Company bang
The Paukenschlag company was launched by the German Navy during World War II . The term Paukenschlag itself and the successor companies that were not given their own names are often summarized under the term .
prehistory
Hitler had promised to the Japanese Empire that in the event of a war between Japan and the United States , he in turn would declare war on the United States . This promise of alliance was kept after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by the German declaration of war on December 11, 1941.
For Admiral Karl Dönitz , the commander of the submarines (BdU) , the declaration of war meant that the restrictions of submarine war against American ships no longer apply. In fact, the US Navy had already been involved in securing Allied convoys for several months without the German submarines having permission to attack US warships. Doenitz also saw the possibility of a surprise attack on shipping off the American east coast. This attack was given the name Company Paukenschlag .
Preparations
Because of the great distance, the attack could only be carried out by the long-range Type IX submarines . Of the 20 boats available, nine were of the type IX (A) and IX B (with a range of 10,500 or 12,000 nm at 10 kn ) and eleven were of the type IX C (with a range of 13,450 nm at 10 kn). When Berlin gave the green light for the submarine attack on North America, only six Type IX boats were available: U 66 under Richard Zapp , U 109 under Heinrich Bleichrodt , U 123 under Reinhard Hardegen , U 125 under Ulrich Folkers , U 130 under Ernst Kals and U 502 under Jürgen von Rosenstiel . These six boats made up the first wave. U 125 and U 502 set sail on December 18 . U 502 had to stop the mission because of an oil leak and returned to Lorient on December 22nd . U 123 went to sea on December 23, U 66 on December 25 , and U 130 and U 109 left for service on December 27 . These boats were ordered not to carry out any attacks during the Atlantic crossing, except on particularly attractive targets such as enemy capital ships.
In the operational area
The boats took about two weeks to reach their areas of operation off the US east coast. On January 13, 1942, the three boats intended for the coast of the United States ( U 66 east of Cape Hatteras , U 123 near the tip of Long Island and U 125 off New Jersey ) had taken their positions and began at dawn on January 14 their attacks. The other two boats were patrolling the Canadian coast. However, Kplt. Hardegen sunk the British freighter SS Cyclops with U 123 on January 11th . The attacks hit US shipping completely unprepared. Since the east coast had previously been outside the area of operation of German submarines, the merchant ships drove with position lights set and without any protection. By the time they returned, U 123 sank seven ships with 46,744 GRT , U 130 six ships with 36,988 GRT, U 66 five ships with 33,456 GRT, U 109 four ships with 27,651 GRT and U 125 one ship with 5666 GRT. On February 6, when the last of the five submarines marched back, they had destroyed a total of 23 ships with 150,505 GRT. Reinhard Hardegen had sunk almost a third of the tonnage with U 123 , who received a telegram for these successes with the wording: “To the Paukenschläger Hardegen. Bravo! Well crammed. Dönitz ” and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross .
Allied reaction and record
It was not until June 1942, five months after the start of the Paukenschlag company, that the convoy system, which had proven itself as protection against submarines in the North Atlantic for years, was also introduced for merchant shipping off the American east coast. This delayed reaction was partly responsible for the loss of 397 ships with over 2 million GRT and around 5000 seafarers, which was inflicted on the Allied merchant shipping by submarines in the six months after the start of the company bang off the American coast and in the Caribbean. The German losses in these sea areas in the same period amounted to seven submarines, with 302 crew members lost their lives. Since it was just as easy for the German commanders to sink them as it was at the beginning of the war, the Paukenschlag company and its successors are also referred to as the second happy time of the German submarines.
Follow-up companies
Even if Paukenschlag only describes the first wave of five boats, the other submarine companies off the American coast are often also called this. After the Paukenschlag company, this sea area became a hunting ground for German submarines, later not only type IX long-haul boats, but also the smaller type VII boats , which were used by supply submarines (so-called "dairy cows") had to be supplied. In the following waves, the most successful submarine captains were often deployed, operating not only off the east coast, but also in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, especially Panama.
