D-IX.

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"The aim was to use D-IX to redefine the limits of human endurance."

The German during the Second World War again using drugs, stimulants and painkillers combined, the thought of course being to create a soldier impervious to pain and fatigue, able to sustain a frenetic pace for an extended period, well beyond the normal human physical and mental capability!!

From the wiki entry for the Biber midget submarine:

" Operations generally lasted from one to two days with pilots either using a drug known as DIX to stay awake on longer missions or caffeine-laced chocolate."

[chocolate of itself is a stimulant, containing in the natural state a measure of caffeine!]

D-IX however a stimulant, a DRUG even more of an enhancement than mere caffeine! Developed and used at the very end of the war - - a drug "cocktail" unmatched in potency!

D-IX was a cocaine-based experimental drug cocktail developed by the Nazis in 1944 for military application. Nazi doctors found that equipment-laden test subjects who had taken the drug could march 55 miles (88.5 kilometers) without resting before they collapsed. Each tablet contained 5 mg of Oxycodone . . . 5 mg of Cocaine and 3 mg of Methamphetamine  . . . the war ended before D-IX could be put into mass production, though it did see limited use among a handful of Neger and Biber pilots." [both midget submarines!]

Oxycodone of course a very powerful pain killer, a drug with much potency and quite popular among "junkies" nowadays!!

"Prisoners at Sachsenhausen who were given the drug, code-named D-IX, were forced to march in circles carrying 20kg packs. They were able to march 55 miles without resting."

These prisoners too, concentration camp inmates were already in a reduced state both physically and mentally? Mr. Feelgood stuff that creates a persons of enhanced physical strength and mental awareness - - at least for a while. The tempo of modern warfare, mechanized, day and night, movement frenetic and endless for an extended period, beyond the capacity of the human body and mind to endure, some method needed to create the super-troop who can "keep up the pace" as demanded by the general officer in charge!!

The Nazi normally thought of as advocating the clean and sober natural life, enhancements eschewed and discouraged, even treated as a severe criminal offense unless during Octoberfest?

The war ended before D-IX could be brought to fruition and issued to the troops in abundance, but nonetheless the intent and desire was there!!

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Robert.

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Here from the wiki entry for Robert Surcouf an interesting item:

"He became a living legend in France and, in England, a public enemy whose capture was valued at 5 million francs"

The French privateer and corsair Robert Surcouf having a prize, a bounty, a reward placed on his head by the English, a tidy sum princely even indeed at the time and even now.

"prince·ly - - adjective 1. greatly liberal; lavish; magnificent"

5 millions francs in the year 1803 worth approximately $13 million US [2006].

A bounty, a prize in the same league as is the reward for the capture, the apprehension or death of a major terrorist of the Al Qaeda persuasion today.

My calculation s based upon: [thanks for the data from several Internet web sites.]

 1. "[One franc] in 1803 is [worth approximately] 2.07 € 2006."

2. One Euro in 2006 worth 0.8 US dollars.

3. 5 million times 2.07 divided by 0.8 equals about $13 million US dollars.

Robert as a combat naval commander, highly effective in using measured audacity to "take on" and defeat a much larger and better armed opponent. Such as the battle with the HMS Kent. Robert closing and grappling with the enemy at close-quarters, "hugging tactics" at sea rendering the superiority of the enemy cannon at close-range null and void.

"When alongside an enemy ship, elite marines waited below decks until an order was given to board. When the men sprang forth, the British ship cannons could not depress enough to fire directly on the French ship."

Measured audacity with panache' indeed! A high-risk maneuver and maneuvers that succeeded for Robert just splendidly, and on a number of occasions too! Robert was in a class all by himself?

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Submarines X.

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"SUBMARINES SINCE 1919". Conclusion.

Some general comments regarding the modern submarine.

Understood that the modern nuclear powered submarine such as the HMS Astute class is the most complicated thing made by man! A wonderment taken in totality of systems to include the vessel itself, power plant, armaments, electronics, etc.

[prior to the HMS Astute, the American Space Shuttle was the most complicated thing made by man and before that the Iowa class battleship had the honor of most complicated thing made by man!!]

