What if Instead of Building the Bismarck and Tirpitz Germany Instead Built More U-boats?
The building cost of Bismarck was 196 million Reichsmarks, while Tirpitz was slightly cheaper at 191.6 million Reichsmarks. This versus a U-Boat at 4,439,000 Reichsmark. As a result, the Kriegsmarine could have used the capital spent on battleship Bismarck for 44 more U-Boats. And another 43 if they decided to scrap Tirpitz’s build as well!
In World War II Germany built 1,162 U-boats, of which 785 were destroyed and the remainder surrendered (or were scuttled to avoid surrender) at the capitulation. Of the 632 U-boats sunk at sea, Allied surface ships and shore-based aircraft accounted for the great majority (246 and 245 respectively).
However, even the U-Boat was not cost effective. And eventually their success ran out. See our piece: German U Boats WW2 Facts : From Predator to Prey.
So would another 9% more U-Boats have turned the tide of the war? Seems rather unlikely.
A U.S. Navy study concluded each standard Type VII U-Boat cost Nazi Germany $2.25 million dollars. While a four-engine B-24 cost about $297,000 and a twin-engine Catalina seaplane $90,000 and a B-17 $393,000. Just as importantly, U-Boats had crews of around fifty, while the bombers were manned by five to twelve crew.
Of course the United States spent roughly the same amount of money on the Iowa battleships. However, the United States did not face a shortage of raw materials as Germany did.
The U-boat, or Unterseeboot, is a type of submarine used primarily by Germany during World War I and World War II. The history of the U-boat can be traced back to the late 19th century when countries such as Germany, Great Britain, and the United States began experimenting with underwater vessels.
The first U-boat, the U-1, was built in 1906 by the German Navy.
It was a small vessel with a crew of only two men and powered by a gasoline engine and an electric motor. The U-1 became followed by several more U-boats in the years leading up to World War I.
During World War I, the U-boat became a key weapon in Germany’s naval arsenal. U-boats were used to attack Allied shipping, which threatened the supply of essential goods to Britain and its allies. The U-boat campaign was initially successful, with U-boats sinking thousands of tons of shipping every month. However, the campaign also led to the United States entering the war on the side of the Allies after the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915.
After World War I, Germany was limited in the number of U-boats it was allowed to build under the Treaty of Versailles. However, in the years leading up to World War II, Germany secretly built up its U-boat fleet. During World War II, the U-boat was once again a key weapon in Germany’s naval arsenal. U-boats were used to attack Allied shipping, particularly convoys crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
The U-boat campaign was initially successful, with U-boats sinking thousands of tons of shipping every month. However, Allied efforts to counter the U-boat threat, including the use of convoys, improved anti-submarine warfare technology, and code-breaking, gradually turned the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic in the Allies’ favor.
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What if Instead of Building the Bismarck and Tirpitz Germany Instead Built More U-boats?
