ipl-logo

United States Submarine Warfare In World War Two

1086 Words5 Pages

The Importance of United States Submarine Warfare in World War II
The success of submarines during the war wasn’t always a given, early in the war the United States was behind the curve both technologically and tactically. Although the United States were pioneers in submarine warfare, the Germans had surpassed them in tactics and technology. Due to the United States entering the war late the Axis forces had almost a decade lead in the use of submarines for warfare.
The submarine is often considered the ultimate weapon. Even with the limitation that early submarines had by being forced to stay on the surface they were about to attack from seemingly out of nowhere. The results of those attacks were disproportionately lethal with submarines sinking roughly sixty percent of merchant traffic and thirty percent of military traffic in the Pacific Theatre alone. (US NAVY) …show more content…

The submerged war was fought in a global theatre. From the frigid north to the balmy waters of the mid-Pacific. The submarine also filled many roles during the war, included but not limited to, acting as lifeguard for downed Allied airmen, coastal reconnaissance, and blockade buster. Perhaps most importantly they acted as the forward attack against Axis supply ships. From the beginning the United States focused on enemy merchant ships allowing the Allied forces to shorten the gap technological gap until the United States could bring its full industrial might to bear. Submarines made all the difference in the war. A difference so great that, as seen later in the war, the United States submarine force was instrumental in turning the tide towards

Show More
Related
427 Words | 2 Pages

The strategies of the World War II have been the key to complete missions. In the eyes of many people, the airplanes were one of the essential equipment of the battles in World War II. Also, it was a secret service under the water line of the ocean working like a shadow with targets like Japan supply and combat ships, which were submarines. Submarines were used first to block ships suspecting to have prohibited cargo throughout the British line by the Germans. In addition, they announce to the people aboard to abandon the ship and the submarine sunk the cargo ships.

Read More
1254 Words | 6 Pages

For the United States to have a chance to win the battle they had to take risks. During the fighting of the battle, the Japanese were only able to sink 1 United States Cruiser which was hit by a torpedo. The United States was able to sink all 12 Japanese Cruisers. For this to happen the United States took many risks during the battle. They sent out a full air squadron to attack a Japanese ship and only a handful came back.

Read More
1169 Words | 5 Pages

Over this time period, the Germans had been using the same strategie of “Attack! Advance! Sink!” (Gannon) All of this was in part due to German U-boats focusing on attacking transport vessels at their most vulnerable, out at sea away from the Royal Air Force. This was the logic of Admiral Karl Dönitz, the commander of the submarine fleet.

Read More
1766 Words | 8 Pages

Political leadership, military strategy, organizational capacity, fighting skills and effectiveness, technology, mass production, resources, ideology, and morale, all were essential factors that influenced the war victory. The war at sea saw mainly the US and Japan competing in the Pacific and the US and Great Britain competing against Germany in the Atlantic. The offensiveness of the Japanese Empire could be contained and defeated by the US only after the fortunate victory of Midway in 1942 and the following buildup of an overwhelming superiority of the American forces. In the Atlantic, the German U-boats inflicted embarrassing losses to the British and American Navies. Only technological improvements and effective adaptation of the tactics (naval convoy tactics and dedicated anti-submarine airplane) allowed the Allies to recover the situation, regaining control of the sea.

Read More
983 Words | 4 Pages

would not actually be going to war due to President Woodrow Wilson’s implications. Minor events, including the sinking of the Lusitania, occurred before the United States made its appearance in the war. The U.S. suddenly became a target when Germany began the strategy of “submarine warfare”. Any ship that brought supplies to Great Britain or France at the time would be destroyed with torpedoes. Only a few weeks later, four American ships were sunk, and fifteen people were killed from German submarine attacks.

Read More
1799 Words | 8 Pages

World War II was a critical point in time not only for the United States, but for the whole world. From a Navy perspective it was very important due to the fact that a lot of the changes that were made in our combat style back then, is still implemented today. It was around this time that we started using submarines, naval aviation tactics, and the Marine Corps. These three pieces played very important roles in our victory of World War II. More importantly, these battle tactics were used in one of the most important sea conflicts in the Battle of the Pacific, the Battle of Midway.

Read More
1092 Words | 5 Pages

The Germans at this point had shown great movement towards a more aggressive standpoint in the war and this directly affected the United States lost people on boats like the Lusitania and the Laconia. Many people worried that “other laconias were certain to sink.” (Doc 7) This instilled fear into the nations and many people felt that the only way to solve this would be to get involved and take a more aggressive standpoint on the matter. The Sussex pledge was announced in place to restrict this warfare by German submarines but after violating the policy, even more, people supported a more aggressive, including President Woodrow Wilson.

Read More
424 Words | 2 Pages

Now that Russia dropped out, all the German troops moved toward the Western front. This was a big blow to the Allies. If it weren 't for the U.S, the Allies would 've probably lost the war. We gained a lot of technical knowledge and income from our participation.

Read More
493 Words | 2 Pages

On the sea, soldiers were in ironclad ships that were often built with rotating gun turrets, allowing soldiers to shot in any direction without turning the ship. Submarines were also developed. Powered by about eight men who hand-cranked the propeller, used to destroy ships from underwater with naval mines.

Read More
694 Words | 3 Pages

Due to the fact that Germany could not accept the United States neutrality of the war, the United States needed to retaliate. I believe this was a sapient decision because of the contempt given from Germany. Along with the Americans entering the war I withal feel as though the German U-boats and submarines were inequitable. Once the sinking of the Lusitania occurred the U.S. Made an endeavor to get Germany to pay back the victim’s survivors. However Germany didn’t accept the endeavor and instead blew

Read More
296 Words | 2 Pages

They had more guns and ammo for their guns. The United States had submarines and enough troops to power the submarines. They also had tanks that gave them an advantage in the war. Another reason the timing was important, they had an advantage of troops.

Read More
703 Words | 3 Pages

As Germany returns, in 1917, to the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, it came back to renew its suspension in response from force of the United States and other neutral countries. Unrestricted submarine warfare was first initiated in World War I on February 4th, 1915. Germany declared the area around the British Isles a war zone, in which all merchant ships, would be attacked by the German navy. On April 22nd, 1915, the German Embassy published a warning in newspapers to tell passengers that travel on Allied ships are “at their own risk.” One ship, called The Lusitania, was the first to submerge and depart, killing nearly 1300 passengers.

Read More
774 Words | 4 Pages

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare is characterized by the attacking of vessels such as cargo ships or military boats without giving warning prior to the attack. With such aggressive military policy ramifications can reach all aspects of maritime culture. From the political tension that can arise, to economic impacts from losses of vessels and cargo to social consequences from loss of life. The major issue with the German use of their submarines was the international implications of using this modern technology. Quite literally, the submarines were used before international laws were adjusted on their use during wartime (Kennedy et al. 699).

Read More
1218 Words | 5 Pages

They used U-boats (submarines) to stop merchant ships carrying supplies, yet they stopped this because they were vulnerable to the merchant ships guns. Instead the illegally torpedoed the ships without warning. They declared the areas surrounding Britain a war zone and that neutral ships entering the zone would be torpedoed. This caused the sinking of the Lusitania killing 128 American

Read More
172 Words | 1 Pages

The most important contribution by the United States towards the Allied victory in Europe was the contribution of many supplies. The first supply was food. England was out of food at home and for its troops. So the United States sent a lot of foods to support the British army. The second contribution was the shipment of weapons and ammunition.

Read More

More about United States Submarine Warfare In World War Two

Related Topics

Open Document