Hitler’s U-Boat War- The Hunted 1942-45
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SRH 020 Narrative Combat Intelligence Center Joint Intelligence Center Pacific Ocean Area, 8 November 1945. 20 pp.
SRH 037 Reports Received by U.S. War Dept. on the Use of Ultra in European Theater, World War II. October 1945. 33 pp.
SRH 149 Brief History of Communications Intelligence in the U.S. 22 pp.
SRH 152 History Review of OP20G. 13 pp.
SRH 197 Organization, Liaison, and Coordination of USN Communications Intelligence, 1941-45. 39 pp
SRH 201 Admonitions to U-boats, 1943-45. 208 pp.
SRH 208, SRH 236 ASW Reports, C in C to Admiralty and vice versa, 1942-45. 495 pp. and 2,869 pp.
SRH 232 U.S. Navy C in C Radio Intelligence Appreciation Concerning German U-boat Activity in the Far East, January-April 1945. 9 pp.
SRH 260 OP20G File of Memoranda, Reports, and Messages on German Blockade-Runners (World War II), 1943-4. 238 pp. (Extracts.)
SRH 279 Communications Intelligence Organization, 1942-46. 82 pp.
SRH 305 History of Communications Intelligence in the “undeclared war.” 29 pp. (See Safford article.)
SRH 306 Exploits and Commendations of OP20G in World War II. 151 pp.
SRH 355 Naval Security Group History to World War II, by Capt. J. S. Holtwick, Jr. June 1971, 464 pp.
SRH 367, SRH 368 Evaluations of the role of Communications Intelligence in the Battle of the Atlantic. 90 pp. and 111 pp
SRH 403 Wenger Papers. 78 pp.
SRMN 022 USN log of Allied attacks reported by damaged U-boats, 11/6/42 to 12/30/43. 311pp.
SRMN 023 USN log of U-boat attacks on Allied shipping, as reported by U-boats, 11/4/42 to 5/10/45. 578 pp.
SRMN 030 U-boat trends, 9/1/42 to 5/1/45. 120 pp.
SRMN 031 U-boat position estimates, 6/10/42 to 11/6/42. 152 pp.
SRMN 032 U-boat tracking room ops, 1/2/43 to 6/6/45. 281 pp.
SRMN 035 Admiralty -C in Ultra message exchange, 6/25/42 to 10/17/44. 104 pp.
SRMN 036 U-boat situation estimates, 6/15/42 to 5/21/45. 185 pp.
SRMN 037 U-boat Intelligence summaries, 1/1/43 to 5/16/45. 655 pp.
SRMN 038 Functions of the “Secret Room.” 10 pp.
SRMN 039 U-boat fleet at end of World War II. 52 pp.
SRMN 040 Liquidation of U-boats, 1942-45. 245 pp.
SRMN 041 U-boats and Overlord. 28 pp.
SRMN 043 The U-boat problem, 6/4/42 to 5/16/45. 103 pp.
SRMN 048 U-boat positions and status, 12/42 to 5/45. 191 pp.
SRMN 049 “Secret Room” assessments of attacks on U-boats, July 1943 to July 1944. 236 pp.
SRMN 051, SRMN 051A OP20G memos on U-boat activities, 12/42 to 5/45. 540 pp. and 214 pp.
SRMN 053 U-boats east of Cape Town, 7/44 to 5/45. 75 pp.
SRMN 054 Special [Technical] Studies re U-boats. 866 pp.
SRMN 055 Forecasts and statistics re U-boat activities, 1/26/44 to 7/11/44. 47 pp.
SRMN 056 U-boat successes against Allied ships, 1/41 to 4/45. 74 pp.
In addition, some researchers may profit by consulting NARA Entry 9010 of this series: “German Navy/U-boat Messages Translations and Summaries: 1941 to 1945.” This massive document series in 67 boxes is 29 feet long and consists of 49,668 Enigma messages to U-boats, translated into English and filed chronologically, 1/2/41-7/9/45.