Nuclear propulsion of itself allowing for the modern submarine to operate in a manner unheard of during the era of World War Two [WW2], the nuclear-powered sub now AN ABSOLUTELY TRUE SUBMERSIBLE, NO CONNECTION TO THE SURFACE REQUIRED FOR "AIR-BREATHING"!

Nuclear powered vessels of the American and Soviet/Russian fleets capable of operations at greater depths, at higher speeds, for much longer periods at far greater distances and ranges, sustaining an almost continuous high-speed tempo of underwater maneuver, AT ALL TIMES MORE OR LESS ON A WAR FOOTING!!

That nuclear-powered sub capable also of operations in the arctic, under the ice, not having to surface, oblivious to that environment above the ice, again, sustaining operations in a manner and in a place submarines  normally had avoided at all costs!

Technological advancements NOT totally discouraging further development of the conventional diesel/electric and now air-independent-propulsion [AIP] boats as favored by smaller and less wealthier nations and navies, the demand for such vessels continues. Nuclear under the water does NOT absolutely rule and this should be understood to be so!

 Submarines, even while operating at much greater depths at much higher speeds for much longer periods  , all the while maintaining a very high degree of safe operation - - even exceedingly envious by the standards of pre-war [WW2]! Submarine disasters at one time a common occurrence, now very rare indeed! This is not to say that accidents and disaster DO NOT occur, just they are much less common!

Submarines during the Cold War at one time or another functioning as intelligence gatherers, special operations "delivery vehicles", radar pickets, etc. A whole host of missions for which the sub was felt most ideally suited.

The modern submarine now very hydrodynamic, the shape of the vessel in the form of the tuna fish or the whale, NO MORE DECK GUNS OR AAA [anti-aircraft-artillery] BATTERIES CARRIED! The days of Lothar Arnauld de la Periere are over and long gone!!

The modern submarine also seldom using surface running as was the common mode of operation during WW2. That hydrodynamic efficiency of the modern sub making for poor running conditions unless under the water. While on a mission, submerge as soon as possible, remain so for the duration of the patrol, coming up "to breathe" only if an emergency arises OR at the very end of the voyage!

Those nuclear powers the U.S. and the Soviet Union/Russia employing the submarine as a weapon system with global reach, power projection, those submarines carrying ballistic and cruise missile able to target and fire upon targets far inland, an intercontinental capability of awesome proportions!

Submarines during the Cold War, at least for the super-powers, seen as ideal "platforms" for delivering atomic weapons on target. Atomic warheads as mounted on torpedoes, sea mines, SUBROC, cruise and ballistic missiles. Current American attack submarines NO LONGER carry atomic weaponry!

In contrast to the "pig boats" of the WW2 era, the modern submarine having comparatively capacious and comfortable quarters and amenities as provided for the crew - - some would even suggest palatial in comparison to the circa 1945 submersible.  Missions and patrols quite often of months duration requiring a high degree of efficiency, a live-able atmosphere most important and conducive to maintaining a positive morale among the crew.

Commanders and crew of the modern submarine normally considered a military ELITE - - specially chosen and trained, having a high esprit, proud of their abilities!

Modern submarines able to deploy with and use in combat if the need arises a variety of weapons to include:

* Torpedoes both free-running and wire-guided.
* Sea mines of advanced design.
* Anti-ship missiles.
* Cruise missiles. [as directed at inland targets]
* Ballistic missiles of intermediate and intercontinental range.

Modern submarines using active sonar, passive sonar, hydrophones and acoustics for target acquisition and as a means to "see" their surroundings. NO MORE need to take multiple bearing and ranging on targets using a periscope. That also is a thing of the past, even passe' for the German XXI class of boats during WW2!

Inertial guidance and GPS allowing the modern submariner to navigate and determine his position with great accuracy. Pin-pointing your exact location prior to firing weapons A MUST! The traditional methods of dead reckoning and celestial navigation as taught to mariners for hundreds of years having given way to modern electronic apparatus with a formidable capability!

Modern submarine operations necessitate silent-running and radio silence to be observed, communications with the outside world limited to reception of messages via VLF, ELF, HF and SATCOM modes.

[HF and SATCOM require either a tethered buoy, periscope, or mast to be raised momentarily to the surface, exposing the submarine for a very dangerous "while"]

It can be safely said that the most complicated thing made by man is arguably also the most dangerous and deadly thing made by man? This is self-evident to even the most casual of observers?

The modern submarine, don't leave home without one!

coolbert.

Submarines IX.

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"Free supplies and open retreat are two essentials

to the safety of an army or a fleet"- -  Mahan."

Continuing with the various extracts from Internet web sites and the magazine: "SUBMARINES SINCE 1919" and of course my comments.

The submarine as a logistical transport ship!

The submarine, an offensive combat warship, used in a logistics role by a variety of combatants during the Second World War [WW2], submarines employed in a manner for which they were neither designed or equipped. Logistical transports ships bringing supplies to embattled and "cut-off" garrisons, troops for the most part on remote and surrounded islands, no other means of re-supply being available!!

Submarines, re-supply vessels, nonetheless, performing yeoman duty as befits elite units of what ever capacity. The exigencies of war requiring unconventional deployment of resources when needed. Desperate circumstances require desperate measures!

"yeoman  - - adjective 6. performed or rendered in a loyal, valiant, useful, or workmanlike manner, especially in situations that involve a great deal of effort or labor"

"ex·i·gen·cy - - 3. a case or situation that demands prompt action or remedy; emergency"

1. British. English mine-laying submarines used as logistical transport vessels during the Siege of Malta:

"the mine layers [British] proved even more successful when used as supply submarines to run precious cargoes to Malta in 1941-42. Their capacious mine-decks were filled with such assorted items as machine-gun ammunition, glycol coolant for Spitfires, and food"

"As early as May 1941, Malta's position had been precarious, and so the mine laying submarine HMS Rorqual was sent on an experimental supply run. She took three weeks to convert . . and finally sailed on 5 June with over 100 tons of urgently-need stores, including high-octane fuel, kerosene and medical supplies . . . a second trip . . . showed that with careful attention to stowage even more fuel could be carried . . . More runs were made [by other submarines] and by trhe middle of 1942 submarines had taken 65,000 tons into Grand Harbour."

2. American. Re-supply to the surrounded garrison in the middle of Manila Bay ONLY possible by submarine, a futile gesture that never came to fruition.

"USS Swordfish (Lt.Cdr. C.C. Smith) left Fremantle, Australia for her third war patrol [1 Apr 1942]. She was ordered to deliver 40 tons of provisions to the besieged island of  Corregidor, however Corriegidor fell before this mission could be carried through"

3. Japanese. Beginning with the Battle of Guadalcanal and for the remainder of the, Japanese submarines in a more of less INSTITUTIONALIZED MANNER providing re-supply to those Imperial units stranded on island outposts, conventional re-supply and evacuation deemed impossible! Submarine re-supply missions continuing throughout the war on a massive scale, again, becoming INSTITUTIONALIZED, submarines designed and built specifically for such missions deemed vital to the war effort!

"Beginning on November 16, 1942, and continuing for the next three weeks, 16 submarines made nocturnal deliveries of foodstuffs to the island [Guadalcanal], with one submarine making the trip each night. Each submarine could deliver 20 to 30 tons of supplies, about one day's worth of food, for the 17th Army"

The Japanese 17th Army, opposing the American landing at Guadalcanal, the amount of supplies delivered daily by submarine ONLY PROLONGING THE AGONY AND SUFFERING OF THE JAPANESE SOLDIERS! Measures ad hoc insufficient at best!

"Worse from a naval perspective, Japanese submarines were increasingly employed in running supplies to the starving garrisons of isolated islands.  The Japanese expended hundreds of sorties in this way, which might have otherwise been used offensively against the Allied war effort.  A submarine's cargo capacity was much less than that of a relatively inexpensive freighter . . . Additionally, many practically unarmed submarines (including 26 built for Army use) were built specifically for the supply role, consuming production resources as well."

