Hitler, Donitz, and the Baltic Sea (55 page)

  
70
.
 
Churchill,
Gathering Storm,
462.

Chapter 9: The U-boat War, the Baltic Sea, and Norway

    
1
.
 
Salewski,
Seekriegsleitung,
2: 497.

    
2
.
 
Germany and the Second World War,
6: 348.

    
3
.
 
1/Skl “Abschlussbetrachtung zum Geleitzug Nr. 19,” 24 May 1943, RM 7/847; 2/Skl “Geleitoperation Nr. 3,” 28 May 1943, ibid. Actual Allied losses in Mar. 1943 in the Atlantic were 504,675 tons. Key works on the U-boat war include Rahn’s excellent summary in
Germany and the Second World War,
6: 342–405; Rohwer,
Critical Convoy Battles of March 1943;
Gannon,
Operation Drumbeat;
Roskill,
War at Sea;
and despite questionable interpretation, Blair,
Hitler’s U-boat War.

    
4
.
 
Lagevorträge,
475–77; Iu, “Kurze Betrachtung zum U-Bootskrieg,” [7] June 1943, RM 7/847.

    
5
.
 
Lagevorträge,
505, 507–10;
OKW KTB,
8: 1577.

    
6
.
 
Ruge,
In vier Marinen,
264; Ing. J. Elenz, “Festigkeitstechnische Untersuchung an einem U-Boot vom Typ XXI beim Tieftauchen am 23.3.45,” Nachlass Oelfken, N 518/2a; Niestlé, “German Technical and Electronic Development,” Howarth and Law,
Battle of the Atlantic,
435–36; Rahn, “Die Entstehung neuer deutscher U-Boot-Typen,” 15; Weinberg,
World at Arms,
374.

    
7
.
 
2/Skl, “Überlegungen zum Einsatz des Typ XXI,” 10 July 1944, N 236/19, 7–18; N.I.D. “Report: Summary of German U-Boat Designs,” 17 Oct. 1945, NavOpArch, GNR, box T 77, 17; Sieche, “Type XXI Submarine,” 3–7; Rössler,
U-boat,
208–209, 340.

    
8
.
 
Rössler,
U-boat,
209–10, 341; N.I.D. “Report: Summary of German U-Boat Designs,” 17 Oct. 1945, NavOpArch, GNR, box T 77, 20.

    
9
.
 
Lagevorträge,
517–21; Schulze-Wegener,
Kriegsmarine-Rüstung,
130–33.

  
10
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Speer, “Nr. M 1362/45” 27 Jan. 1945, T-77/864/5611342–43.

  
11
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Rössler,
U-boat,
214–17; USSBS Interview 49, Otto Merker, 20 June 1945, National Archives, Record Group 243 [hereafter NA, RG 243], entry 6, box 723.

  
12
.
 
Hauptamt Kriegsschiffbau, “K Stb. 2812/43,” 13 Oct. 1943, RM 7/98, 198. In fact, sectional construction reduced slip time from twenty-six weeks for a Type IX-D, a U-boat of similar size, to about six weeks for Type XXI submarines; Oelfken and Arendt, “Die Baumethoden der deutschen U-Boote 1935–1945,” N 518/5.

  
13
.
 
Oelfken and Arendt, “Baumethoden der deutschen U-Boote,” N 518/5; USSBS “Overall Report (European War),” 30 Sept. 1945, NA, RG 243, box 47, 69; Schulze-Wegener,
Kriegsmarine-Rüstung,
132–35; Dönitz, “Die deutsche Seekriegführung,” 6 Aug. 1945, RM 6/374, 57.

  
14
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U.S. Naval Technical Mission in Europe, “Organization of German Submarine Construction,” Sept. 1945, NavOpArch, NAVTECHMISSEUR, series IV, box 42, 25.

  
15
.
 
USSBS, “Report on Ingenieurburo Glueckauf,” NA, RG 243, entry 6, box 724; “Organization of German Submarine Construction,” NavOpArch, NAVTECHMISSEUR, series IV, box 42, 33–36; Rössler,
U-boat,
231–34.

  
16
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Lagevorträge,
79; Rössler,
U-boat,
168–75.

  
17
.
 
Lagevorträge,
416–19, 420–24; Rössler,
U-boat,
178–82; Oelfken, “Deutsche U-Bootsprojekte 1943–45,” N 518/2a.

  
18
.
 
Lagevorträge,
435–36; Hessler,
U-boat War,
1: 110.

  
19
.
 
BdU KTB, 1 Dec. 1943, RM 87/9, 99–100.

  
20
.
 