In 1996 the NSA turned over to NARA about 1.3 million more documents relating to the breaking of World War II Axis codes. These documents, also in Record Group 457, are cataloged in a list of 4,923 very briefly described items. Of particular interest to this book is item NR 1736, “Bombe History.” This is an excellent 11-page single-spaced document describing the history of building the American four-rotor bombes for breaking naval Enigma, prepared 4/24/44 by Howard T. Engstrom, Ralph I. Meader, and Joseph N. Wenger, the three men who ran the project. (RG 457, Box 705.)
The catalog of the 4,923 listed items is available at NARA. The catalog (over two hundred pages) can also be downloaded from NARA’s home page on the Internet.
AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: MANUSCRIPT DIVISION
The papers of Ernest Joseph King. Fifteen linear feet, about 10,000 items.
General Correspondence, 1908-57. Containers 1-18. See especially boxes 8,9,12,14.
Subject File, 1924-57. Containers 19-26. See especially boxes 21 (General Board) and 22 (Anti-Submarine 1942-1944 and Memoranda for SecNav).
Escort-of-Convoy Instructions (Revised 11/17/41). U.S. Atlantic Fleet. 11 pp. (LANTFLT 9A).
Miscellaneous papers (in German) relating to the following U-boats (containers 161-72; microreels 78-86):
AT THE BRITISH PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Records of the Royal Navy and of British codebreakers in World War II are kept in the British Public Record Office (PRO) in Kew, a suburb of London. There are finding aids available for these records, which are computerized. Numerous records relating to this history have been microfilmed.
We limited our research mostly to those documents that deal with U-boat operations, U-boat sinkings, and information on U-boats gained from interrogation of German U-boat POWs. Most of the Enigma codebreaking documents (“Ultra”) relating to U-boats are filed under the broad category ADM 223. Most of the pertinent naval documents are filed under categories ADM 1, ADM 199, and ADM 237. The minutes of the weekly meetings of the Battle of the Atlantic and Anti-U-boat committees plus important addenda are filed in ADM 205 (see also War Cabinet file CAB 86). Official internal Admiralty monographs and histories (BR series) relating to U-boats are filed in ADM 186 and ADM 234. The documents at PRO that we consulted for this book:
PAPERS OF THE FIRST SEA LORD (ADM 205)
205/11 Minutes of the Battle of the Atlantic Committee, 4/18/41 to 7/26/41.
205/21 Special Studies:
Interim progress report re ASW by naval adviser to First Sea Lord (C. V. Usborne), 1/20/42.
Japanese naval purchases from Germany (per NID), 2/26/42,
Visit of G. R. Bromet and George E. Creasy to the U.S. and Canada to assess ASW. Reports of 2/24/42.
Control of shipping in the West Atlantic during U-boat campaign. Part 1: Institution of Convoy System. Part 2: Routing of British-managed shipping. 6/14/42.
Criticism of Allied ASW by Air Officer Commander in Chief, Coastal Command (Philip Joubert) as of September 1942 and partial responses to the criticism by the First Sea Lord’s ASW advisers at a meeting, 9/27/42.
205/23 Minutes of the Battle of the Atlantic Committee, 9/2/41 to 6/30/42.
205/27 Correspondence with Prime Minister [Churchill], 1943.
205/30 Minutes of the [War Cabinet] Anti U-boat Committee and Summary of Achievements, 12/3/42 to 12/23/43.
205/35 Correspondence with Prime Minister [Churchill], 1944.
205/36 Minutes of the [War Cabinet] Anti U-boat Committee 1944.
205/44 Minutes of the [War Cabinet] Anti U-boat Committee 1945.
205/59 Prisoners of War (German).
ADMIRALTY CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION (ADM 213)
213/573 German submarine construction: “History of Walter Submarine Projects,” including postwar interviews with the commanders of the Walter Type XVIIB U-1406 (Werner Klug) and U-1407 (Horst Heitz).
213/574 Correspondence between Karl Dönitz and Helmut Walter re new U-boat designs and equipment. In English.
German Submarine Construction: “History of the Type XXI.”
STATION RECORDS: WESTERN APPROACHES (ADM 217)
Convoy narratives and U-boat sinkings. U-boat kills reported. See below.
NAVAL INTELLIGENCE PAPERS (ADM 223)
223/8 Special Studies:
Percentage of losses imposed on German U-boats, 8/13/43.