4. German midget submarines in the VERY LAST DAYS OF THE WAR successfully carrying out re-supply missions to the by-passed and  surrounded German units - - Dunkirk.

"The last Seehund sorties took place on 28 April and 2 May 1945, when two special missions were performed to resupply the cutoff German base at Dunkirk with rations, the boats carrying special food containers (nicknamed "butter torpedoes") instead of torpedoes, and on the return voyage using the containers to carry mail from the Dunkirk garrison."

Desperate circumstances do indeed call for desperate measures. Using warships such as the submarine in the manner of a re-supply vessel surely is an indication of desperation. Yeoman work yes - - but yeoman work that is not productive, almost defeatist and better thought of as counter-productive!

coolbert.

Submarines VIII.

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Continuing with the serial of blog entries based on extracts from the magazine: "SUBMARINES SINCE 1919".

German Midgets.

The German, during the latter days of the Second World War [WW2], from 1944 onward, experimenting with midget submarines - - these type of submersibles an indication of the extreme nature of the measures taken by the Nazi regime in desperation!

I was vaguely aware that these midgets have been developed and deployed to an extent, but not that there were so many versions produced. Versions to include:

* Moloch [Salamander].
* Hecht [Pike].
* Seehund [Seal].
* Biber [Beaver].
* Marder [Marten].
* Neger [Negro].

A Seehund.

"The emphasis switched to midget submarines and special assault craft known generically as 'K-craft', to hold up invasion fleets. Many different types were built, but they scored very few successes, even against the vast D-Day Invasion fleet of 5,000 ships . . . Like all  midgets they were only effective in fairly sheltered waters, and Allied counter-measures were sufficient to avoid serious losses."

Strictly a defensive weapon, NOT suited for anything more than that, used only in very specific circumstances.

One and two man craft, one or two torpedoes slung on the outside of the submersible. an all-volunteer crew, these "submarines" a submarine as we understand the term? Runs by diesel engine while on the surface and electric motor while below the surface. Submerges by taking in water into ballast tanks and then surfaces by expelling the water using compressed air?

A Biber.

The idea was that an invasion fleet [the western allies] would be confronted by a multitude of such attack vehicles, a swarm overpowering with sheer numbers alone the defenders, considerable damage being done to allied warships, troop transports, etc. You have to ask too - - during the Normandy landings, with 5,000 targets to shoot at, and so few hits, if any, what good were these vessels?

Considerable numbers [?] of German midgets actually produced during the war:

* Seehund - - 450 units.
* Moloch - - 400 units.
* Biber - - 300 units.
* Marder - - 300 units.

Marder in particular resembles nothing more than a torpedo mounted to another torpedo. One advantage to the midgets is that they can easily transported : "moved by road or rail to their area of operations". Shifted with ease to where ever needed!

But ineffective, the concept at that stage of the war again, a sign of extreme desperation and hopelessness. Conventional methods no longer applied, "grasping at straws" the midgets as a last resort.

coolbert.

Submarines VII.

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Submarine - - Deutschland!

Continuing with extracts from the magazine: "SUBMARINES SINCE 1919" and my comments!

The Battle of the Atlantic is generally accepted and agreed upon by the experts to be the longest battle of the Second World War, and the most contentious. Allied failure would have meant defeat vis-a-vis Nazi Germany. Outright surrender or a negotiated settlement to the disadvantage of the allied powers? So is the perception.

From 1943 onward the German navy "had thrown in the towel" and accepted defeat - - U-boat losses too heavy - - allied losses diminishing - - a critical point, a "tipping point" had been reached and the German high command was well aware of this!

That is not to say that efforts continued to be made to replace the U-boat losses, a total withdrawal from the field of combat [Atlantic Ocean] NEVER conceded!

Efforts, prodigious and to a larger degree successful, the re-building of the U-boat fleet, the adoption of new classes of more potent submarines continued unabated during the war, the German, however, facing some realities that could not be overcome. Realities to include:

1. A manpower shortage. Even if a sufficient number of replacement U-boats COULD have been built, still lacking was the numbers of trained and skilled crews AND TRAINED, SKILLED, AND EXPERIENCED COMMANDERS!

