Wolf-Packs essays

Wolf-Packs essays Since the conception of the submersible by Jules Verne, to the first use of a submarine in the American Revolution, to the first successful submarine kill by the Confederacy, to today's nuclear SSBNs, the submarine has long been a mysterious but capable component of military strength. A design originally strictly American, early submarines were used to attack blockading ships in attempts to end siege. With obvious military use, the US Navy bought its first 7 subs in 1903 by the design of John P. Holland. Countries like Germany and Britain soon borrowed submarine designs from Holland and contemporary Lake to produce their own submarines. Despite being late starters their expertise and technology in the field far surpassed that of the US design. This fact was obvious with the onset of WWI and the domination of the Triple Entente by the Triple Alliance in the area of undersea combat operations. World War I was the first real sea test of submersibles in open sea conflict for bo th sides. Though ultimately defeated in the war of attrition, Germany had overwhelming sea power for the majority of the war. As a reparation of WWI, the US took six German subs making evident the fact that, "The bridge, hull, periscope, guns, torpedo tubes, machinery and compartment design [of the U-boats] were far superior to ours." (Wheeler 19). It was then, in the years following the First World War, that United States skipper Chester Nimitz and German U-boat commander Karl Dnitz analyzed problems with design and tactics in submarine warfare and improved upon them. During the years of secret rearmament by the Nazi party, Dnitz was put in charge of the U-boat arm of the Kriegsmarine and later achieved rank of Kapitn (Admiral) and was appointed Commander of the German Navy in January of 1943. It was under the command of Dnitz that the Kriegsmarine was successful in starving Britain and her allies of their necessities for so lon...