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First Happy Time
The early phase of the Battle of the Atlantic during which German Navy U-boats enjoyed significant success against the British Royal Navy and its Allies was referred to by U-boat crews as "the Happy Time" ("''Die Glückliche Zeit''"), and later the First Happy Time, after a second successful period was encountered. It started in July 1940, almost immediately after the Fall of France, which brought the German U-boat fleet closer to the British shipping lanes in the Atlantic. From July 1940 to the end of October, 282 Allied ships were sunk off the north-west approaches to Ireland for a loss of 1,489,795 tons of merchant shipping. The reason for this successful Axis period was the British lack of radar and huff-duff equipped ships which meant that the U-boats were very hard to detect when they made nighttime surface attacks – ASDIC (sonar) could only detect submerged U-boats. When it ended is a matter of interpretation, with some sources claiming October 1940 and others extendi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torpedoed Merchant Ship
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such a device was called an automotive, automobile, locomotive, or fish torpedo; colloquially a ''fish''. The term ''torpedo'' originally applied to a variety of devices, most of which would today be called mines. From about 1900, ''torpedo'' has been used strictly to designate a self-propelled underwater explosive device. While the 19th-century battleship had evolved primarily with a view to engagements between armored warships with large-caliber guns, the invention and refinement of torpedoes from the 1860s onwards allowed small torpedo boats and other lighter surface vessels, submarines/submersibles, even improvised fishing boats or frogmen, and later light aircraft, to destroy large ships without the need of large guns, though ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonar
Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on or under the surface of the water, such as other vessels. "Sonar" can refer to one of two types of technology: ''passive'' sonar means listening for the sound made by vessels; ''active'' sonar means emitting pulses of sounds and listening for echoes. Sonar may be used as a means of acoustic location and of measurement of the echo characteristics of "targets" in the water. Acoustic location in air was used before the introduction of radar. Sonar may also be used for robot navigation, and SODAR (an upward-looking in-air sonar) is used for atmospheric investigations. The term ''sonar'' is also used for the equipment used to generate and receive the sound. The acoustic frequencies used in sonar systems vary from very low (infrasonic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convoy HX 112
HX 112 was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War. It saw the loss of U-boats commanded by two of the Kriegsmarine's most celebrated commanders and propaganda heroes: under Otto Kretschmer (POW), and under Joachim Schepke (KIA). Prelude HX 112 was an east-bound convoy of ships which sailed from Halifax on 1 March 1941, making for Liverpool with war materials. Many of the ships in HX 112 were tankers carrying fuel oil to Britain. It was escorted by 5th Escort Group which consisted of two destroyers, and and two corvettes, and was led by Commander Donald Macintyre of HMS ''Walker''. 5th Escort Group was reinforced on this occasion by an additional two destroyers, in view of the importance of the cargo, and met the convoy as it entered the Western Approaches. On 15 March 1941 HX 112 was sighted by commanded by Fritz-Julius Lemp, who sent in a sighting report and commenced shadowing the convoy. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convoy HX 106
Convoy HX 106 was the 106th of the numbered series of Allied HX convoys of merchant ships from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool, England. Forty-one ships departed Halifax, Nova Scotia on 30 January 1941, eastbound to Liverpool, England. The use of convoys was a standard tactic throughout the Battle of the Atlantic as a defence against U-boats and German commerce raiders. On 8 February 1941 the two German battleships, and , appeared over the horizon. The German squadron was under the command of Admiral Günther Lütjens. The captain of ''Scharnhorst'' offered to draw off the escorting Royal Navy battleship , so that ''Gneisenau'' could sink the merchant ships. This strategy, if successful, would have entailed little risk to ''Scharnhorst'' as she was faster than ''Ramillies'', and her newer guns outranged the 1915 era guns of the British ship. However, Lutjens strictly followed Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German polit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convoy HX 84
Convoy HX 84 was the 84th of the numbered series of Allied North Atlantic HX convoys of merchant ships from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Liverpool, England, during the Battle of the Atlantic. Thirty-eight ships escorted by the armed merchant cruiser departed from Halifax on 28 October 1940, eastbound to Liverpool. Background On the morning of 5 November, HX 84 had been passed by the cargo liner , which was also bound for Liverpool, enroute from Port Antonio, during which an offer had been made to ''Mopan''s Master, Captain Sapsworth, for ''Mopan'' to join HX 84. However, the offer had been declined and ''Mopan'' continued eastbound alone. ''Mopan'' Having been thwarted from using its Arado Ar 196 seaplane the previous day, on 5 November the weather was suitable for ''Admiral Scheer'' to utilise its air reconnaissance. Piloted by Lieutenant Pietsch, a seaplane was launched at 09:40hrs having been ordered to make a sweep wide and deep. When the seaplane returned at 12:05 the obse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convoy SC 7
SC 7 was the code name for a large Allied World War II convoy of 35 merchant ships and six escorts, which sailed eastbound from Sydney, Nova Scotia, for Liverpool and other United Kingdom ports on 5 October 1940. While crossing the Atlantic, the convoy was intercepted by one of the first ''Kriegsmarine'' submarine wolfpacks. During the ensuing battle, the escort was completely overwhelmed and 20 of the 35 cargo vessels were sunk and 2 more damaged, with 141 lives lost. The disastrous outcome of the convoy demonstrated the German submarines' potential of being able to work more efficiently using wolfpack tactics and the inadequacy of British anti-submarine tactics at the time. Ships of the convoy The slow convoy SC 7 left Sydney, Nova Scotia on 5 October 1940 bound for Liverpool and other British ports. The convoy was supposed to make but several merchant ships were much slower, necessitating a further reduced speed. The convoy consisted of older, smaller ships, mostly with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Berlin (Atlantic)
