U-BOAT 977 by Heinz Schaeffer

Author:Heinz Schaeffer [Schaeffer, Heinz]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

8 THE WORST ENEMY

IT is IMPOSSIBLE to tell the story of the U-boat war without touching on Radar, since it turned the tide of the battle of the Atlantic against us at the most critical stage of the war. For all the heroism and efficiency of our crews the power of the U-boat was shattered overnight. Let us get things clear. The word U-boat (Unterseeboot) gives a false impression. It should really be called a "Tauchboot" or "Submersible," for until the beginning of 1943 we almost always cruised on the surface. You can see by its shape that a U-boat is built for surface work. The naked eye could scarcely ever distinguish it unless the crew made it conspicuous through their carelessness. By night it was invisible, by day it could always sight ships or planes before it was spotted because it was so small, a factor which enabled it to destroy the most powerful warships afloat. It could always dive before it was seen, moreover, and attack either submerged or surface again after a prudent lapse of time and continue its operational programme. As it could stay submerged for two days at a time it could cross the most strongly patrolled waters, or remain in them, because it could always surface at night to charge the batteries and change the air—generally a two- to four-hour job.

The U-boat's value in a surface engagement, however, was diminished by its extreme vulnerability; a faster surface ship equipped with guns and torpedo-tubes being more than a match for it. By the nature of its construction it could be sunk very easily. Furthermore, being constructed for diving underwater, a submarine on the surface has very little reserve buoyancy. A 500-ton surface craft, for example, can ship anything up to 500 tons of water before sinking, but a submarine of the same displacement only needs about a fifth of that amount. Surface craft, again, can usually find and repair a leak—not so a U-boat. All its complex fittings, engines, batteries and so forth get in the way the whole time.

When the war began the enemy realised that the Achilles heel of the U-boat service was its bases. Tke U-boat had to enter and leave harbour twice on each operational cruise, and the enemy knew where the bases were and would station his own boats outside them. Still, in the first years of the war our armament was up to his and the attempt to blockade us failed. Subsequently his plan to destroy the bases and repair-shops by air attack was thwarted by our timely construction of bunkers.

But Radar changed everything. The British scientists ,who saw and developed its possibilities were certainly not undeserving of the high honours which they were awarded. Germany knew the principle too. Our capital ships carried similar devices, though they were awkward and heavy, weighing about 20 tons, while the Wurzburg device was in regular use by our A.A. defences. But where the enemy stole a march on us was in

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