Submarines

Don't forget to look at the graph.

Submarines were also called U-boats.  Subs of World War One were very small.  Because of this they were cramped and very uncomfortable.  They could attack suddenly, swiftly, and were usually deadly.  They could patrol and attack while submerged.  Since the technology wasn’t available during WWI to locate submerged U-boats, they traveled virtually undetected.  Submarines were, however, venerable to cannon fire while they were surfaced.

            Submarines weren't used effectively against opposing naval ships.  They were, however, devastating against merchant ships.   Germany proved this fact.  German U-boats patrolled Allied shipping lanes day and night.  They sank virtually every ship that crossed their path.  Once Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare they nearly starved Great Britain out of the War (see chart below).  Britain’s only defense to German U-boat attacks was to combine warships and merchant ships into groups called convoys..

Shipping sunk by German U-boats

 BACK