Ibid., 24 May and 22 June 1943, RM 87/8, 259, 306;
Lagevorträge,
505, 507–10.

  
21
.
 
Walter to Dönitz, 19 May 1943, RM 6/106, 7–8; Oelfken, “Der Schnorchel,” N 518/3; Fuchs, “Stellungnahme zu den Angaben des Buches von Grossadmiral Dönitz ‘Zehn Jahre und Zwanzig Tage,’” 6 Feb. 1959, Nachlass Fuchs, N 548/v.43. On snorkels making life on U-boats less comfortable, Tarrant,
Last Year of the Kriegsmarine,
30–31.

  
22
.
 
Major works on breaking German naval codes include Beesly,
Very Special Intelligence;
Hinsley,
British Intelligence;
Kahn,
Seizing the Enigma.

  
23
.
 
Germany and the Second World War,
6: 396–405; Rohwer, “Doenitz and the Battle of the Atlantic,” in Dönitz,
Ten Years and Twenty Days,
494–96, 506–507 Schulze-Wegener,
Kriegsmarine-Rüstung,
119–21.

  
24
.
 
Lagevorträge,
529; Skl KTB, 13 Aug. 1943, 234; Skl KTB, 8 Sept. 1943, 164. Rahn puts the losses at thirty-seven and twenty-five, respectively;
Germany and the Second World War,
6: 348.

  
25
.
 
Skl KTB, 6 Jan. 1944, 91;
Lagevorträge,
565; “Ubootslage,” RM 87/10, 35–37.

  
26
.
 
OKW KTB,
8: 1577–80; Skl KTB, 31 Jan. 1944, 567;
Lagevorträge,
575.

  
27
.
 
Lagevorträge,
583–85; 1/Skl, “U-Bootslage Mittelmeer,” 1 May 1944, RM 7/848, 63–64.

  
28
.
 
OKW, “Lageunterrichtung 14.6,” RM 7/99, 122; “Ubootslage 1.6.1944,” RM 87/40, 13, 19; Skl KTB, 7 June 1944, 140–41.

  
29
.
 
Skl KTB, 11 Sept. 1944, 282; ibid., 5 Nov. 1944, 111; ibid., 6 Jan. 1945, 104; BdU KTB, 3 Dec. 1944, RM 87/46, 14; “Zusammengefasste Ubootslage Atlantik Monat November–Dezember,” RM 87/46, 107–11;
Lagevorträge,
621, 630, 635, 638, 653, 655, 675.

  
30
.
 
Sternhell and Thorndike, “Antisubmarine Warfare in World War II,” Strategic Planning in the U.S. Navy, reel 10, 70, 73–74; Glennon, “The Weapon That Came Too Late,” 88.

  
31
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USSBS, “Interview No. 53, Karl-Otto Saur,” 22 June 1945, NA, RG 243, entry 6, box 1000; Rössler,
U-boat,
241, 246; Ruge,
In vier Marinen,
256.

  
32
.
 
Skl KTB, 7 Aug. 1944, 160–61; ibid., 6 Sept. 1944, 160; 2/Skl “Stand der U-Boote am 1. November 1944,” RM 87/45, 6–7.

  
33
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Lagevorträge,
604; Oven,
Mit Goebbels bis zum Ende,
2: 169; Skl KTB, 5 Oct. 1944, 119.

  
34
.
 
OKM, “XIX. Rü-Besprechung Kriegsmarine am 6.9.44: Besprechungsergebnisse und Entscheidungen,” RM 7/100, 260–61; 2/Skl, “Stand der U-Boote am 1. Januar 1945,” RM 87/46, 94.

  
35
.
 
2/Skl, “Wirkungsgrad der U-Boote,” 13 Jan. 1945, RM 87/46, 175–77;
TBJG,
15: 58;
Lagevorträge,
653.

  
36
.
 
Lagevorträge,
673, 680; “Typ XXIII Boote,” N 379/v.101; Hessler,
U-boat War,
3: 98–99; Sieche, “Type XXIII German Submarine,” 160–61.

  
37
.
 
“German Submarine Design 1935–1945,” July 1945, NavOpArch, NAVTECHMISSEUR, series IV, box 32, 13; Schulze-Wegener,
Kriegsmarine-Rüstung,
140.

  
38
.
 
Skl KTB, 17 Mar. 1945, 244;
OKW KTB,
8: 1208; Hinsley,
British Intelligence,
3: part 2, 631; Hessler,
U-boat War,
3: 98; Cremer,
U-boat Commander,
201–202.

  
39
.
 
