German submariners aces of the Second World War. The best submariners of the Second World War

The submarine fleet became part of the navies of various countries already during the First World War. Research work in the field of submarine shipbuilding began long before it began, but only after 1914 were the requirements of the fleet leadership for tactical and technical characteristics submarine The main condition under which they could act was secrecy. The submarines of World War II differed little in their design and principles of operation from their predecessors of previous decades. The design difference, as a rule, consisted of technological innovations and some components and assemblies invented in the 20s and 30s that improved seaworthiness and survivability.

German submarines before the war

The terms of the Versailles Treaty did not allow Germany to build many types of ships and create a full-fledged navy. In the pre-war period, ignoring the restrictions imposed by the Entente countries in 1918, German shipyards nevertheless launched a dozen ocean-class submarines (U-25, U-26, U-37, U-64, etc.). Their displacement on the surface was about 700 tons. Smaller ones (500 tons) in the amount of 24 pcs. (with numbers from U-44) plus 32 units of coastal-coastal range had the same displacement and constituted the auxiliary forces of the Kriegsmarine. All of them were armed with bow guns and torpedo tubes (usually 4 bow and 2 stern).

So, despite many prohibitive measures, by 1939 the German Navy was armed with fairly modern submarines. The Second World War immediately after it began showed high efficiency this class of weapons.

Strikes on Britain

Britain took the first blow of Hitler's war machine. Oddly enough, the admirals of the empire most highly assessed the danger posed by German battleships and cruisers. Based on the experience of a previous large-scale conflict, they assumed that the submarine's coverage area would be limited to a relatively narrow coastal strip, and their detection would not be a big problem.

The use of the snorkel helped reduce submarine losses, although in addition to radars there were other means of detecting them, such as sonar.

The innovation remained unnoticed

Despite the obvious advantages, only the USSR was equipped with snorkels and other countries ignored this invention, although there were conditions for borrowing experience. It is believed that Dutch shipbuilders were the first to use snorkels, but it is also known that in 1925 similar devices were designed by the Italian military engineer Ferretti, but then this idea was abandoned. In 1940, Holland was captured by Nazi Germany, but its submarine fleet (4 units) managed to leave for Great Britain. They also did not appreciate this undoubtedly necessary device. The snorkels were dismantled, considering them a very dangerous and questionably useful device.

The builders of submarines did not use any other revolutionary technical solutions. Batteries and devices for charging them were improved, air regeneration systems were improved, but the principle of the submarine structure remained unchanged.

Submarines of World War II, USSR

Photos of the North Sea heroes Lunin, Marinesko, Starikov were published not only in Soviet newspapers, but also in foreign ones. The submariners were real heroes. In addition, the most successful commanders of Soviet submarines became personal enemies of Adolf Hitler himself, and they did not need better recognition.

Soviet submarines played a huge role in the naval battle that unfolded in the northern seas and the Black Sea basin. The Second World War began in 1939, and in 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the USSR. At that time, our fleet was armed with several main types of submarines:

1. Submarine "Decembrist". The series (in addition to the title unit, two more - “Narodovolets” and “Red Guard”) was founded in 1931. Total displacement - 980 tons.
2. Series "L" - "Leninets". Project of 1936, displacement - 1400 tons, the ship is armed with six torpedoes, 12 torpedoes and 20 two guns (bow - 100 mm and stern - 45 mm).
3. Series "L-XIII" displacement 1200 tons.
4. Series "Shch" ("Pike") displacement 580 tons.
5. Series "C", 780 tons, armed with six TA and two guns - 100 mm and 45 mm.
6. Series "K". Displacement - 2200 tons. A submarine cruiser developed in 1938, developing a speed of 22 knots (surfaced) and 10 knots (submerged). Ocean class boat. Armed with six torpedo tubes (6 bow and 4 stern torpedo tubes).
7. Series "M" - "Baby". Displacement - from 200 to 250 tons (depending on modification). Projects of 1932 and 1936, 2 TA, autonomy - 2 weeks.

"Baby"

Submarines of the M series are the most compact submarines of the Second World War of the USSR. Film “USSR Navy. Chronicle of Victory" tells about the glorious battle path many crews who skillfully used the unique running characteristics of these ships in combination with their small size. Sometimes commanders managed to sneak into well-defended enemy bases unnoticed and evade pursuit. “Baby” could be transported by rail and launched in the Black Sea and the Far East.

Along with its advantages, the “M” series also had disadvantages, of course, but no equipment can do without them: short autonomy, only two torpedoes with no reserve, cramped conditions and tedious service conditions associated with a small crew. These difficulties did not prevent the heroic submariners from achieving impressive victories over the enemy.

In different countries

The quantities in which World War II submarines were in service with the navies of different countries before the war are interesting. As of 1939, the USSR had the largest fleet of submarines (over 200 units), followed by the powerful Italian submarine fleet (more than a hundred units), France took third place (86 units), fourth place - Great Britain (69 units), fifth place - Japan (65) and sixth - Germany (57). During the war, the balance of forces changed, and this list was built almost in reverse order (with the exception of the number of Soviet boats). In addition to those launched at our shipyards, the USSR Navy also had a British-built submarine in service, which became part of the Baltic Fleet after the annexation of Estonia (“Lembit”, 1935).

After the war

The battles on land, in the air, on water and under it died down. For many years, the Soviet "Pikes" and "Malyutki" continued to protect home country, then they were used to train cadets at naval military schools. Some of them became monuments and museums, others rusted in submarine cemeteries.

In the decades since the war, submarines have hardly taken part in the hostilities that constantly occur around the world. There were local conflicts, sometimes escalating into serious wars, but there was no combat work for the submarines. They became more and more secretive, moved quieter and faster, and, thanks to the achievements of nuclear physics, gained unlimited autonomy.

