A Quora about WWII German U-boats into the Pacific

[a425couple]

A Quora about German U-boats into the Pacific


BC·
February 23
President Cooper & Scully PC (1993–present)

What reasoning did the Kriegsmarine have for establishing a U-boat
presence in the Pacific during WWII?

U-848 was on its way to join the Monsun Gruppewhen it was photographed
by an attacking American aircraft. After bomb damage stopped it from
diving, the IXD U-boat was sunk with all hands in the Atlantic.

The Gruppe Monsun or Monsoon Group was a force of German U-boats
(submarines) that operated in the Pacific and Indian Oceans during World
War II. Although similar naming conventions were used for temporary
groupings of submarines in the Atlantic, the longer duration of Indian
Ocean patrols caused the name to be permanently associated with the
relatively small number of U-boats operating out of Penang(primarily its
capital, George Town). After 1944, the U-boats of the Monsun Gruppe were
operationally placed under the authority of the Southeast Asia U-boat
Region.

The German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 had ended the use of
overland routes which were for the delivery of strategic materials from
southeast Asia, and few Axis ships were able to avoid Allied patrols of
the North Atlantic. Japan was interested in exchanging military
technology with Germany, the Japanese submarine I-30initiated the
submerged transport of strategic materials in mid-1942 by delivering
1500 kg of mica and 660 kg of shellac.Japanese submarines designed for
the vast distances of the Pacific were more capable transports than the
compact German U-boats which were designed for operations around coastal
Europe; but large Italian submarines had proved ineffective for convoy
attacks. The Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) converted seven Italian
submarines operating from BETASOM into "transport submarines" in order
to exchange rare or irreplaceable trade goods with Japan. They were: The
Bagnolin, the Barbarigo, the Cappellini(renamed Aquilla III in May
1943), the Finzi, the Giuliani, the Tazzoli and the Torelli.

The idea of stationing U-boats in Malaya and the East Indies for
operations in the Indian Ocean was first proposed by the Japanese in
December 1942. As no supplies were available at either location, the
idea was turned down, although a number of U-boats operated around the
Cape of Good Hope at the time. A few days after Cappellini reached the
East Indies, U-511became the first U-boat to complete the voyage. This
boat carried the Japanese naval attache Admiral Naokuni Nomura from
Berlin to Kure. The boat was given to Japan as RO-500; its German crew
returned to Penang to provide replacement personnel for the main
submarine base being established at a former British seaplane station on
the west coast of the Malayan Peninsula. A second base was established
at Kobe; small repair bases were located at Singapore, Jakarta, and
Surabaya. As part of the dispersal of U-boat operations following heavy
losses in the North Atlantic in early 1943, Wilhelm Dommes was ordered
to sail his U-178 from his operating area off South Africa to assume
command at Penang.

With the base established, twelve submarines were assigned to the
"Monsun Gruppe" and directed to proceed to Penang, patrolling along
allied trade routes for the duration of their voyage. The group name
reflected an intent; that the opening of the Indian Ocean U-boat
campaign should coincide with the monsoonseason. The Italian armistice
with the allies became effective as the operation proceeded. The Italian
submarine Ammiraglio Cagnisurrendered at Durban, South Africa rather
than continuing to Penang. The converted Italian cargo submarines were
taken over by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine and renumbered with UIT prefixes.

U-200 sailed on 11 June 1943 and was sunk off Iceland by a PBY Catalina
on 24 June.
U-514 sailed on 3 July 1943 and was sunk by a B-24 Liberator of the RAFs
224 Squadron in the Bay of Biscay on 8 July.
U-506 sailed on 6 July 1943 and was sunk by an American 1st A/S Squadron
B-24 Liberator in the Bay of Biscay on 12 July.
U-509 sailed on 3 July 1943 and was sunk by aircraft from USS Santee on
15 July.
U-516 sailed on 8 July 1943 but returned to France on 23 August after
transferring its fuel to other boats, enabling them to continue when
their tanker was sunk.
U-847 sailed on 29 July 1943 but was damaged by ice in the Denmark
Strait and was diverted to fuel other boats in the North Atlantic before
being sunk by aircraft from USS Card on 27 August.
Ammiraglio Cagni sailed in combat configuration in early July 1943 but
surrendered after the Italian armistice became effective on 8 September
1943.
U-533 sailed on 6 July 1943 and was sunk by a Bristol Blenheim of 244
Squadron RAF, 29 miles (46 km) off of Khor Fakkan in the Gulf of Oman on
16 October.
U-183 sailed on 3 July and reached Penang 27 October 1943, and was sunk
two years later in the Java Sea by USS Besugo (SS-321).
U-188 sailed on 30 June 1943 and sank the 7,200-ton American Liberty
ship Cornelia P. Spencer before reaching Penang on 31 October.
U-532 sailed on 3 July 1943 and sank one Norwegian, one Indian and two
British freighters before reaching Penang on 31 October.
U-168 sailed on 3 July 1943 and sank the 2,200-ton British freighter
Haiching before reaching Penang on 11 November.
A second wave of Monsun Gruppe U-boats was dispatched from Europe to
make up for losses in transit.