Hinsley,
British Intelligence,
3: part 1, 47–50, 244–45, 284–85, 519–23; part 2, 483, 627–29.

  
40
.
 
Beesly,
Very Special Intelligence,
246, 249; Hinsley,
British Intelligence,
3: part 2, 627.

  
41
.
 
On several occasions British estimates came to only half the actual number of new U-boats; Hinsley,
British Intelligence,
3: part 2, 471–74, 482, 486, 630, 633. Beesly,
Very Special Intelligence,
248; Knowles, “Ultra and the Battle of the Atlantic: The American View,” 447; Erickson,
Road to Berlin,
481–82.

  
42
.
 
Lagevorträge,
518; Oelfken, “Deutsche U-Bootsprojekte,” 23 Feb. 1947, N 518/2a; Ruge,
In vier Marinen,
259–60.

  
43
.
 
USSBS “Overall Report (European War),” 30 Sept. 1945, NA, RG 243, box 47, 69–70.

  
44
.
 
Skl, “XIV. Rüstungs-Besprechung am 28.6,” RM 7/1099, 130; Skl KTB, 9 Dec. 1944, 208; Skl KTB, 13 Jan. 1945, 224; “Organization of German Submarine Construction,” NavOpArch, NAVTECHMISSEUR, series IV, box 42, 20.

  
45
.
 
USSBS, “Interview No. 49, Otto Merker,” 20 June 1945, NA, RG 243, entry 6, box 723; USSBS, “Questionnaire Submitted by a British Commission to Albert Speer with Answers Supplied by Speer while He Was at Dustbin,” ibid., box 999; Tarrant,
Last Year of the Kriegsmarine,
185–89.

  
46
.
 
“Organization of German Submarine Construction,” NavOpArch, NAVTECHMISSEUR, series IV, box 42, 38–40; Rössler,
U-boat,
251–52.

  
47
.
 
USSBS, “Interview No. 59, Dönitz,” 28 June 1945, NA, RG 243, entry 6, box 1000.

  
48
.
 
Skl KTB, 12 Apr. 1944, 268; ibid., 9 Sept. 1944, 239; ibid., 21 Dec. 1944, 526; ibid., 1 Jan. 1945, 2–3; ibid., 25 Mar. 1945, 364.

  
49
.
 
Ruge,
In vier Marinen,
256; “Niederschrift der Unterredung des Herrn Admiral a.D. Werner Fuchs, durchgeführt am 16. Dez. 1951 mit Dr. Frhr. von Siegler im Auftrage des Instituts für Zeitgeschichte,” IfZ, ZS 41, 20–21; Speer,
Infiltration,
113–14, 124.

  
50
.
 
“German Submarine Design,” NavOpArch, NAVTECHMISSEUR, series IV, box 32, 13; “Organization of German Submarine Construction,” ibid., box 42, 38; Glennon, “The Weapon That Came Too Late,” 86, 91–92; Rössler,
U-boat,
241–42; Oelfken, “Schwierigkeiten beim Bau der U-Boote Typ XXI, XXIII, XXVI,” N 518/5.

  
51
.
 
Skl KTB, 27 Dec. 1944, 635; ibid., 25 Jan. 1945, 458;
OKW KTB,
8: 1577–80; “Organization of German Submarine Construction,” NavOpArch, NAVTECHMISSEUR, series IV, box 42, 24; Glennon, “The Weapon That Came Too Late,” 92; Rössler,
U-boat,
240–45.

  
52
.
 
Schulze-Wegener,
Kriesgmarine Rüstung,
126, 202; Skl, “XIV. Rüstungs-Besprechung am 28.6,” RM 7/1099, 130; Chef Mar.Rüst, “Meldung an ObdM betr. Rü-Sitzung vom 12.7.1944,” RM 7/99, 13; “Organization of German Submarine Construction,” NavOpArch, NAVTECHMISSEUR, series IV, box 42, 38–40.

  
53
.
 
Schulze-Wegener,
Kriesgmarine Rüstung,
198–99; Hessler,
U-boat War,
1: 108.

  
54
.
 
Skl KTB, 9 Dec. 1944, 208; ibid., 13 and 16 Apr. 1945, 208–13, 262–63; Hessler,
U-boat War,
1: 108; USSBS, “Interview No. 49, Otto Merker,” NA, RG 243, entry 6, box 723; “Organization of German Submarine Construction,” Sept. 1945, NavOpArch, NAVTECHMISSEUR, series IV, box 42, 38; Cremer,
U-boat Commander,
201;
Lagevorträge,
647; Tarrant,
Last Year of the Kriegsmarine,
47–50, 190.