The outcome of any war depends on many factors, among which, of course, weapons are of considerable importance. Despite the fact that absolutely all German weapons were very powerful, since Adolf Hitler personally considered them the most important weapon and paid considerable attention to the development of this industry, they failed to inflict damage on their opponents that would significantly influence the course of the war. Why did it happen? Who is at the origins of the creation of a submarine army? Were the German submarines of World War II really that invincible? Why were such prudent Nazis unable to defeat the Red Army? You will find the answer to these and other questions in the review.

general information

Collectively, all equipment in service with the Third Reich during World War II was called the Kriegsmarine, and submarines made up a significant part of the arsenal. Underwater equipment became a separate industry on November 1, 1934, and the fleet was disbanded after the war ended, i.e., having existed for less than a dozen years. In such a short period of time, German submarines of World War II brought a lot of fear into the souls of their opponents, leaving their huge mark on the bloody pages of the history of the Third Reich. Thousands of dead, hundreds of sunk ships, all this remained on the conscience of the surviving Nazis and their subordinates.

Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine

During World War II, one of the most famous Nazis, Karl Doenitz, was at the helm of the Kriegsmarine. German submarines certainly played a role in World War II important role, but without this person this would not have happened. He was personally involved in creating plans to attack opponents, participated in attacks on many ships and achieved success in this path, for which he was awarded one of the most significant awards of Nazi Germany. Doenitz was an admirer of Hitler and was his successor, which did a lot of harm to him during Nuremberg trials, because after the death of the Fuhrer he was considered the commander-in-chief of the Third Reich.

Specifications

It is easy to guess that Karl Doenitz was responsible for the condition of the submarine army. German submarines in World War II, photos of which prove their power, had impressive parameters.

In general, the Kriegsmarine was armed with 21 types of submarines. They had the following characteristics:

• displacement: from 275 to 2710 tons;
• surface speed: from 9.7 to 19.2 knots;
• underwater speed: from 6.9 to 17.2;
• diving depth: from 150 to 280 meters.

This proves that the German submarines of World War II were not just powerful, they were the most powerful among the weapons of the countries that fought with Germany.

Composition of the Kriegsmarine

The warships of the German fleet included 1,154 submarines. It is noteworthy that until September 1939 there were only 57 submarines, the rest were built specifically to participate in the war. Some of them were trophies. Thus, there were 5 Dutch, 4 Italian, 2 Norwegian and one English and French submarines. All of them were also in service with the Third Reich.

Achievements of the Navy

The Kriegsmarine inflicted considerable damage on its opponents throughout the war. For example, the most effective captain Otto Kretschmer sank almost fifty enemy ships. There are also record holders among ships. For example, the German submarine U-48 sank 52 ships.

Throughout World War II, 63 destroyers, 9 cruisers, 7 aircraft carriers and even 2 battleships were destroyed. The largest and most notable victory for the German army among them can be considered the sinking of the battleship Royal Oak, whose crew consisted of a thousand people and its displacement was 31,200 tons.

Plan Z

Since Hitler considered his fleet extremely important for Germany’s triumph over other countries and had extremely positive feelings towards it, he paid considerable attention to it and did not limit funding. In 1939, a plan was developed for the development of the Kriegsmarine for the next 10 years, which, fortunately, never came to fruition. According to this plan, several hundred more of the most powerful battleships, cruisers and submarines were to be built.

Powerful German submarines of World War II

Photos of some surviving German submarine technology give an idea of ​​the power of the Third Reich, but only weakly reflect how strong this army was. The largest number of submarines in the German fleet was type VII, they had optimal seaworthiness, were of medium size, and most importantly, their construction was relatively inexpensive, which is important in

They could dive to a depth of 320 meters with a displacement of up to 769 tons, the crew ranged from 42 to 52 employees. Despite the fact that the “sevens” were quite high-quality boats, over time, Germany’s enemy countries improved their weapons, so the Germans also had to work on modernizing their brainchild. As a result of this, the boat received several more modifications. The most popular of these was the VIIC model, which not only became the personification of Germany's military power during the attack on the Atlantic, but was also much more convenient than previous versions. The impressive dimensions made it possible to install more powerful diesel engines, and subsequent modifications also featured durable hulls, which made it possible to dive deeper.

German submarines of the Second World War were subject to constant, as they would say now, upgrades. One of the most innovative models is considered to be type XXI. An air conditioning system and additional equipment were created in this submarine, which was intended for a longer stay of the crew under water. A total of 118 boats of this type were built.

Kriegsmarine performance results

Germany of the Second World War, photos of which can often be found in books about military equipment, played a very important role in the offensive of the Third Reich. Their power cannot be underestimated, but it is worth considering that even with such patronage from the bloodiest Fuhrer in world history, the German fleet did not manage to bring its power closer to victory. Probably, good equipment and a strong army were not enough; for Germany’s victory, the ingenuity and courage that the brave soldiers of the Soviet Union possessed was not enough. Everyone knows that the Nazis were incredibly bloodthirsty and did not disdain much on their way, but neither an incredibly equipped army nor a lack of principles helped them. Armored vehicles, great amount ammunition and the latest developments did not bring the expected results to the Third Reich.

Dispassionate statistics show that during the Second World War, the best submarine sailors were German submariners. They sank 2,603 ​​Allied warships and transport vessels with a total displacement of 13.5 million tons. As a result, 70 thousand military sailors and 30 thousand merchant seamen died. The ratio of losses to victories was thus 1:4 in favor of German submarines. Soviet submariners, of course, could not boast of such successes, but they still caused major troubles for the enemy. List of German submarine warfare aces who sank ships with a total displacement of more than 100 thousand tons: 1. Otto Kretschmer- sank 44 ships, including 1 destroyer, - 266,629 tons. 2. Wolfgang Lüth- 43 ships, including 1 submarine, - 225,712 tons (according to other sources, 47 ships - 228,981 tons). 3. Erich Topp- 34 ships, including 1 American destroyer, - 193,684 tons. 4. Herbert Schulze- 28 ships - 183,432 tons (he accounted for the first of all ships officially sunk by German submarines - the transport "Bosnia" - sunk on September 5, 1939). 5. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock- 25 ships - 183253 tons. 6. Karl-Friedrich Merten- 29 ships - 180869 tons. 7. Heinrich Liebe- 31 ships - 167886 tons. 8. Gunter Prien- 30 ships, including the English battleship "Royal Oak", sunk by him on October 14, 1939 in the roadstead at the main naval base of the British fleet of Scapa Flow on the Orkney Islands - 164,953 tons. Günter Prien became the first German officer to receive oak leaves for the Knight's Cross. An outstanding submariner of the Third Reich died very early - on March 8, 1941 (during an attack on a convoy traveling from Liverpool to Halifax). 9. Joachim Schepke- 39 ships - 159,130 ​​tons. 10. Georg Lassen- 26 ships - 156082 tons. 11. Werner Henke- 24 ships - 155714 tons. 12. Johann Mohr- 27 ships, including a corvette and an air defense cruiser, - 129,292 tons. 13. Engelbert Endras- 22 ships, including 2 cruisers, - 128,879 tons. 14. Reinhardt Hardegen- 23 ships - 119405 tons. 15. Werner Hartmann- 24 ships - 115616 tons.

Also worthy of mention Albrecht Brandi, which sank a minelayer and a destroyer; Reinhardt Suhren(95,092 tons), sank a corvette; Fritz Jujulius Lemp(68,607 tons), which damaged the English battleship Barham and actually sank the first ship of all destroyed by the German submarine fleet - the passenger liner Athenia (this happened on September 3, 1939 and was not then recognized by the German side); Otto Shewhart(80,688 tons), which sank the English aircraft carrier Courageous on September 17, 1939; Hans-Dietrich von Tiesenhausen, which sank the English battleship Barham on November 25, 1941.

Only the five best submariners in Germany sank 174 combat and transport ships allies with a total displacement of 1 million 52 thousand 710 tons.

For comparison: Soviet submarine fleet By June 22, 1941, it had 212 submarines in service (to this we must add 54 submarines built during the war). These forces (267 submarines) were sunk 157 enemy warships and transports- 462,300 tons (only confirmed data are meant).

The losses of the Soviet submarine fleet amounted to 98 boats (of course, excluding the 4 submarines lost by the Pacific Fleet). In 1941 - 34, in 1942 - 35, in 1943 - 19, in 1944 - 9, in 1945 - 1. The ratio of losses to victories is 1: 1.6 in favor of submarines.

The best submariner of the Soviet Navy Alexander Ivanovich Marinesko sank 4 passenger and commercial transport with a total displacement of 42,507 tons:

January 30, 1945 - passenger liner "Wilhelm Gustlow" - 25,484 tons (on the S-13 submarine); February 10, 1945 - large transport ship "General von Steuben" - 14,660 tons (on S-13); August 14, 1942 - transport ship "Helene" - 1800 tons (on M-96); October 9, 1944 - small transport "Siegfried" - 563 tons (on S-13).

For the destruction of the Wilhelm Gustlow liner, Alexander Marinesko was “honored” to be included in the list of personal enemies of the Fuhrer and Germany.

The sunken liner killed 3,700 non-commissioned officers - graduates of the diving school, 100 submarine commanders who completed a special advanced course in operating boats with a single Walther engine, 22 high-ranking party officials from East Prussia, several generals and senior officers of the RSHA, an auxiliary service battalion Danzig port from SS troops numbering 300 people, and a total of about 8,000 people (!!!).

As after the surrender of the 6th Army of Field Marshal Paulus in Stalingrad, mourning was declared in Germany, and the implementation of Hitler’s plans to continue the all-out submarine war was seriously hampered.

For two outstanding victories in January-February 1945, all Marinesko crew members were awarded state awards, A submarine S-13- Order of the Red Banner.

The legendary submariner himself, who fell into disgrace, was awarded his main award posthumously only in May 1990. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union 45 years after the end of the war.

Without a doubt, Alexander Marinesko deserved to have monuments erected to him not only in Russia, but also in Great Britain and the United States of America. His feat saved the lives of many thousands of English and American sailors and brought the hour closer Great Victory.

Captain 3rd Rank Alexander Marinesko tops the list of Soviet submarine aces not by the number of enemy ships destroyed, but by the amount of their displacement and the amount of damage inflicted on Germany's military potential. Following him are the following most successful submariners:

2. Valentin Starikov(lieutenant captain, commander of the submarine M-171, K-1, Northern Fleet) - 14 ships; 3. Ivan Travkin(captain 3rd rank, commander of the submarine Shch-303, K-52, Baltic Fleet) - 13 ships; 4. Nikolay Lunin(Captain 3rd rank, commander of the submarine Shch-421, K-21, Northern Fleet) - 13 ships; 5. Magomed Gadzhiev(2nd rank captain, submarine division commander, Northern Fleet) - 10 ships; 6. Grigory Shchedrin(captain 2nd rank, commander of submarine S-56, Northern Fleet) - 9 ships; 7. Samuil Bogorad(Captain 3rd rank, commander of the submarine Shch-310, Baltic Fleet) - 7 ships; 8. Mikhail Kalinin(lieutenant captain, commander of the submarine Shch-307, Baltic Fleet) - 6 ships; 9. Nikolay Mokhov(lieutenant captain, commander of the submarine Shch-317, Baltic Fleet) - 5 ships; 10. Evgeny Osipov(lieutenant captain, commander of the submarine Shch-407, Baltic Fleet) - 5 ships.

IN United States Navy The crews of the Totog submarine achieved the greatest success - it sank 26 enemy warships and transports. In terms of displacement best result belongs to the crew of the submarine "Flasher" - 100,231 tons. But the most famous US submariner during the Second World War was Joseph Inright.

NewsInfo based on materials from the Russian Submarine Fleet website

English admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham said: “It takes the fleet three years to build a ship. It will take three hundred years to create a tradition." The German fleet, the enemy of the British at sea during both world wars, was very young and did not have that much time, but German sailors tried to create their traditions in an accelerated version - for example, using the continuity of generations. A striking example of such a dynasty is the family of Admiral General Otto Schulze.

Otto Schultze was born on May 11, 1884 in Oldenburg (Lower Saxony). His naval career began in 1900, when at the age of 16 Schulze was enlisted in the Kaiserlichmarine as a cadet. Having completed his training and practical training, Schulze received the rank of lieutenant zur see in September 1903 - at that time he served on the armored cruiser Prince Heinrich (SMS Prinz Heinrich). First world war Schulze met already on board the dreadnought SMS König with the rank of lieutenant commander. In May 1915, tempted by the prospect of service on submarines, Schulze transferred from the battle fleet to the submarine fleet, took courses at the submariner school in Kiel and received command of the training submarine U 4. At the end of the same year, he was appointed commander of the ocean-going submarine under construction. boat U 63, which entered service with the German fleet on March 11, 1916.

Otto Schulze (1884–1966) and his middle son Heinz-Otto Schulze (1915–1943) - it is clear that, in addition to the love of the sea, the father passed on his characteristic appearance to his sons. His father's nickname "The Nose" was inherited by his eldest son, Wolfgang Schulze.

The decision to become a submariner was fateful for Schulze, since service on submarines gave him much more in terms of career and fame than he could have achieved on surface ships. During his command of U 63 (03/11/1916 - 08/27/1917 and 10/15/1917 - 12/24/1917), Schulze achieved impressive successes, sinking the British cruiser HMS Falmouth and 53 ships with a total tonnage of 132,567 tons, and deservedly decorated his uniform with the most prestigious award in Germany - the Prussian Order of Merit (Pour le Mérite).

Among Schulze's victories is the sinking of the ex-liner Transylvania (14,348 tons), which was used by the British Admiralty during the war as a troop transport. On the morning of May 4, 1917, the Transylvania, which was sailing from Marseilles to Alexandria guarded by two Japanese destroyers, was torpedoed by U 63. The first torpedo hit amidships, and ten minutes later Schulze finished it off with a second torpedo. The sinking of the liner was accompanied by a large number of casualties - the Transylvania was overcrowded with people. On that day, in addition to the crew, there were 2,860 soldiers, 200 officers and 60 medical personnel on board. The next day, the Italian coast was littered with the bodies of the dead - U 63 torpedoes caused the death of 412 people.

The British cruiser Falmouth was sunk by U 63 under the command of Otto Schulze on August 20, 1916. Before this, the ship was damaged by another German boat U 66 and was taken into tow. This explains the small number of casualties during the sinking - only 11 sailors died

After leaving the bridge of U 63, Schulze headed the 1st Boat Flotilla based at Pola (Austria-Hungary) until May 1918, combining this position with service on the headquarters of the commander of all submarine forces in the Mediterranean. The submarine ace met the end of the war with the rank of corvette captain, becoming a recipient of many awards from Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey.

In the period between the wars, he held various staff and command positions, continuing to move up the career ladder: in April 1925 - frigate captain, in January 1928 - captain zur see, in April 1931 - rear admiral. At the time of Hitler's rise to power, Schulze was commander of the North Sea Naval Station. The arrival of the Nazis did not affect his career in any way - in October 1934, Schulze became a vice admiral, and two years later he received the rank of full admiral of the fleet. In October 1937, Schulze retired, but with the outbreak of World War II he returned to the fleet, and finally left service on September 30, 1942 with the rank of admiral general. The veteran survived the war safely and died on January 22, 1966 in Hamburg at the age of 81.

Sunk by Otto Schulze ocean liner Transylvania was the newest ship, launched in 1914

The underwater ace had a large family. In 1909, he married Magda Raben, with whom six children were born - three girls and three boys. Of the daughters, only the youngest daughter Rosemary was able to overcome the age of two; her two sisters died in infancy. Fate was more favorable to Schulze's sons: Wolfgang, Heinz-Otto and Rudolf, having reached adulthood, followed in their father's footsteps, enlisting in the Navy and becoming submariners. Contrary to Russian fairy tales, in which traditionally “the eldest was smart, the middle one was this and that, the youngest was completely a fool,” the abilities of the sons of Admiral Schulze were distributed quite differently.

Wolfgang Schulze

On October 2, 1942, an American B-18 anti-submarine aircraft spotted a submarine on the surface 15 miles off the coast of French Guiana. The first attack was successful, and the boat, which turned out to be U 512 (type IXC), disappeared under water after the explosion of bombs dropped from the plane, leaving an oil slick on the surface. The place where the submarine lay on the bottom turned out to be shallow, which gave the surviving submariners a chance of salvation - the bow depth gauge showed 42 meters. About 15 people ended up in the bow torpedo compartment, which in such situations could serve as a refuge.

By the beginning of World War II, the main American bomber, the Douglas B-18 Bolo, was outdated and was replaced from bomber units by the four-engine B-17. However, there was also something to do for the B-18 - more than 100 vehicles were equipped with search radars and magnetically anomalous detectors and transferred to anti-submarine service. In this capacity, their service was also short-lived, and the sunk U 512 became one of the Bolo’s few successes.

It was decided to go outside through the torpedo tubes, but there were half as many breathing apparatus as there were people in the compartment. In addition, the room began to fill with chlorine, which was released by the batteries of electric torpedoes. As a result, only one submariner managed to rise to the surface - 24-year-old sailor Franz Machen.

The crew of a B-18 circling over the scene of the sinking noticed the surviving submariner and dropped a life raft. Machen spent ten days on the raft before being picked up by a US Navy ship. During his “solo voyage,” the sailor was attacked by birds, which inflicted significant wounds on him with their beaks, but Machen fought back the aggressors, and two winged predators were caught by him. Having torn the carcasses into pieces and dried them in the sun, the submariner ate bird meat, despite its disgusting taste. On October 12, it was discovered by the American destroyer Ellis. Subsequently, while being interrogated by the US Navy Intelligence Department, Machen gave a description of his deceased commander.

