U-Boat Construction 1920-1935
Details given below regarding German participation in U-Boat building between 1920-1985 have been extracted from a series of Essays on "The Operational and Tactical considerations of the German Navy and the consequent measures taken for its expansion between 1919-1939" contained among the files of Viceadmirals ASSMANN and GLADISCH, who were in the Historical Section of the German Admiralty.
[Page 38] .
* * * But although, as was stated, in nearly all spheres of
armament where the Navy was concerned, the Treaty of Versailles was violated in the letter and all the more in the spirit, or at least its violation was prepared, a long time before the 16th March 1935, this probably took place in no other sphere on the one hand so early and on the other hand under such difficult circumstances as in the construction of a new submarine arm. The Treaty of Versailles had only been in force a few months (since the 10th January 1920), when it was already violated in this point.
Already in the year 1920, the Germania shipyards and the Vulkan shipyards with the. permission of the Naval Command sold plans of the German U-cruiser (U 142) and the mine U-cruiser (U 117) to Japan, which used these plans as a basis for the con- struction of their own U-cruisers under the supervision of German U-boat builders, partly under the personal direction of the former Chief builder of the Germania shipyard. In 1925-28 a former naval officer took part, with the permission of the Naval command in testing these submarines which were the. first to be built after the war according to German plans (abroad) and was thus able to preserve and improve the valuable experience he had gained as a member of the former commission for taking over U-boats.
In 1922 three German shipbuilding yards founded a German U-boat Construction Bureau in Holland under a Dutch covering name with about 30 engineers and builders. In 1925 a Dutch shipbuilding yard built two. 500-ton U-boats for Turkey on the plans of this bureau which enjoyed the financial and personal support of the Naval Command. In the solution of this question too Captain Lohmann was concerned decisively. There followed the construction of three 500-ton and one 100-ton submarines for Finland which had a German naval adviser, according to plans of the "Dutch" bureau in Finnish shipyards. The trial cruises
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of these ships under German direction could be utilized for the first time for the practical training of a small number of active German naval and engineer officers in the submarine services. Three submarines for Sweden followed * * * finally the
especially valuable and important relations to Spain. In Spain in 1927/28 the Navy made possible with the King and Primo de Riveya the construction of the first prototype ship of a submarine plan, corresponding entirely to the demands of the German Navy, of about 750 tons in the shipyard of Eche Varietta in Cadiz. Already in the autumn of 1927 the naval construction department was commissioned to carry out the construction in Spain by the Chief of the Naval Command, Admiral Zenker, who accepted the responsibility despite all the difficulties in the field of home politics. The working out of the project and the drawing up of the construction plans took place in the Dutch Bureau. After completion in 1931, the ship carried out trial runs and diving exercises from Cadiz and Cartagena, under German direction, and with German personnel consisting of officers, engineers, - naval construction students, and foremen. The intended purchase by the Spanish Navy was thwarted by the political revolution in Spain. Only in 1934 did it become possible to move the ship from Spain to Turkey whose Navy purchased it. This boat, which is now the Turkish submarine "Guer" became the prototype for the "U 25" and "U 26".
It had, in the meantime, been possible in 1930 to lay the basis in Finland also for the construction of a submarine of 250 tons which was to correspond to the military demands of the German Navy. The fundamental intention in this connection was to create a type of submarine which would permit the inconspicuous preparation of the greatest possible number of components that could be assembled at shortest imaginable notice * * * The
Finnish U-boat was the first U-boat plan to be worked out in Germany and to be executed; only for the working out of details was the Dutch bureau still called upon.
The Finnish 250 ton vessel became the prototype for "U.l" to "U.24"; to be sure "U.7" to "U.24" were lengthened and improved in order to double the radius of action.
The building and the thorough trial of the prototype vessel made it possible to obtain the parts for "U.l" to "U.24" in 1933/35 long before the order for assembling the vessels, to make preparations for this assembly to the extent possible while maintaining secrecy.
Engines, gear, and accessories for 12 vessels were stored in Kiel and it was made possible to build 6 U-boats simultaneously.
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The individual parts for both the 712 ton vessels "U 25" and "U 26" were secretly built and stored before the order to assemble was issued. As a result the assembly of those largish vessels took only 9 to 10 months. * * *
[Page 156]
At the beginning of 1935 there were probably 6 250 ton boats ready for assembly and 6 275 ton and 2 750 ton boats on which preparatory work was being done ; about four months were needed for assembling the small ships and about 10 for the big ones, dating from the 1.2.35, but everything else was still quite uncertain * * *
It is probably just in the sphere of submarine construction that Germany adhered the least to the restrictions of the GermanBritish Treaty. Considering the quantity of U-boats which had already been ordered, about 55 U-boats could have been provided for up to 1938. In reality 118 were ready or ordered. The preparations for the new U-boat arm were made so early, so thoroughly, and so secretly that already 11 days after the conclusion of the German-British Naval Treaty, which permitted the construction of U-boats, the first German U-boat could be commissioned on the 29th June 1935.
Extracts from reports on the U-boat program, including violations of the Versailles Treaty, U-boat construction in Holland, Finland, and Spain, and the construction of more U-boats in violation of the British-German treaty of 1935
Date: Date Unknown
Literal Title: U-Boat Construction 1920 - 1935.
Defendant: Erich Raeder
Total Pages: 3
Language of Text: English
Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)
Evidence Code: D-854
Citations: IMT (page 9924), IMT (page 10023), IMT (page 10079)
HLSL Item No.: 453049
Notes:The extracts were drawn from reports titled "The operational and tactical considerations of the German Navy and the consequent measures taken for its expansion between 1919-1939" in the German Admiralty. No individual authors or dates are stated.