Enemy appreciation of Allied ASW aircraft, 8/24/43.
U-boats in the Indian Ocean, 9/5/43.
Rate of expenditure of U-boats, 10/9/43.
223/16 Ultra. U-boat appreciations and stories of convoy battles, 12/41 to 11/43. 136 pp. Convoys detailed:
Special Studies:
Estimated numbe
r of U-boats at sea September 1939-February 1943, 2/19/43.
Admiralty appreciation of U-boat situation, 8/1/43.
U-boats in Caribbean and South America, summer 1943, 8/30/43.
Fuel consumption of U-boats, 9/22/43.
223/18 Ultra. Weekly U-boat situation reports and miscellaneous Signal Intelligence, 7/5/43 to 12/27/43. 113 pp. (On microreel.)
223/19 Ultra. U-boat appreciations and stories of convoy battles, 9/43 to 3/44. 97 pp. Convoys detailed:
JW 56A RA 57
JW 56B ONS 29
Special Studies:
U-boat operations off South Africa: March-July 1943, 10/24/43.
Resumption of U-boat operations against convoys, 9/20/43.
Claims by U-boats in 1943: Analysis by Naval Section, Bletchley Park (J.H.C. Whitehead). Report of 2/22/44.
Experience of U-boat skippers now on operations. 3/2/44.
U-boat campaign in the Indian Ocean: September-December 1943. Report of 3/18/44.
U-boat war: 1/12/44 to 3/12/44. Report of 3/14/44.
223/21 Ultra. Weekly U-boat situation reports, 10/16/44 to 5/21/45.
223/42 Godt address to U-boat commanders. 6/14/45. 2 pp.
223/88 Special Study: Admiralty use of Special Intelligence in Battle of [the] Atlantic. 7 pp. N.d. (1945?)
Admiralty Use of Special Intelligence in Naval Operations, by G[eoffrey] E. Colpoys, Officer in Charge, Operations Intelligence Center. 379 pp.
223/96 Ultra. Weekly U-boat situation reports, 10/26/42 to 1/25/43.
223/98 Ultra. Weekly U-boat situation reports, 5/31/43 to 9/13/43.
223/152 U-570, capture of and technical surveys.
223/170 Ultra. Weekly U-boat situation reports 9/20/43 to 12/13/43.
223/171 Ultra. Weekly U-boat situation reports, 12/20/43 to 3/20/44.
Special Study: The achievements of individual U-boats in 1943. Naval Section (J.H.C. Whitehead), Bletchley Park, 3/21/44.
223/172 Ultra. Weekly U-boat situation reports, 3/20/44 to 10/9/44 and convoy battles in April and August 1944:
JW 58
JW 59
Special Studies:
Note on U-boats in the Mediterranean, 4/18/44.
Experience of U-boat skippers now on operations, 5/8/44.
Movement of U-boats into the English Channel, 5/19/44.
Minutes of meeting re publicity on U-boat kills, 7/10/44.
Experience of U-boat skippers now on operations, 7/12/44.
U-boats sunk or lost, September 1939 to September 1944. Rodger Winn analysis of 10/1/44.
ATTACKS ON U-BOATS. ASSESSMENTS. INTERROGATION OF POWS. ETC.
Filed in: ADM 1: Admiralty and Secretariat Papers.
ADM 199: War History Cases and Papers.
ADM 217: Station Records: See above.
The following U-boats are described in documents as noted in ADM 1 and ADM 199. (Attacks, sinkings, captures, etc.)
ITALIAN SUBMARINES:
Asteria 199/432
Avorio 199/432
Baracca 199/1132
Berillo 199/1132
Bianchi 199/1132
Cabolto 199/1259
Caracciolo 199/1134
DiBruno 199/131
Durbo 199/135
Glauco 199/1132
Gondar 199/135
Lafole 199/135
Naiade 199/135
Ondina 199/1258
Perla (captured) 199/1258
Veniero 199/1258
Some of the foregoing document series also include special ASW studies. See for example:
199/1245 The air offensive against U-boats (ORS Report 174A). July 1941-December 1941. Dated 7/10/42. Italian U-boats, Intelligence Report 11/21/42.