“According to the testimony of the only survivor, the crew of the submarine cruiser U 512 consisted of 49 sailors and officers. Its commander was Lieutenant Commander Wolfgang Schulze, the son of an admiral and a member of the "Nose" Schulze family, which left a significant mark on German naval history. However, Wolfgang Schulze was little comparable to his famous ancestors. He did not enjoy the love and respect of his crew, who considered him a narcissistic, incontinent, incompetent person. Schulze drank heavily on board and punished his men very severely for even the most minor violations of discipline. However, in addition to the loss of morale among the crew due to the constant and excessive tightening of the screws by the boat commander, Schulze’s crew was dissatisfied with his professional skills as a submarine commander. Believing that fate had destined him to become the second Prien, Schulze commanded the boat with extreme recklessness. The rescued submariner stated that during U 512 tests and exercises, Schulze was always inclined to remain on the surface during training attacks from the air, repelling aircraft attacks with anti-aircraft fire, while he could give the order to dive without warning his gunners, who after leaving the boats underwater remained in the water until Schulze surfaced and picked them up.”

Of course, one person's opinion may be too subjective, but if Wolfgang Schultze lived up to the description given to him, then he was very different from his father and brother Heinz-Otto. It is especially worth noting that for Wolfgang this was the first military campaign as a boat commander, in which he managed to sink three ships with a total tonnage of 20,619 tons. Interestingly, Wolfgang inherited his father's nickname, given to him during service in the navy - “Nose” (German: Nase). The origin of the nickname becomes obvious when looking at the photo - the old underwater ace had a large and expressive nose.

Heinz-Otto Schulze

If the father of the Schultze family could be truly proud of anyone, it was his middle son, Heinz-Otto Schultze. He joined the fleet four years later than the elder Wolfgang, but managed to achieve much greater success, comparable to the achievements of his father.

One of the reasons why this happened is the history of the brothers’ service until they were appointed commanders of combat submarines. Wolfgang, after receiving the rank of lieutenant in 1934, served on shore and on surface ships - before joining the submarine in April 1940, he was an officer for two years on the battlecruiser Gneisenau. After eight months of training and practice, the eldest of the Schulze brothers was appointed commander of the training boat U 17, which he commanded for ten months, after which he received the same position on U 512. Based on the fact that Wolfgang Schulze had practically no combat experience and despised caution , his death in the first campaign is quite natural.

Heinz-Otto Schulze returned from his campaign. To his right is the flotilla commander and submarine ace Robert-Richard Zapp ( Robert-Richard Zapp), 1942

Unlike his older brother, Heinz-Otto Schulze deliberately followed in his father's footsteps and, having become a naval lieutenant in April 1937, immediately chose to serve in submarines. After completing his training in March 1938, he was appointed watch officer on the boat U 31 (type VIIA), on which he met the outbreak of World War II. The boat was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Johannes Habekost, with whom Schulze made four military campaigns. As a result of one of them, the British battleship Nelson was blown up and damaged by mines laid by U 31.

In January 1940, Heinz-Otto Schulze was sent to a course for submarine commanders, after which he commanded training U 4, then became the first commander of U 141, and in April 1941 he took delivery of the brand new “seven” U 432 (type VIIC) from the shipyard. Having received his own boat, Schulze showed an excellent result on his first voyage, sinking four ships totaling 10,778 tons during the battle of the Markgraf boat group with convoy SC-42 on September 9–14, 1941. The commander of the submarine forces, Karl Doenitz, gave the following characterization of the actions of the young commander of U 432: "The commander achieved success in his first campaign by persevering in the attack of the convoy."

Subsequently, Heinz-Otto made six more combat trips on U 432 and only once returned from the sea without the triangular pennants on the periscope with which German submariners celebrated their successes. In July 1942, Dönitz awarded Schulze the Knight's Cross, deeming that he had reached the 100,000-ton mark. This was not entirely true: the personal account of the commander of U 432 was 20 ships sunk for 67,991 tons, two more ships for 15,666 tons were damaged (according to the website http://uboat.net). However, Heitz-Otto was in good standing with the command, he was brave and decisive, and at the same time acted prudently and calmly, for which he was nicknamed “Mask” by his colleagues (German: Maske).

The last moments of U 849 under the bombs of the American "Liberator" from the naval squadron VB-107

Of course, when he was awarded by Doenitz, the fourth cruise of U 432 in February 1942 was also taken into account, with which Schulze confirmed the hope of the commander of the submarine forces that the VII series boats could successfully operate off the east coast of the United States together with the IX series submarine cruisers without refueling. On that voyage, Schulze spent 55 days at sea, during which time he sank five ships totaling 25,107 tons.

However, despite his obvious talent as a submariner, Admiral Schulze's second son suffered the same fate as his older brother Wolfgang. Having received command of the new submarine cruiser U 849 type IXD2, Otto-Heinz Schulze died along with the boat on his first voyage. On November 25, 1943, the American Liberator put an end to the fate of the boat and its entire crew off the east coast of Africa with its bombs.

Rudolf Schulze

Admiral Schulze's youngest son began serving in the navy after the war began, in December 1939, and not much is known about the details of his career in the Kriegsmarine. In February 1942, Rudolf Schultze was appointed watch officer of the submarine U 608 under the command of Oberleutnant Rolf Struckmeier. On it, he made four military campaigns in the Atlantic with a result of four sunk ships for 35,539 tons.

Rudolf Schulze's former boat U 2540 on display at the Naval Museum in Bremerhaven, Bremen, Germany

In August 1943, Rudolf was sent to a training course for submarine commanders and a month later became commander of the training submarine U 61. At the end of 1944, Rudolf was appointed commander of the new “electric boat” XXI series U 2540, which he commanded until the end of the war. It is curious that this boat was sunk on May 4, 1945, but in 1957 it was raised, restored and in 1960 included in the German Navy under the name “Wilhelm Bauer”. In 1984, she was transferred to the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven, where she is still used as a museum ship.

Rudolf Schulze was the only one of the brothers to survive the war and died in 2000 at the age of 78.

Other "underwater" dynasties

It is worth noting that the Schulze family is no exception for the German fleet and its submarines - history also knows other dynasties when sons followed in the footsteps of their fathers, replacing them on the bridges of submarines.

Family Albrecht gave two submarine commanders in the First World War. Oberleutnant zur See Werner Albrecht led the underwater minelayer UC 10 on his first trip, which turned out to be his last when on August 21, 1916, the minelayer was torpedoed by the British boat E54. There were no survivors. Kurt Albrecht successively commanded four boats and repeated the fate of his brother - he died on U 32 along with the crew northwest of Malta on May 8, 1918 from depth charges of the British sloop HMS Wallflower.

The surviving sailors from the submarines U 386 and U 406 sunk by the British frigate Spray disembark the ship in Liverpool - for them the war is over.

Two submarine commanders from the younger generation of Albrechts participated in World War II. Rolf Heinrich Fritz Albrecht, commander of the U 386 (type VIIC), achieved no success but managed to survive the war. On 19 February 1944, his boat was sunk in the North Atlantic by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Spey. Part of the boat's crew, including the commander, was captured. The commander of the torpedo carrier U 1062 (type VIIF), Karl Albrecht, was much less fortunate - he died on September 30, 1944 in the Atlantic along with the boat during the passage from Penang, Malay to France. Near Cape Verde, the boat was attacked by depth charges and sank by the American destroyer USS Fessenden.

Family Franz was noted by one submarine commander in the First World War: Captain-Lieutenant Adolf Franz commanded the boats U 47 and U 152, surviving safely until the end of the war. Two more boat commanders took part in World War II - Oberleutnant zur See Johannes Franz, commander of U 27 (type VIIA), and Ludwig Franz, commander of U 362 (type VIIC).

The first of them, within a matter of days after the start of the war, managed to establish himself as an aggressive commander with all the makings of an underwater ace, but luck quickly turned away from Johannes Franz. His boat became the second German submarine sunk in World War II. Having unsuccessfully attacked the British destroyers HMS Forester and HMS Fortune west of Scotland on September 20, 1939, she herself became the prey instead of the hunter. The boat commander and his crew spent the entire war in captivity.

Ludwig Franz is interesting primarily because he was the commander of one of the German boats that became a confirmed victim of the USSR Navy in the Great Patriotic War. The submarine was sunk by depth charges of the Soviet minesweeper T-116 on September 5, 1944 in the Kara Sea along with the entire crew, without having time to achieve any success.

The armored cruiser Dupetit-Thouars was torpedoed by the U 62 boat under the command of Ernst Hashagen on the evening of August 7, 1918 in the Brest area. The ship sank slowly, which made it possible for the crew to leave it in an orderly manner - only 13 sailors died

Surname Hashagen in the First World War was represented by two successful submarine commanders. Hinrich Hermann Hashagen, commander of U 48 and U 22, survived the war, sinking 28 ships for 24,822 tons. Ernst Hashagen, commander of UB 21 and U 62, achieved truly outstanding successes - 53 ships destroyed for 124,535 tons and two warships (the French armored cruiser Dupetit-Thouars and the British sloop Tulip) (HMS Tulip)) and the well-deserved “Blue Max”, as Pour le Mérite was called, around the neck. He left behind a book of memoirs called “U-Boote Westwarts!”

During World War II, Oberleutnant zur See Berthold Hashagen, commander of the submarine cruiser U 846 (type IXC/40), was less fortunate. He died along with the boat and crew in the Bay of Biscay on May 4, 1944 from bombs dropped by the Canadian Wellington.

Family Walter gave the fleet two submarine commanders in World War I. Lieutenant Commander Hans Walther, commander of U 17 and U 52, sank 39 ships for 84,791 tons and three warships - the British light cruiser HMS Nottingham, the French battleship Suffren and the British submarine C34. Since 1917, Hans Walter commanded the famous Flanders submarine flotilla, in which many German submarine aces of the First World War fought, and ended his naval career in the Kriegsmarine with the rank of rear admiral.

The battleship "Suffren" is a victim of a submarine attack by U 52 under the command of Hans Walter on November 26, 1916, off the coast of Portugal. After the explosion of the ammunition, the ship sank in seconds, killing all 648 crew members.

Oberleutnant zur See Franz Walther, commander of UB 21 and UB 75, sank 20 ships (29,918 tons). He died along with the entire crew of the boat UB 75 on December 10, 1917 at a minefield near Scarborough (west coast of Great Britain). Lieutenant zur See Herbert Walther, who commanded the boat U 59 at the end of World War II, did not achieve success, but managed to survive until Germany surrendered.

Concluding the story about family dynasties in the German submarine fleet, I would like to note once again that the fleet is, first of all, not ships, but people. This applies not only to the German fleet, but will also apply to military sailors of other countries.

List of sources and literature

1. Gibson R., Prendergast M. German submarine war 1914–1918. Translated from German – Minsk: “Harvest”, 2002
2. Wynn K. U-Boat Operations of the Second World War. Vol.1–2 – Annopolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998
3. Busch R., Roll H.-J. German U-boat Commanders of World War II – Annopolis: Naval Institute Press, 1999
4. Ritschel H. Kurzfassung Kriegstagesbuecher Deutscher U-Boote 1939–1945. Band 8. Norderstedt
5. Blair S. Hitler's U-boat War. The Hunters, 1939–1942 – Random House, 1996
6. Blair S. Hitler's U-boat War. The Hunted, 1942–1945 – Random House, 1998
7. http://www.uboat.net
8. http://www.uboatarchive.net
9. http://historisches-marinearchiv.de

Germany entered World War II with only 57 submarines. A significant part of this fleet consisted of outdated Type II small boats, designed to patrol only coastal waters. It is obvious that at this moment the command of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) and the country's top leadership did not plan to launch a large-scale submarine war against their opponents. However, the policy was soon revised, and the personality of the commander of the submarine fleet of the Third Reich played no small role in this radical turn.

In October 1918, at the end of the First World War, during an attack on a guarded British convoy, the German submarine UB-68 was counterattacked and damaged by depth charges. Seven sailors were killed, the rest of the crew was captured. It included Chief Lieutenant Karl Doenitz. After his release from captivity, he made a brilliant career, rising to the rank of rear admiral and commander of the Kriegsmarine submarine forces by 1939. In the 1930s, he concentrated on developing tactics that would successfully combat the convoy system, of which he fell victim early in his service.