Operation Berlin was a raid conducted by the two German ''Scharnhorst''-class battleships against Allied shipping in the North Atlantic between 22 January and 22 March 1941. It formed part of the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II. The and sailed from Germany, operated across the North Atlantic, sank or captured 22 Allied merchant vessels, and finished their mission by docking in occupied France. The British military sought to locate and attack the German battleships, but failed to damage them. The operation was one of several made by German warships during late 1940 and early 1941. Its main goal was for the battleships to overwhelm the escort of one of the convoys transporting supplies to the United Kingdom and then sink large numbers of merchant ships. The British were expecting this given previous attacks, and assigned battleships of their own to escort convoys. This proved successful, with the German force having to abandon attacks against convoys on 8 February as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Naval Institute
The United States Naval Institute (USNI) is a private non-profit military association that offers independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national security issues. In addition to publishing magazines and books, the Naval Institute holds several annual conferences. The Naval Institute is based in Annapolis, Maryland. Established in 1873, the Naval Institute claimed "almost 50,000 members" in 2020, mostly active and retired personnel of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The organization also has members in over 90 countries. The organization has no official or funding ties to the United States Naval Academy or the U.S. Navy, though it is based on the grounds of the Naval Academy through permission granted by a 1936 Act of Congress. History The U.S. Naval Institute was formed on October 9, 1873 by fifteen naval officers gathered at the U.S. Naval Academy's Department of Physics and Chemistry building in Annapolis to discuss, among other topics, the impli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Kretschmer
Otto Kretschmer (1 May 1912 – 5 August 1998) was a German naval officer and submariner in World War II and the Cold War. From September 1939 until his capture in March 1941 he sank 44 ships, including one warship, a total of 274,333 tons. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, among other awards. He earned the nickname "Silent Otto", both for his successful use of the " silent running" capability of U-boats and for his reluctance to transmit radio messages during patrols. After the war he served in the German Federal Navy, from which he retired in 1970 with the flag rank of commodore. Early life and career Kretschmer was born in Heidau near Neisse, then in the German Empire on 1 May 1912 to Friedrich Wilhelm Otto and Alice (née Herbig) Kretschmer. His father was a teacher at the local ''Volkschule'' (primary school), which Otto attended from 1918 to 1921. He then moved to a ''Realgymnasium'' ( secondary school). In the aftermath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joachim Schepke
Joachim Schepke (8 March 1912 – 17 March 1941) was a German U-boat commander during World War II. He was the seventh recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Schepke is credited with having sunk 36 Allied ships. During his career, he gained notoriety among fellow U-boat commanders for exaggerating the tonnage of ships sunk. Career Schepke joined the ''Reichsmarine'' in 1930. In 1934, he was assigned to the newly created U-boat arm, and in 1938 he commanded . After a short stint commanding and serving in a staff position, Schepke received the command of , a Type VIIB boat. After 5 patrols in ''U-100'' she was heavily damaged on 17 March 1941 by depth charges from HMS ''Walker'' and while attacking Convoy HX 112. ''U-100'' was forced to surface and was detected on radar and rammed by ''Vanoc''. Schepke and most of the crew died. Schepke claimed to have sunk 37 ships, for a total of and damaged 4 more. If true, this would have made him the third sk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Günther Prien
Günther Prien (16 January 1908 – presumed 8 March 1941) was a German U-boat commander during World War II. He was the first U-boat commander to receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and the first member of the ''Kriegsmarine'' to receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. It was Germany's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to Prien. Under Prien's command, the submarine was credited with sinking over 30 Allied ships totalling about , along with the British battleship at anchor in the Home Fleet's anchorage in Scapa Flow. Early life and career Prien was one of three children of a judge and completed his basic education. At the age of five, Prien had been living with relatives, the notary Carl Hahn and his wife, in Lübeck. There he attended the Katharineum, a humanistic secondary school. After his parents separated, Prien moved with his mother and siblings to Leipzig where she eked out a living selling pea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ASDIC
Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on or under the surface of the water, such as other vessels. "Sonar" can refer to one of two types of technology: ''passive'' sonar means listening for the sound made by vessels; ''active'' sonar means emitting pulses of sounds and listening for echoes. Sonar may be used as a means of acoustic location and of measurement of the echo characteristics of "targets" in the water. Acoustic location in air was used before the introduction of radar. Sonar may also be used for robot navigation, and SODAR (an upward-looking in-air sonar) is used for atmospheric investigations. The term ''sonar'' is also used for the equipment used to generate and receive the sound. The acoustic frequencies used in sonar systems vary from very low (infrasonic) to extrem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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