At the beginning of World War II Germany owned the Atlantic Ocean. Admiral Karl Dönitz had the upper hand over the Allies with his small U-Boot Fleet. But he asked Hitler if he could have more than double the amount of submarines than the currently had, because he believed that with a massive armada of submarines he could blockade the United Kingdom and force them into submission. Hitler declined and many historians nowadays believe that if Dönitz would have received more Submarines that Great Britain would have surrendered due to a shortage of Food because of the resulting Blockade. Many even say that Germany could have entirely won WWII if Hitler had authorized the building of more Submarines.
But still, with his small Fleet of U-Boots Dönitz ruled the sea and sunk thousand of tons of merchant and war ships. But after the Allies cracked the Enigma code (communication between the Submarines and Headquarter) in 1941, the terror of Submarines quickly became an annoying little stone in the shoe for the Allies.
The Germans never changed their communication and so they were easily located by the allies and could not use their biggest advantage anymore: Surprise.
Nonetheless The Kriegsmarine relentlessly sent thousands of young seamen on Submarines to an almost certain death. At the end of World War II about 75% of Submarine Crews were killed in combat making them the highest casualty group in the German Military.
This Collection of 35 Photographs depict the battle of the Atlantic during WWII. Although a big part many of these pictures are not always about the U-Boot War, but also show other interesting moments of this major battlefield, that was the Atlantic ocean.
Grab a snack, sit back, relax and step in the time machine.
Enjoy!
Important Links:
Subscribe for more Videos⬇️
Pictures Shown:
Music used:
The Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss II