1st Edition

The Royal Navy and Anti-Submarine Warfare, 1917-49

By Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones Copyright 2006
    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    An essential new account of how anti-submarine warfare is conducted, with a focus on both historic and present-day operations.  

    This new book shows how until 1944 U-boats operated as submersible torpedo craft which relied heavily on the surface for movement and charging their batteries. This pattern was repeated in WWII until Allied anti-submarine countermeasures had forced the Germans to modify their existing U-boats with the schnorkel. Countermeasures along also pushed the development of high-speed U-boats capable of continuously submerged operations.

    This study shows how these improved submarines became benchmark of the post-war Russian submarine challenge. Royal Navy doctrine was developed by professional anti-submarine officers, and based on the well-tried combination of defensive and offensive anti-submarine measures that had stood the press of time since 1917, notwithstanding considerable technological change.

    This consistent and holistic view of anti-submarine warfare has not been understood by most of the subsequent historians of these anti-submarine campaigns, and this book provides an essential and new insight into how Cold War, and indeed modern, anti-submarine warfare is conducted.

    PREFACE

    INTRODUCTION

    1: ECHOES FROM THE PAST, 1917-1940

    British Anti-Submarine Warfare, 1917-1940; Convoys and Striking Forces; Wartime Experience.

    2: MASTERING THE SUBMERSIBLE, 1939-1943

    U-boats and their Tactics, 1939-43; Methods of Detecting and Attacking U-boats; Tactics on Gaining Contact; Beating the Submersible.

    3: ELUSIVE VICTORY: COUNTERING THE SCHNORKEL, 1944-1945

    Introduction of the Schnorkel and its Effect on A/S Operations; British Tactical Countermeasures; Tactics Refined from Experience; Coastal Command’s Response; Results of the Anti-Schnorkel Campaign; Prospects of the U-boat War.

    4: THE DAWN OF MODERN ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE, 1944-1946

    The Problem of the Fast U-boat; HM Submarine Seraph Trials; Further Assessment of the Type XXI; Captain Roberts’ Interrogation of German U-boat Officers; The Thrall of the Walter-Boat; Planning U-boats Trials; Type XXI Trials and Tribulations; New Organization and Old Timers at the Admiralty.

    5: SHORT-TERM PROBLEMS, LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS, 1945-1946

    Assessments of the Russian Threat; Policy Review of Methods for Attacking Submerged Submarines; The First Tranche of Doctrine Papers; The Ability of Future Submarines to Make Contact.

    6: NEW PROBLEMS, OLD RECIPES, 1947-1948

    Anti-Submarine Problems of the Future and Attack-at-Source; Submarine Tactical and Technical Development; The Joint Anti-Submarine’s View of A/S Tactics; Anti-submarine Trials at Sea.

    7: FUTURE UNCERTAINTIES, 1948-1949

    The "Iron Curtain" and Policy Deliberations; British and Allied Tactical Doctrine; A Second Tranche of Doctrine Papers; A Year of Exercises with Fast Submarines; Technological Answers?

    CONCLUSION: JOINING UP THE DOTS, 1944-1949

    The Nature of Anti-Submarine Warfare; The Nature of the Threat; Tactics and Technology; The "Defensive" and "Offensive"; Synthesis.

    BIBLIOGRAPHY

    INDEX

    Biography

    Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones

    'An extremely well researched and balanced work, The Royal Navy and Anti-Submarine Warfare, 1917-49 is a refereshing look at a complex subject, from the eyes of a seasoned professional, and sheds light on some popular misunderstanding as to the complexity of modern ASW...a key reference document for naval historians and future maritime strategists.' - The Northern Mariner