British Use of Submarines in World War II
Submarine Use That Contributed To The British War Effort
The British had learnt the hard way during World War I about how effective submarines could be with the attempt of the German U boats to cut off Britain's vital supply and trading links. They developed their own submarines further in the Inter-war period.
The Royal Navy was more interested in protecting merchant shipping than sinking it. Besides the Royal Navy usually used its surface ships to seize enemy merchant ships. Yet a small submarine came into its own when the Royal Navy's surface ships were very thinly spread out.
British Submarines As A Low Priority For The Royal Navy
Submarines were a low priority for Britain. Despite the Royal Navy's traditional function of protecting British trade during the Inter-War period British submarine crews were trained to attack enemy merchant ships as well as warships if that was needed to be done. Unlike the Germans the Royal Navy had never had treaty limitations on the number of submarines they could have in service (German U-boats were banned by the Treaty of Versailles). The Inter-War budgetary restraints meant the submarine section of the Royal Navy had been neglected as priority was given to the main battle fleets, which had very little mony spent on them in any case.
World War II - Attacking Enemy Ships Especially In Malta And North Africa
When World War II started the British submarines did not receive as much attention as the surface vessels of the Royal Navy, yet the Admiralty considered them to important nonetheless. Had the French not been defeated in 1940 the Royal Navy might not have had to use its submarines as much because its resources would not have been stretched so far.
The British used their submarines during the course of World War II to attack enemy ships when they were the best option to do so, or indeed if the Royal Navy had no surface ships available to carry out those tasks. The Royal Navy used submarines to attack targets whilst reducing the potential costs of unsuccessful missions in terms of ships lost or crews killed. The Royal Navy also considered being invaluable for carrying out secret missions, as well as being used for gathering intelligence information.
German and Italian supply ships were particularly vulnerable to British air and submarine attacks. From their Malta bases these British submarines took a heavy toll on the German ships and Italian ships carrying munitions as well other supplies to the Axis land forces in the Middle East and North Africa. It was in that region that the Royal Navy's submarines had the greatest impact during World War II.
Bibliography
Holmes R, (2007) Battlefield, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Lenman B, (2004) Chambers Dictionary of World History, Edinburgh
James, H (2003) Europe Reborn – A History, 1914 – 2000, Pearson Longman, Harlow
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