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History of German U-Boats

History of German U-Boats

The U-boat fleet all started in 1905, when the German government ordered for a new type of military submarine to be produced, and be called das Unterseebootein, which means undersea boat, and is abbreviated as U-boat. Within a short time, Krupp’s Germaniawerft plant designed the almost perfect submarine, except for one flaw, the use of petrol engines. Using gasoline was extremely dangerous, with the constant risk of explosions. So instead of petrol engines, they replaced them with diesel engines. The diesel engine ran off of oil instead of gasoline. Not only was this safer, but more economical too.

On August 1, 1914, World War One began when Germany declared war on Russia. Only two days later, Germany declared war on France, and not soon after, Great Britain declared war on Germany. World War One was under way and the U-boat could not have been ready at a better time. Germany had a fleet of 28 U–boats: 14 still with kerosene burners, and the other half with diesel engines. Either way, they were ready for war at anytime.

On September 5, 1914, history would be changed. Up until that time, no submarine had successfully sunk another ship and escaped. It all started when a U-boat, under the calling name of U-21, was prowling the waters off of St. Abb’s Head near the border of England and Scotland. At about noon, a crewmember spotted a British light cruiser. It was the HMS Pathfinder. The submarine immediately submerged and prepared to fire. However, the range was too far, so submarine had to give up and resurface. But the U-boats luck came back around 3:45 when the cruiser reappeared. Again, the submarine was ordered to dive and prepare to fire. The distance gradually closed and the captain gave the order to fire. After a few seconds, the torpedo was thought to have missed, but then it came. A huge explosion just under the ship’s bridge. Within four minutes, the HMS Pathfinder had sunk with 296 out of the 299 men aboard. The U-21 had become the first successful war submarine.
This historical mark began the great era of the U-boats. Submarines, instead of warships, controlled the sea. The sinking of the HMS Pathfinder began a chain of domination by U-boats. The next major U-boat attack happened on September 22, 1914. Submarine U-9, an old kerosene burner, was roaming...

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