarine threat remained untested. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDuring World War I, German U-boats operated solo except on one occasion. Initially, the British and nations supplying England with food and materiel scattered vessels singly across the ocean, making them vulnerable to the lone submarines. However, widespread late war re-adoption of the convoy system tipped the odds in the surface ships' favor, as one U-boat skipper described: \"The oceans at once became bare and empty; for long periods at a time the U-boats, operating individually, would see nothing at all; and then suddenly up would loom a huge concourse of ships, thirty or fifty or more of them, surrounded by a strong escort of warships of all types.\" (Blair, 1996, 55). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWorld War I proved the value of submarines, ensuring their widespread employment in the next conflict, but by using U-boats against the shipping that kept Britain supplied, it might have ultimately cost Germany and Austria-Hungary the war by providing a reason for President Woodrow Wilson to bring the United States into the struggle. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOne critical innovation in World War II's Atlantic U-boat operations consisted of wolf-pack tactics, in which Admiral Karl D?nitz put great faith: \"The greater the number of U-boats that could be brought simultaneously into the attack, the more favourable would become the opportunities offered to each individual attacker. [...] it was obvious that, on strategic and general tactical grounds, attacks on convoys must be carried out by a number of U-boats acting in unison.\" (D?nitz, 1990, 4). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHowever, even the wolf-pack proved insufficient to defeat the Atlantic convoys and stop Allied commerce - the precise opposite of the Pacific theater, where America's excellent submarine forces annihilated much of Japan's merchant marine and inflicted severe damage on the Imperial Japanese Navy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Charles River\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798346991533\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/14\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 106\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.58lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 11.00h x 8.50w x 0.22d","brand":"Charles River","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46739186188543,"sku":"9798346991533","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_0e25ccbc-e53b-4348-93c8-1930833ed0e4.jpg?v=1743277472","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/u-boats-in-the-atlantic-charles-river-9798346991533","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}