Hartmann’s wolfpack was a formation of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's '' Kriegsmarine'' in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, a " wolfpack" of

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

s that operated during the early stages of the Battle of the Atlantic.

Background

Hartmann’s wolfpack was the first essay by the ''Kriegsmarine'' during the Second World War in its wolfpack tactic against allied

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

s. Its operations were in October 1939, during the earliest stage of the Atlantic campaign. The name "Hartmann" was unofficial, taken from that of its commander,

Werner Hartmann Werner Hartmann (11 December 1902 – 26 April 1963) was a German U-boat commander in World War II. He was credited with sinking 26 ships, amounting to over sunk. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi ...

. Unlike later packs which had specific code names this formation was left without an official designation. The original intent of the U-boat Command (

BdU The ''Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote'' or BdU (Eng: "Commander of the U-boats") was the supreme commander of the German Navy's U-boat Arm (''Ubootwaffe'') during the First World War, First and Second World Wars. The term also referred to the Comma ...

) was to organize two packs of five boats each; one composed of Type VIIB’s from

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

("Wegener") flotilla and the other of the larger Type IX’s of 6th ("Hundius") flotilla. In the event, several boats were unavailable, so the operation was adjusted to form a single pack comprised six boats. This arrangement meant forming a unit of different type of vessel, who had not previously operated together. The whole force was commanded by Hartmann, flotilla commander of the Hundius flotilla.

Operations

The first five boats sailed independently in October 1939 from bases in NW Germany, sailing northabout around the coast of Scotland in order to reach the

Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...

. The last boat, , which was delayed in departing, was ordered to take the southabout route through the Channel; this was more dangerous, but was deemed practicable. In the event ''U–40'' became trapped by the Allies' Channel defences, the

Dover Barrage Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidston ...

; on 13 October she struck a mine and was destroyed. The remaining five boats under Hartmann’s command took station in the Western Approaches. The German signals intelligence branch, '' B-Dienst'', which had penetrated British naval codes, was able to give notice of a convoy (KJF 3) from the Caribbean and BdU instructed the pack to intercept. Three boats found the convoy and attacked, while a fourth failed to make contact. The fifth, , met a freighter sailing independently; she attacked, but was counter-attacked by two destroyers that came to the scene and was destroyed. The attack on KJF 3 was an ad hoc affair (Blair describes it as "an uncoordinated free for all"); though four ships were sunk, one of the attacking boats, was destroyed by the convoy escorts. A second convoy, HG 3 from

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, was detected by ''B-dienst'' and Hartmann’s boats were again ordered to intercept. made contact and shadowed while the other two closed. The attack sank three ships without loss to the attackers. Following this the boats were relieved, and returned home.

Aftermath

This first attempt at operating a wolf pack was, over all, not a success. In the course of the operation Hartmann's skippers had sunk seven ships from two convoys and another four ships sailing alone (stragglers and independent sailings). However three of the six U-boats had been destroyed, some 10% of the available Type VII (sea-going) and Type IX (ocean-going) vessels the

U-boat Arm The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the an ...

had. The original pack tactic envisaged that command and co-ordination would be exercised at sea; however while this had worked on exercise in the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

and

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

s it was unworkable in the wider reaches of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. Hartman reported it was impossible to maintain an overview of the situation from his U-boat in the midst of the ocean and equally impossible to maintain contact with his charges. The experience was also soured by the continuing torpedo problems that the U-boat Arm suffered during the first years of the conflict. Following this, wolfpack tactics were shelved until the following year, when they were tried again with more success during the so-called "Happy Time".Blair p115

U-boats involved

* * * * * *

Notes

References