In 1939, Doenitz sent a memorandum to the commander of the Third Reich Navy, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, in which he proposed using the so-called Rudeltaktik, “wolf pack tactics,” to attack convoys. In accordance with it, it was planned to attack an enemy sea convoy with the maximum possible number of submarines concentrated in advance in the area where it passed. At the same time, the anti-submarine escort was dispersed, and this, in turn, increased the effectiveness of the attack and reduced possible casualties from the Kriegsmarine.

“Wolf packs,” according to Doenitz, were to play a significant role in the war with Great Britain, Germany’s main rival in Europe. To implement the tactics, the rear admiral assumed, it would be enough to form a fleet of 300 new type VII boats, capable, unlike their predecessors, of long ocean voyages. The Reich immediately launched a grand program for the construction of a submarine fleet.

The situation changed fundamentally in 1940. First, by the end of the year it became clear that the Battle of Britain, which was aimed at forcing the United Kingdom to surrender only through aerial bombing, was lost by the Nazis. Secondly, in the same 1940, Germany carried out a rapid occupation of Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and, most importantly, France, receiving at its disposal almost the entire Atlantic coast of continental Europe, and with it convenient military bases for raids across the ocean. Thirdly, the U-boat type VII required by Doenitz began to be introduced en masse into the fleet. Against this background, they acquired not just significant, but decisive importance in the desire to bring Britain to its knees. In 1940, the Third Reich entered into unrestricted submarine warfare and initially achieved phenomenal success in it.

The goal of the campaign, which was later called the “Battle of the Atlantic” at the instigation of Churchill, was to destroy the ocean communications that connected Great Britain with its allies overseas. Hitler and the Reich's military leadership were well aware of the extent of the United Kingdom's dependence on imported goods. The disruption of their supplies was rightly seen the most important factor to bring Britain out of the war, and the main role in this was to be played by the “wolf packs” of Admiral Doenitz.

For their concentration, the former Kriegsmarine naval bases on the territory of Germany proper with access to the Baltic and North Seas turned out to be not very convenient. But the territories of France and Norway allowed free access to the operational space of the Atlantic. The main problem was ensuring the safety of the submarines at their new bases, because they were within the reach of British (and later American) aviation. Of course, Doenitz was well aware that his fleet would immediately be subjected to intense aerial bombardment, survival of which became for the Germans a necessary guarantee of success in the Battle of the Atlantic.

The salvation for the U-boat was the experience of German bunker building, in which the Reich engineers knew a lot. It was clear to them that conventional bombs, which only the Allies possessed at the beginning of World War II, could not cause significant damage to a building reinforced with a sufficient layer of concrete. The problem with protecting submarines was solved in a costly, but quite simple way: ground bunkers began to be built for them.

Unlike similar structures designed for people, the U-Boot-Bunker was built on a Teutonic scale. A typical lair of “wolf packs” was a huge reinforced concrete parallelepiped 200-300 meters long, internally divided into several (up to 15) parallel compartments. In the latter, routine maintenance and repair of submarines was carried out.

Particular importance was attached to the design of the bunker roof. Its thickness, depending on the specific implementation, reached 8 meters, while the roof was not monolithic: concrete layers reinforced with metal reinforcement alternated with air layers. Such a multilayer “pie” made it possible to better dampen the energy of the shock wave in the event of a direct bomb hitting the building. Air defense systems were located on the roof.

In turn, thick concrete lintels between the internal compartments of the bunker limited possible damage even if a bomb did break through the roof. Each of these isolated “pencil cases” could contain up to four U-boats, and in the event of an explosion inside it, only they would become victims. Neighbors would suffer minimal or no harm at all.

First, relatively small bunkers for submarines began to be built in Germany at the old Kriegsmarine naval bases in Hamburg and Kiel, as well as on the Heligoland islands in the North Sea. But their construction gained real scope in France, which became the main location of Doenitz’s fleet. From the beginning of 1941 and over the next year and a half, giant colossi appeared on the Atlantic coast of the country in five ports at once, from which “wolf packs” began to hunt for Allied convoys.

The Breton city of Lorient in northwestern France became the Kriegsmarine's largest forward base. It was here that Karl Doenitz’s headquarters was located, here he personally met each submarine returning from a cruise, and here six U-Boot-Bunkers were erected for two flotillas - the 2nd and 10th.

Construction lasted a year, it was controlled by the Todt Organization, and a total of 15 thousand people, mostly French, participated in the process. The concrete complex in Lorient quickly showed its effectiveness: Allied aircraft were unable to inflict any significant damage on it. After this, the British and Americans decided to cut off communications through which the naval base was supplied. Over the course of a month, from January to February 1943, the Allies dropped tens of thousands of bombs on the city of Lorient itself, as a result of which it was 90% destroyed.

However, this did not help either. The last U-boat left Lorient only in September 1944, after the Allied landings in Normandy and the opening of a second front in Europe. After the end of World War II, the former Nazi base began to be successfully used by the French Navy.

Similar structures on a smaller scale also appeared in Saint-Nazaire, Brest and La Rochelle. The 1st and 9th Kriegsmarine submarine flotillas were located in Brest. Overall size This base was more modest than the “headquarters” in Lorient, but the largest single bunker in France was built here. It was designed for 15 compartments and had dimensions of 300x175x18 meters.

The 6th and 7th flotillas were based in Saint-Nazaire. A 14-penal bunker, 300 meters long, 130 meters wide and 18 meters high, was built for them, using almost half a million cubic meters of concrete. 8 out of 14 compartments were also dry docks, which made it possible to carry out major repairs of submarines.

Only one, the 3rd, Kriegsmarine submarine flotilla was stationed in La Rochelle. A bunker of 10 “pencil cases” with dimensions of 192x165x19 meters was enough for her. The roof is made of two 3.5-meter concrete layers with an air gap, the walls are at least 2 meters thick - in total, 425 thousand cubic meters of concrete were spent on the building. It was here that the film Das Boot was filmed - probably the most famous movie about German submariners during the Second World War.

In this series, the naval base in Bordeaux stands out somewhat apart. In 1940, a group of submarines, not German, but Italian, the main allies of the Nazis in Europe, was concentrated here. Nevertheless, here too, by order of Doenitz, the program for the construction of protective structures was carried out by the same “Todt Organization”. The Italian submariners could not boast of any particular success, and already in October 1942 they were supplemented by the specially formed 12th Kriegsmarine flotilla. And in September 1943, after Italy left the war on the side of the Axis, the base called BETASOM was completely occupied by the Germans, who remained here for almost another year.

