Why were German U-boats so effective in WW2?

Question

I have a Uncle that was killed by one in the U.S.

Answer 1

the simple answer to this is that germany was ahead of the technology bubble during that war.

german at that time made the best, and most advanced weapons in the world.

also, after WWI germany never really abandoned the idea of re-emerging as a military power.

while weapons factories and stockpiles were destroyed, the designers of the krupp company went to holland, where they could to R&D without being bothered by the victorious powers.

the u-boat that wreaked such havoc in the beginning of the war was developed in the 1920's...

Answer 2

They were at 1st because the tactics the Germans were using were so new and bold. This took time to counter but by 1943 the U-boats were on the ropes and by 1944 more U-boats were being sunk than ships. The U-boats started with Wolf packs that would overwhelm a convoys defenses Meanwhile another U-boat would follow the convoy and direct more attacks on it until the convoy was safe at home. The Allies countered with more escorts better sonar and Radar began to be fitted to all ships not just a few as earlier in the war. It also helped that we got the Enigma code so we could decipher most of their signals and steer convoys around the U-boats. While later we would send Hunter killer groups to the area the sub reported it was operating in and ambush the sub. Thus the U-boat menace was countered. On the whole The U-boat's came only once to actually defeating Britain and that was very early in the war when there were few escorts and few planes to stop the U-boats once the numbers started to favor the allies the U-boats were doomed.

Answer 3

The U-boats by far were more effective. The auxillary cruisers were mainly built by old parts and in one case a ship was plagued by engine problems. U-boats were effective because they were stealthy and they could hold many passengers and pows. They also had torpedos and caused quite a bit of damage. There are many cases where these cruisers actually just sank because of problems. So my best guess would be the U-boats for the amount of damage, capacity, and stealth that they possessed.

Answer 4

They were largley INEFFECTIVE the vast majority of Allied convoys made it to Britain and Russia. The best deployment of U-boats was only 33 at any one time. Normally they were only a handful of submarines on patrol.

Reasons for their failure:
1. Too few submarines
2. Poor designs
3. The Enigma code was broken early in the war.
4. Effective allied Anti-Submarine counter-measures

Answer 5

They were quiet and undetectable. Thier crews had high morale and were highly trained.

They were also deployed and used masterfully by Admiral Doenitz in wolfpacks. They were technically brilliant and made use of advanced code, weather reports, and mid ocean refueling/re-suppling.

However, thier effectiveness dropped to very low levels due to the development of sonar for the sub hunters, radar in aircraft that could spot them on the surface, and the breaking of the enigma code by Polish and English mathematicians.

The u-boat crews had the highest casuality rate of any service of any country during WWII. Three of four crewmembers did not come home.

Answer 6

Because they where silently and from an unseen position destroying merchant shipping which was britains umbilical if you will.Until Britain perfected sonar and their depth charges and anti-submarine flights from both sides of the atlantic then the u-boats where pretty much beaten.Also the lend lease act between the u.s and the u.k before the u.s got involved helped.it gave britain some more anti sub boats in return for some land in the atlantic ocean

Answer 7

As with anything they were only effective until a good tactical defense could be thought up to use against them. In this case the invention of the "Sonar" pretty much made them a death trap towards the end of WW2. Watch the movie "Das Boot" (The Boat) and you will see what I mean.

Answer 8

The German U-Boats were highly effective due to their stealth and their use of top secret codes such as the enigma. Once British and Polish mathemeticians were able to crack the code and advances in radar and sonar were made however it was easier for allied ships,subs, and aircraft to spot them and destroy them.

Answer 9

Basically because for the first half of the war there was a zone in the middle of the Atlantic that could not be patrolled by land based aircraft.

Answer 10

Because they were stealthy and lethal. They were difficult to detect and almost impossible to destroy. They could sink ships at will from the shadows and disappear.