What is Hitler's U-boat?

U-869, the submarine profiled in the NOVA program "Hitler's Lost Sub," was just one of the more than 1,100 Unterseeboote, or U-boats, sunk, scuttled, captured, or otherwise lost to German forces during World War II. Here, naval historian Timothy Mulligan describes 25 of the most historically significant U-boats.

What did the German U-boat do?

U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role (commerce raiding) and enforcing a naval blockade against enemy shipping.

Was Hitler's U-boat ever found?

In 2014, researchers found the remains of U-576 off the coast of North Carolina, and just last year, the notorious German World War I U-boat UB-29 was found off the coast of Belgian.

What does the U in U-boat mean?

History and Etymology for U-boat

translation of German U-boot, short for Unterseeboot, literally, undersea boat.

Why did Germany Call U-boats?

U-boat is an abbreviation of the German word ''Unterseeboot'' (meaning ''submarine'' or ''under the sea boat''). The German navy launched large-scale submarine offensives in both World Wars. The letter ''U'' inU-boats is from the German ''unter'', meaning ''under''.

Decisive Battles of Hitler's War: The U-Boat War (WWII Documentary)

Do any German U-boats still exist?

The German Unterseeboot, or U-boat, was a submarine that appeared seemingly out of nowhere to destroy both military and commercial ships. Despite their prevalence during WWI and WWII, only four U-boats exist today.

How long would a German U-boat stay at sea?

The Germans' most formidable naval weapon was the U-boat, a submarine far more sophisticated than those built by other nations at the time. The typical U-boat was 214 feet long, carried 35 men and 12 torpedoes, and could travel underwater for two hours at a time.

How many German U-boats are still missing?

A U-boat of this type, listed for decades as being sunk off Gibraltar, was found on the sea bottom about 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey in 1991. According to the definitive website Uboat.org, a total of 50 German U-boats remained unaccounted for after the end of World War II.

What happened to German U-boats after the war?

Of the 156 U-boats that surrendered to the allies at the end of the war, 116 were scuttled as part of Operation Deadlight. The Royal Navy carried out the operation, and planned to tow the submarines to three areas about 100 miles (160 km) north-west of Ireland and sink them.

How were the U-boats defeated in ww2?

The introduction of aircraft carriers, Very Long Range aircraft and roving 'support groups' of warships eventually defeated the U-boats at the end of May 1943.

Who sank the most U-boats in WW2?

Of the U-boats, 519 were sunk by British, Canadian, or other allied forces, while 175 were destroyed by American forces; 15 were destroyed by the Soviets and 73 were scuttled by their crews before the end of the war for various reasons.

How deep could a WW2 U-boat dive?

World War II German U-boats generally had collapse depths in the range of 200 to 280 metres (660 to 920 feet).

How many ships were sunk by German U-boats in WW2?

By war's end in mid 1945, German U-Boats had sunk ≈3000 Allied ships, less than 5% of the ships built during the war, only one of them a loaded troop transport. 783 of 1170 U-Boats launched had been sunk, mostly by American, British & Canadian forces.

How deep can U-boats go?

Since World War I, nautical technology has evolved at a rapid rate, but in 1914 U-boats were considered quite advanced. These vessels could reach maximum depths of 50 meters or 165 feet, achieve speeds of 16 knots at the surface and eight knots underwater, and had a range of up to 25,000 miles.

How many ships did the German U-boats sink?

The most formidable naval weapons in both world wars, German submarines devastated trans-Atlantic shipping while sinking 8,000 merchant vessels and warships and killing tens of thousands.

Did U-boats have to surface to fire?

And it must have done so on the surface of the water, where it was able to travel at a faster speed than the ships it pursued. By approaching from astern, where the lookouts rarely checked, the U-boat would be able to slip inside the convoy undetected, fire at close range, then submerge in order to get away.

Did U-boats reach America?

By January 1942, German submarines had moved into American coastal waters and posed a serious threat to U.S. and Allied shipping. During the first three months of 1942, German U-boats sank more than 100 ships off the east coast of North America, in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Caribbean Sea.

Why did U-boats fail in ww2?

Their electric engines—used when underwater and recharged with diesel on the surface—were not capable of holding a charge lasting more than a few hours. And they were slow. Really slow. Many convoys could simply outrun them.

How fast can a German U-boat go?

The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft). The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph).

What ship sank the most submarines?

For almost 73 years, the USS England has set a record for most subs sunk by a single ship. That record remains unbroken. Destroyer escorts were the econo-warships of the U.S. Navy in World War II.

Has the wreck of U 47 been found?

A team led by Rodrigo Pacheco-Ruiz of the University of Southampton discovered the submarine's remains during an exploratory dive this summer. Resting at a depth of 150 feet below the surface, the wreck is situated some 20 nautical miles off the coast of Yorkshire, England.

How many subs did us lose in ww2?

Fifty-two submarines of the United States Navy were lost during World War II.

What did they eat on U-boats?

Meat, vegetables (mainly potatoes), bread and fruits were the basic ingredients in the submariners' menu on German U-Boats during World War 2. While long-distance German U-Boats were excellent killing machines, habitability ranked very low on their designers' priority list.

Why did submariners eat lemons?

His reported experiment on board a naval ship in 1747 showed that oranges and lemons were a cure for scurvy.

What was it like inside a German U-boat?

U-boat submariners had a 75% casualty rate, the highest of all German forces during the war. The U-505 had two bathrooms, one of which was used to store food for the first part of the voyage. For the entire two months at sea, the crew never bathed and instead cleaned themselves by swabbing with alcohol.