"The territorial ambitions of the Germans now proved their undoing. The Army's need for manpower and the aircraft industry's over-riding demands for strategic materials meant that even if the U-boat programme had been completed it was unlikely that the boats could have been manned . . . At the 1943 rate of U-boat production (25-30 boats per month) this left the Navy short of 200,000 men."

Let me also emphasize not only short of manpower, but short of trained, skilled, and experienced manpower, and also short of those trained, skilled and experienced commanders the initiative and daring of which was sorely needed! Numbers alone are not enough!

2. Technological achievements, such as the schnorkel, rather than giving the German a boost, rather inhibited the very actions that made the German U-boat force so formidable and successful prior to 1943! Commanders, not so experienced and skilled, taking to a submerged posture more often, not pressing home the attack, a much more conservative and less productive approach to combat!

"throughout the rest of 1943 and 199 they lacked the ferocious determination that had characterized thei4r earlier efforts. The schnorchel was partly to blame, for its value was negative rather than positive, while using it, a U-Boat was relatively safe, but she did not have that freedom of movement which she had once enjoyed on the surface."

3. A loss of bases in France from the Normandy invasion onward [1944]. Again, a freedom of movement lost, the lack of facilities and alternative bases a hindrance without remedy!

"The invasion of Normandy in 1944 meant the end of the Biscay and Brittany bases . . . The only area in which U-boats still enjoyed any measure of success was in Northern Norway"

Increased submarine production from 1943 onward on the part of the German would not have meant an alternative ending to the Battle of the Atlantic.

Germany kaput, Doenitz and the high command knowing it to be true!

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Submarines VI.

 This is coolbert:

Continuing with extracts and comments from the magazine: "SUBMARINES SINCE 1919".

Naval mine warfare as conducted by the submarine, in particular those submarines designed especially for waging mine warfare. An aspect of undersea warfare not that much attention of which is paid to?

An asymmetric weapon [the submarine] able to deploy and use in combat an asymmetric weapon [the naval mine]! Naval mine warfare waged OFFENSIVELY AND DONE STEALTHILY!! The mine as an offensive weapon the value of which is not only physical but perhaps even more so in a psychological manner!

"A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines . . . Naval mines can be used offensively—to hamper enemy shipping movements or lock vessels into a harbour; or defensively—to protect friendly vessels and create 'safe' zones.

"mines attractive to the less powerful belligerent in asymmetric warfare."

"The cost of producing and laying a mine is usually anywhere from 0.5% to 10% of the cost of removing it, and it can take up to 200 times as long to clear a minefield as to lay it."

A minefield of course not being thought as a barrier totally impenetrable. Designed to make your enemy slow down, take protective measures, and cause casualties!

Naval mines - - moored to the bottom - - at the surface or slightly submerged - - acoustic, contact and magnetic and all able to sink an enemy ship with one explosion, unexpected and unanticipated, bothersome  even more so when the delivery of the mine accomplished in a stealthy manner - - by submarine!!

Submarines, carrying naval mines [either externally to the pressure hull or internal] and deploying same in that stealthy manner so particular and unique to a submerged vehicle, the element of surprise most critical and important - - WHERE PREVIOUSLY THERE WAS NO DANGER - - NOW DANGER EXISTS AND WITHOUT WARNING!!

Naval mine warfare as conducted by submarines in an OFFENSIVE MANNER during both World Wars being highly effective, surprisingly so even:

"In 1917/1918 mines had accounted for 49 U-boats, over a quarter of the total sunk"

Modern submarines too, retain an offensive naval mine warfare capability!

Modern naval mines as you might expect hardly comparing or resembling their WW1 and WW2 counter-parts. Much more sophisticated and resembling more than anything else a contained torpedo moored to the bottom of the ocean, with a capability to be placed in position in an inactive state, often during a time of peace [!!], activated and brought to readiness only during a time of war or crisis!

The asymmetric weapon as deployed by an asymmetric weapon of war [the submarine], stealthily, and to be used in a surprise manner when deemed appropriate!! The psychological damage quite often worse than the physical!

coolbert.