U-219 sailed on a minelaying mission on 22 October 1943 but returned to
France on 1 January 1944 after being diverted to fuel other boats in the
North Atlantic.
U-848 sailed on 18 September 1943 and sank the 4,600-ton British
freighter Baron Semplebefore being sunk by US navy PB4Y Liberators in
the South Atlantic on 5 November.
U-849 sailed on 2 October 1943 and was sunk by a USN PB4Y Liberator in
the South Atlantic on 25 November.
U-850 sailed on 18 November 1943 and was sunk by aircraft from USS Bogue
on 20 December.
U-510 sailed on 3 November 1943 and sank the 7385t British tanker San
Alvaro, the 9970t Norwegian Erling Brøvig, the 9181t American freighter
E.G.Seubert, the 7229t Norwegian Tarifa, the 7176t American John A. Poor
and the 249t British minesweeping trawler Maaløybefore reaching Penang
on 5 May 1944.
For more posts like this go to q/anotherpointofview

Monsun Gruppe - Wikipedia
U-848 was on its way to join the Monsun Gruppe when it was photographed
by an attacking American aircraft. After bomb damage stopped it from
diving, the IXD U-boat was sunk with all hands in the Atlantic. The
Gruppe Monsun or Monsoon Group was a force of German U-boats (
submarines ) that operated in the Pacific and Indian Oceans during World
War II . Although similar naming conventions were used for temporary
groupings of submarines in the Atlantic, the longer duration of Indian
Ocean patrols caused the name to be permanently associated with the
relatively small number of U-boats operating out of Penang (primarily
its capital, George Town ). [1] After 1944, the U-boats of the Monsun
Gruppe were operationally placed under the authority of the Southeast
Asia U-boat Region . The Indian Ocean was the only place where German
and Japanese forces fought in the same theatre . To avoid incidents
between Germans and Japanese, attacks on other submarines were strictly
forbidden. [2] Altogether 41 U-boats of all types including transports
would be sent; a large number of these, however, were lost and only a
small fraction returned to Europe. [3] [4] Indian Ocean trade routes [
edit ] The Indian Ocean was considered strategically important,
containing India , and the shipping routes and strategic raw materials
that the British needed for the war effort. In the early years of the
war German merchant raiders and pocket battleships had sunk a number of
merchant ships in the Indian Ocean; however as the war progressed it
became more difficult for them to operate in the area and by 1942 most
were either sunk or dispersed. From 1941, U-boats were also considered
for deployment to this area but due to the successful periods known as
the First and Second Happy Times , it was decided that sending U-boats
to the Indian Ocean would be an unnecessary diversion. There were also
no foreign bases in which units could operate from and be resupplied,
hence they would be operating at the limits of their range. As a result,
the Germans concentrated primarily on their U-boat campaign in the North
Atlantic . Japan's entry into the war in 1941 led to the capture of
European South-east Asian colonies such as British Malaya and the Dutch
East Indies . In May and June 1942, Japanese submarines began operating
in the Indian Ocean and had engaged British forces in Madagascar . The
British had invaded the Vichy -controlled island in order to prevent it
from falling into Japanese hands – however, as Japan was never known
(from post-war evaluation) to have had plans to place Madagascar within
its own sphere of influence , Britain's defense of the island could also
have been surmised to have been a plausible defense against any
possibility of Madagascar falling under Germany's own ambitions . Axis
strategic raw materials [ edit ] The German invasion of the Soviet Union
in 1941 had ended the use of overland routes which were for the delivery
of strategic materials from southeast Asia, and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsun_Gruppe
10.8K viewsView 25 upvotesView shares
1 comment from Michael Lush

[Byker]

"a425couple" wrote in message news:s2g3j...@news4.newsguy.com...

>
> A Quora about German U-boats into the Pacific

<snip>
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsun_Gruppe

The link alone would have sufficed...