Chapter 386: Hunger Action (10)
"A tiger is afraid of a pack of wolves." The bloodthirsty wolf packs scare all the giants in nature. Under their repeated sieges, even the king of beasts can hardly resist.
Of course, this also depends on the time; a pack of wolves has about 5 to 12 members, and this level of combat power should have no chance of winning against a tiger; but in the cold winter, the number of wolves can expand to 40 or 50. If it forms such a scale, even a tiger may not be able to resist.
However, under normal circumstances, both sides are afraid of each other's strength and dare not act rashly. Even if they meet, they will just face each other and leave, because being injured in the wild means death, and wild animals understand this truth.
During World War II, the commander of the German Navy Submarine Department, Dönitz, may have studied the animal world and created the "wolf pack tactics" that were rampant in the early days of World War II, so he was also called the "wolf head". The "wolf pack tactics" and Guderian's "blitzkrieg" are known as the two "magic weapons" of the German army on land and sea in World War II.
The essence of the wolf pack tactic is to concentrate the combined force of weak ships to destroy a large fleet. During the operation, several ships will be sent out to hunt and investigate at sea. As long as a submarine discovers the Allied escort fleet, it will send a radio to find all the submarines that are close.
Wolf packs usually attack at night. The submarines in the wolf pack pass through the gaps or flanks of the other side's escort fleet secretly. Since multiple submarines attack the same target at the same time, the hit rate is improved, and several torpedoes can hit the same target at the same time. In this way, the "wolf pack tactics" can achieve greater combat effects, and the "wolf pack tactics" is named for this.
The "wolf pack" tactics were invincible for a time. The highest attack record of German submarines was to sink 38 Allied merchant ships in two days. In 1942, German submarines sank a total of 471 Allied ships with a total tonnage of nearly 2.2 million tons. Among them, Britain suffered the greatest losses. In 1942, the German "wolf pack" reached the peak of sinking Allied merchant ships. A total of 1,160 merchant ships were sunk throughout the year, with a total tonnage of 6.3 million tons, while their own loss rate was less than 7%.
How did such a powerful wolf pack tactic fail?
According to Dönitz's plan, Germany needed 100 submarines to perform missions in the combat waters, with 1/3 of them performing missions, 1/3 in shipyards and bases for maintenance, and 1/3 rotating (located on the way from the base shipyard to the sea area where the mission was performed). At least 300 submarines were equipped.
When the submarine war began, how many submarines did Germany have in total? Less than 60, of which only more than 20 were larger in tonnage and could perform ocean operations. According to the rotation and mission ratio, the number of submarines that actually performed missions was pitiful.
Such a small number of submarines can deal a heavy blow to the opponent, but it is impossible to completely destroy it.
In addition, Germany did not have aircraft carriers in World War II, and the cost was that there was no air force cover, which easily allowed its own ships to receive air strikes. Throughout World War II, about 40% of German submarines were sunk by British and American air anti-submarine forces. If the sinking results after the support and coordination of surface ships are also counted, then about half of the German submarines were sunk by air anti-submarine aircraft.
Because the construction plan of surface ships is also far more than the original time and space, the number of German submarines at this time still did not meet Dönitz's needs. The number of submarines is about 200, and there are about 120 large ocean-going submarines. According to the 1/3 theory, about 40 submarines are cruising in the vast Atlantic Ocean, and at most only ten can participate in the attack.
At the ambush point named Point A by the Wolf Pack Command, there are a rare gathering of 12 submarines. Most of these are Type VIIB submarines, 4 in front and 1 in the back, with a total of 5 533mm launch tubes, which means that even if each submarine launches five torpedoes to hit five transport ships, it can only sink 60 transport ships at most, which is actually impossible to do.
Several captains discussed it and decided to lay mines first after the wolfpack command sent a telegram that the target transport formation had not changed its course and would arrive in about an hour.
It was not uncommon for submarines to lay mines. Submarines laid mines even earlier than submarines launched torpedoes.
In 1801, the "Nautilus" submarine built by American Fulton had an iron frame and copper shell, was 7 meters long, carried two mines, and was operated by 4 people. It used a folding mast on the water and was powered by sails. Underwater, it was propelled by a hand-cranked propeller. In the 1860s, during the American Civil War, the "Henry" submarine built by the Confederate Army was about 12 meters long and cigar-shaped. It used 8 people to shake the propeller to move forward, with a speed of 4 knots, and used mines to attack enemy ships. On the night of February 17, 1864, the "Henry" sank the Union battleship "Housatonic" with a mine, creating the first example of a submarine sinking a warship.
In 1866, the British Whitehead made the first torpedo. In 1881, the "Nordfeldt" submarine built by Nordfeldt and Garrett was equipped with torpedo tubes for the first time; in the same year, the "Holland" II submarine built by the United States was equipped with torpedo tubes that could launch torpedoes underwater, which was an important development in the history of submarine development.
Each submarine was equipped with six mines, which they placed in this sea area, then dispersed and dived into the cold sea water, quietly waiting for the arrival of prey.
U124 Captain Johannes Moher came to the captain's room and closed his eyes to rest. This captain's room is so small that it can only accommodate a bed and a desk, and a curtain is installed at the door to ensure a more private space.
After all, this is not a super submarine equipped with swimming pools and gyms in the future. Every space on the boat is very valuable. Most of the space inside the boat is used to place diesel engines and electric motors, batteries and other necessary mechanical equipment. There is little space left for the crew to live and rest. Even the sleeping space is very limited. The crew members in some positions on the boat share a bunk, one sleeping and the other standing guard.
When preparing for departure before combat patrol, submarines usually carry about 14 tons of various supplies, fuel and torpedo weapons and ammunition. Every idle corner on the boat is used as much as possible to store fresh food, such as eggs, potatoes, fruits, vegetables, bread and meat, etc. The submarine has two toilets, one of which is also filled with various foods. After leaving the shore, start eating from the toilet with food...
Under such conditions, it is already an extreme privilege to have an independent lounge.
"Sir! Found the target!" After an unknown period of time, the first mate stood outside the "door" and reminded softly.
"Finally here!" Hannes Moher got up, walked out of the room, crossed the narrow corridor, and stood at his command position in high spirits. "Prepare for battle!"