In parallel with the construction in France, the command of the German Navy turned its attention to Norway. This Scandinavian country was of strategic importance for the Third Reich. Firstly, through the Norwegian port of Narvik, iron ore, vital for its economy, was supplied to Germany from the remaining neutral Sweden. Secondly, the organization of naval bases in Norway made it possible to control the North Atlantic, which became especially important in 1942 when the Allies began sending Arctic convoys with Lend-Lease goods to Soviet Union. In addition, they planned to service the battleship Tirpitz, the flagship and pride of Germany, at these bases.

So much attention was paid to Norway that Hitler personally ordered the local city of Trondheim to be turned into one of the Reich's Festungen - "Citadels", special German quasi-colonies through which Germany could further control the occupied territories. For 300 thousand expatriates - migrants from the Reich, they planned to build a new town, which was to be called Nordstern (“North Star”). Responsibility for its design was assigned personally to the Fuhrer's favorite architect, Albert Speer.

It was in Trondheim that the main North Atlantic base for the deployment of the Kriegsmarine, including submarines and the Tirpitz, was created. Having begun the construction of another bunker here in the fall of 1941, the Germans unexpectedly encountered difficulties unprecedented in France. Steel had to be brought in; there was also nothing to produce concrete from on site. The extended supply chain was constantly disrupted by the efforts of the capricious Norwegian weather. In winter, construction was forced to stop due to snow drifts on the roads. In addition, it turned out that the local population was much less willing to work on the great construction site of the Reich than, for example, the French did. It was necessary to attract forced labor from specially organized nearby concentration camps.

The Dora bunker, measuring 153x105 meters into just five compartments, was completed with great difficulty only by the middle of 1943, when the successes of the “wolf packs” in the Atlantic began to quickly fade away. The 13th Kriegsmarine Flotilla with 16 Type VII U-boats was stationed here. Dora 2 remained unfinished, and Dora 3 was abandoned altogether.

In 1942, the Allies found another recipe for fighting the Dönitz Armada. Bombing bunkers with finished boats did not produce results, but shipyards, unlike naval bases, were much less protected. By the end of the year, thanks to this new goal, the pace of submarine construction slowed down significantly, and the artificial decline of the U-boat, which was increasingly accelerated by the efforts of the Allies, was no longer replenished. In response, German engineers seemingly offered a way out.

In unprotected factories scattered throughout the country, it was now planned to produce only individual sections of boats. Their final assembly, testing and launching were carried out at a special plant, which was nothing more than the same familiar bunker for submarines. They decided to build the first such assembly plant on the Weser River near Bremen.

By the spring of 1945, with the help of 10 thousand construction workers - prisoners of concentration camps (6 thousand of whom died in the process), the largest of all U-Boot-Bunkers of the Third Reich appeared on the Weser. The huge building (426×97×27 meters) with a roof thickness of up to 7 meters inside was divided into 13 rooms. In 12 of them, a sequential conveyor assembly of the submarine from ready-made elements was carried out, and in the 13th, the already completed submarine was launched into the water.

It was assumed that the plant, called Valentin, would produce not just a U-boat, but a new generation U-boat - Type XXI, another miracle weapon that was supposed to save Nazi Germany from imminent defeat. More powerful, faster, covered with rubber to impede the operation of enemy radars, with the latest sonar system, which made it possible to attack convoys without visual contact with them - it was the first truly underwater a boat that could spend the entire military campaign without a single rise to the surface.

However, it did not help the Reich. Until the end of the war, only 6 out of 330 were under construction and in varying degrees Ready submarines were launched, and only two of them managed to go on a combat mission. The Valentin plant was never completed, suffering a series of bomb attacks in March 1945. The Allies had their own answer to the German miracle weapon, also unprecedented - seismic bombs.

Seismic bombs were a pre-war invention of the British engineer Barnes Wallace, which found its application only in 1944. Conventional bombs, exploding next to the bunker or on its roof, could not cause serious damage to it. Wallace's bombs were based on a different principle. The most powerful 8-10-ton shells were dropped from the highest possible height. Thanks to this and the special shape of the hull, they developed supersonic speed in flight, which allowed them to go deeper into the ground or pierce even the thick concrete roofs of submarine shelters. Once deep within the structure, the bombs exploded, in the process producing small local earthquakes sufficient to cause significant damage to even the most fortified bunker.

Because of high altitude their accuracy decreased when dropped from a bomber, but in March 1945, two of these Grand Slam bombs hit the Valentin plant. Having penetrated four meters into the concrete of the roof, they detonated and led to the collapse of significant fragments of the building's structure. The “cure” for the Doenitz bunkers was found, but Germany was already doomed.

At the beginning of 1943, the “happy times” of successful hunting by “wolf packs” on allied convoys came to an end. The development of new radars by the Americans and the British, the decryption of Enigma - the main German encryption machine installed on each of their submarines, and the strengthening of convoy escorts led to a strategic turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic. U-boats began to die in dozens. In May 1943 alone, the Kriegsmarine lost 43 of them.

The Battle of the Atlantic was the largest and longest naval battle in human history. In six years, from 1939 to 1945, Germany sank 3.5 thousand civilian and 175 warships of the Allies. In turn, the Germans lost 783 submarines and three-quarters of all the crews of their submarine fleet.

Only with the Doenitz bunkers the Allies were unable to do anything. Weapons that could destroy these structures appeared only at the end of the war, when almost all of them had already been abandoned. But even after the end of World War II, it was not possible to get rid of them: too much effort and expense would have been required to demolish these grandiose structures. They still stand in Lorient and La Rochelle, in Trondheim and on the banks of the Weser, in Brest and Saint-Nazaire. In some places they are abandoned, in others they have been turned into museums, in others they have been occupied by industrial enterprises. But for us, the descendants of the soldiers of that war, these bunkers have, above all, a symbolic meaning.