U-boats vs Destroyer Escorts

The Strategic Situation

World War II_did not herald the first use of the submarine in combat. Indeed, during World War I, the U-boats of the the Kaiserliche Marine had wrought havoc on Allied shipping. There were a number of U-boat aces, commanders who were responsible for the sinking of several thousand tons of enemy shipping.

After some stunning successes in the opening years of the war, in early 1917 Germany recommenced unrestricted submarine warfare against Allied shipping. With the bulk of the navy's suitable escort vessels allocated to the British Grand Fleet, little was available to protect merchant shipping, and the U-boats initially hit merchant shipping hard. However, the United States made destroyers available to supplement British warships and from April 1917 Lloyd George ordered that all ships carrying much-needed food and provisions to Britain were to sail in convoys as a means of protection.

Merchant shipping losses rapidly declined to acceptable levels and the U-boat menace was gradually neutralized. Without the development of this anti-submarine strategy as well as the support of the United States (a pattern that was repeated in the next world war), this destruction of Allied shipping had come perilously close to bringing Britain to her knees. As a result, the terms of the Versailles Treaty that Germany was forced to accept in 1919 had quite deliberately decimated the German Fleet. Germany's total armed forces, strength was not to exceed 100,000 and within that total the navy was not to comprise more than 15,000 men. It was to have just six elderly battleships, six cruisers and 12 destroyers, with submarines totally prohibited. Those U-boats that had survived the war were either seized by the Allies or scrapped.

In view of the damage done by U-boats in World War I, the terms of the subsequent Anglo-German Naval Agreement which was signed on 18 June 1935 were somewhat surprising. This was a considerable coup for Germany, allowing the Germans to increase the size of the Reichsmarine to 35 percent of the size of the Royal Navy. More importantly, it allowed Germany to build submarines once again, up to 45 percent of the Royal Navy's submarine strength.

The relative section of the agreement stated,In the matter of submarines, however, Germany, while not exceeding the ratio of 35:100 in respect of total tonnage, shall have the right to possess a submarine tonnage equal to the total submarine tonnage possessed by the Members of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The German Government, however, undertake that, except in the circumstances indicated in the immediately following sentence, Germany's submarine tonnage shall not exceed 45 percent of the total of that possessed by the Members of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The German Government reserve the right, in the event of a situation arising which in their opinion makes it necessary for Germany to avail herself of her right to a percentage of submarine tonnage exceeding the 45 percent abovementioned, to give notice to this effect to His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and agree that the matter shall be the subject of friendly discussion before the German Government exercise that right.