"Seewolf" submarine group
The formation of the submarine group "Seewolf" was the last attempt by the German naval command to operate off the American east coast. Based on reports from agents and statements by German prisoners of war, the US naval command feared an attack by means of submarine-supported missiles on the American east coast. American historians therefore describe the last attack by the Type IX C boats in April 1945 against the United States as the final bang . With departure from February to the end of April 1945, the German submarine command deployed 18 submarines of the types IX C, IX C / 40 and one IX D2 against North America. Of the 18 submarines, ten submarines were sunk, nine of which are considered total loss - that is, no survivors.
Submarines against North America February to May 1945
- Leaving Norway in February 1945: U 866 / U 857 / U 879 / U 190 / U 853 .
- Leaving Norway in March 1945: U 530 / U 548 / U 518 / U 858 / U 880 / U 805 / U 1235 / U 546 / U 873 was originally intended for Japan then Mona-Passage and the United States.
- Leaving Norway in April 1945: U 881 / U 889 / U 1228 / U 1231.
After this wave of attacks, the new, large Type XXI submarines (which were several years ahead of Allied technology) were to appear in the Atlantic from May 1945 , the first of which had arrived in Norway in April 1945. On May 4, 1945 around 4 p.m., Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz , now the last President of the German Reich, stopped the submarine war against the western allies and gave orders to inform the submarines of this order. On May 7, 1945, the German Reich surrendered to the USA and Great Britain in Reims, and on May 8, 1945 the total surrender came into force in Berlin-Karlshorst (see unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht ).
Operation Teardrop against "Sea Wolf"
U 518 , U 546 , U 805 , U 858 , U 880 and U 1235 , which were heading for their commanded lines and advance positions in the central North Atlantic, had little chance, even if they only submitted brief reports of passage in certain sea areas and otherwise hardly or not at all (like U 1235 ). The radio messages from the submarine command with the stand lines and further instructions to the sea wolf boats were recorded by the British via ULTRA , deciphered and communicated to the Americans. In order to block the determined approach route of the group sea wolves , the US naval command initiated Operation Tear Drop 2 , for which a fleet of 2 escort carriers and 22 escort destroyers was put together. The US warships could be ordered to the corresponding sea areas of the submarines with the help of British Special Intelligence . The Allies had long known about the secret German naval square maps.
Loss of the Sea Wolf submarines
- U 1235 with 57 men was sunk on April 15, 1945.
- U 880 with 49 men was lost one day later.
- U 548 , which operated individually, was sunk on April 19, 1945 with 58 men.
- U 518 with 56 men was presumably sunk on April 22, 1945; however, it has not yet been clearly established whether it was actually this submarine.
- U 546 with 33 men was lost on April 24, 1945; part of the crew was saved by the Americans. Shortly before the sinking, U 546 was able to sink the US destroyer USS F. J. Davis with an acoustically controlled torpedo .
- U 879 , which had already left Kristiansand on February 11, 1945, was sunk on April 30, 1945 with 52 men.
- U 857 and its 59 men have been missing since April 1945.
- U 853 (Kmdt .: Fröhmsdorf) was sunk on May 6, 1945 with 55 men.
- U 881 (Kmdt .: Dr. Frischke) was also lost on May 6, 1945. 53 men drowned in the sinking off Newfoundland .
The latter two submarines were lost after the official end of the submarine war against the western allies. This was due to the fact that the long-wave transmitter that enabled reception under water had already blown up at this time and the order from Dönitz no longer reached all commanders. U 881 was the last German submarine to be sunk by the "United States Forces in the Atlantic" during World War II.
U 805 and U 858 remained undiscovered by the Allies and capitulated at sea after the end of the war when they were on course for the east coast of the United States.
In total, around 500 German marines died in the last wave of German submarines attacking the United States in March, April and early May 1945.
literature
- Michael Gannon: Operation Paukenschlag - The German U-Boat War against the USA , Ullstein Buchverlage, Berlin, 1998, ISBN 3-548-33232-3
- Clay Blair : The Submarine War (Volume 1 1939–1942, Die Jäger ), ISBN 3-8289-0512-9
- David Mason: German U-Boats (The Second World War) , Verlagsunion Pabel-Moewig, Rastatt, 1992, ISBN 3-8118-7276-1