U Boat Tankers 1941-45

by White, John F.

• ISBN13: 9781557508614
• ISBN10: 1557508615
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-06-01
• Publisher: Naval Inst Pr

Summary

Forced by the need to refuel a large U-boat fleet in oceans mainly controlled by Allied forces during World War II, Germany became the only nation ever to operate submarines as tankers. This book paints a dramatic picture of these tankers and their increasingly desperate crews as conditions for refueling degenerated after the Allies broke the German ciphers.

Table of Contents

Introduction	13	(2)
1 The Birth of the U Tanker	15	(8)
2 The Supply Ships	23	(4)
3 The German Ciphers Are Broken	27	(7)
4 Remote Areas	34	(7)
5 `Paukenschlag' Against America	41	(16)
6 The Milk Cows	57	(19)
7 New Allied Weapons	76	(4)
8 Onslaught on the Convoy Routes	80	(19)
9 Attack on Cape Town	99	(7)
10 The Problems Mount	106	(19)
11 Black May	125	(11)
12 Disaster in the Bay	136	(14)
13 Disaster in the Atlantic	150	(16)
14 Refuelling in Other Theatres	166	(15)
15 Return to the North Atlantic	181	(21)
16 Maintaining the Pressure	202	(8)
17 The End of the Milk Cows	210	(12)
Epilogue	222	(5)
Appendix 1 Results Achieved by the Milk Cows	227	(2)
Appendix 2 Spanish Co-operation 1940-2	229	(1)
Appendix 3 Known War Cruises	230	(5)
Appendix 4 Principal U boat Types in this Book	235	(1)
Appendix 5 U boat Quadrant Map	236	(1)
Appendix 6 German Naval Ranks	237	(1)
Bibliography	238	(3)
Index	241