In other theatres the Japanese Navy pioneered the use of small-scale submarines, which were intended to defend the home islands from invasion while the Royal Navy used the boats to blockade Axis-occupied Europe. However in WW2, the U-boat fleet in the Atlantic suffered heavy losses while also spurring advancements in shipbuilding to counteract the threat. The aim of the war in the Atlantic was to destroy more ships than could be built by the US and UK. Image: Imperial War Museum WWII: submarine warfare evolvesĭuring the Second World War, submarines were employed to devastating effect in the North Atlantic. Crewed by 39 sailors, the boats could travel around 9,000 miles from port.Ī WWI U-boat at sea. Most of them were Type 93 class submarines, carrying 16 torpedoes as well deck guns to guard the ships when they surfaced. The U-21 was said to have ventured deep into UK waters, reaching Forth Bridge close to the UK’s naval base in Rosyth.īy the end of war, Germany had built over 370 U-boats, sending the vessels out into the Atlantic to interfere with shipping. The incident also showed how deep into enemy waters submarines could penetrate. This belief was swiftly shattered when, just months into the war, the German SM U-21 sank the scout cruiser HMS Pathfinder. As a result, Germany all but gave up on attempting to confront the Royal Navy, instead adopting submarine warfare as a means of striking back.Īt the onset of the war, submarine development also shook up the status quo of naval combat: commanders of the time believed that no submarine could sink a capital ship. Huge at the time, the British fleet effectively cut off all Germany’s maritime trade, blockading the North Sea and English Channel.
In the years preceding the war, Germany massively expanded its undersea fleet, largely in an effort to counteract the vast naval power of the UK’s Royal Navy.
Submarines, although coming into existence years earlier, saw their combat capability truly tested at the onset of the First World War. The Imperial German Navy’s ‘Unterseeboot’ defined the role of the submarine and, despite the name U-boat exiting mainstream use, the vessels are just as important today as they have ever been. In today’s world submarines maintain their place as an integral part of naval forces, with submerged forces acting as silent guardians for the interests of the countries that control them. Please check your email to download the Whitepaper.
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