Submarine Warfare

During the world wars, armies took to the seas and began to fight using boats that could submerge themselves fully in water. Known by their general term “submarines” each country had their own style of submarine, and more importantly, each country had their own way of navigating the sea bed. Almost every navy throughout the world had a fleet of submarines, though it wasn’t until the invention of a partly diesel, partly gas engine that submarines began to become useful and more efficient. The ability to both fight on top of the water and lurk upon the ocean floor meant that countries could now cover sea, land, and air – this was a huge breakthrough in the world of combat.

Germany had the largest fleet of submarines amongst all of the navies involved in World War II. But it wasn’t their numbers alone that gave the German “U-Boats,” the upper hand as far as naval combat went. Sticking to its strategic fighting style, Germany’s submarine attacks were specific, calculated, and effective. Acting as a scout, one U-Boat in a fleet of many sought out other enemy submarines that were hidden on the ocean floor. Rather than attack immediately, the U-Boat scout would send out signals to its comrades, and once the enemy boat was completely surrounded there was no chance of escape.

Although inter-submarine warfare was seemingly simple from a naval perspective, striking a submarine from the air was no easy feat. In fact, the first submarine ever to be spotted and attacked by air was a French submarine that was targeted by a Serbian pilot. Neither side had witnessed such accuracy before, but now the possibility of destroying submarines from the air was no longer such a far-fetched idea. Being able to utilize all of the earth’s elements meant that each military army was becoming stronger and more equal as the war advanced.