199/124-915 Attempt to capture U-boats—orders for operation. Dated 6/5/40.
199/1491 Summary of [ASW] operations in the Bay [of Biscay]. 6/14/43 to 9/21/43.
199/2032-2056 U-boat “incidents.” Daily log of Allied ships sunk; U-boats sighted, attacked, or sunk; POWs taken, etc. (See similar document at NARA, listed under Tenth Fleet.)
1/17561 Postwar interviews of U-boat POWs conducted by Gilbert Howland Roberts, commander of the RN “Anti-U-boat School”:
Eberhard Godt, 5/23/45
Günther Hessler, 5/24/45
Kurt Dobratz, 5/24/45
Ernst Hechler, 5/24/45
Lieutenant Burkner, 5/24/45
WaldemarMehl, 5/25/45
Heinz Walkering, 5/27/45
Peter Cremer, 5/29/45
1/17617 Summary of [U-boat] information supplied by Eberhard Godt on 5/12/45. 49 pp., plus addenda, which includes a German list of 635 U-boat losses, acknowledged to be incomplete.
199/135 Reports of C in C, Mediterranean Station, re Allied attacks on Axis submarines in the Mediterranean. Dated 11/5/40, 3/13/41,4/5/41, 8/9/41, and 3/22/42.
199/139 Currents and tides in the Straits [sic] of Gibraltar. Essay by A. L. Maidens. 8 pp. “Measures taken to prevent U-boats from penetrating territorial waters and entering the Mediterranean.” Report of C in C, Mediterranean Station. 19 pp.
MONTHLY ANTI-SUBMARINE REPORT SEPTEMBER 1939-DECEMBER 1945 6 VOLS. 2,284 PP. (ON MICROFILM.)
A once highly classified account of the Battle of the Atlantic in a series of monthly booklets. Produced by the Admiralty intelligence division, the issues contain detailed narratives of convoy battles, U-boat kills, descriptions of Allied and Axis weaponry, statistical charts of shipping losses and damage by type and nationality, new ship construction by types, as well as information from interrogations of POWs, and so on. Although the primary focus is on naval actions, the contributions of RAF Coastal Command to ASW operations are not slighted. The issues contain no reference to codebreaking; nonetheless, they remain indispensable to historians of the U-boat war. Of special interest are the narrative accounts of U-boat kills and convoy battles, as noted below.
ADM 199/2057 VOL. I (9/39 TO 12/40), 33I PP.
U-BOATS:
U-13 U-39 Durbo
U-26 U-40 Galileo Galilei (captured)
U-27 U-42 Gondar
U-31 U-49 Liuzzi
U-33 U-55 Luigi Galvante
U-35 U-63
CONVOYS:
HX 55 SC 2 OA204
HX 66A SC 6 OB 202
HX 79
HX 83
ADM 199/2058 VOL. 2 (l/41 TO I2/4I), 446 PP.
U-BOATS:
U-32 U-111 Adua
U-70 U-138 Anfitrite
U-76 U-501 Baracca
U-95 U-566 Ferraris
U-99 U-570 Glauco
U-100 U-651 Naiade
U-110
CONVOYS:
ADM 199/2059 VOL. 3 (1/42 TO 12/42), 475PP.
U-BOATS:
U-85 U-379 Cobolto
U-94 U-433 Emo
U-95 U-434 Ondina
U-131 U-464 Peria (captured)
U-162 U-568 Pietro Calvi
U-210 U-574
U-335 U-581
U-353 U-701
U-372
CONVOYS:
ADM 199/2060 VOL. 4 (1/43 TO 12/43), 393 PP.
U-BOATS
U-118 U-432 U-523
U-135 U-439 U-528
U-175 U-444 U-533
U-185 U-454 U-559
U-187 U-458 U-604
U-202 U-468 U-606
U-203 U-487 U-607
U-205 U-506 U-659
U-224 U-512 U-660
U-331 U-513 U-706
U-357 U-517 U-732
U-409 U-521 U-752
CONVOYS:
ADM 199/206I VOL. 5 (1/44 TO 12/44), 415 PP.
U-BOATS:
U-177 U-407 U-744
U-188 U-536 U-761
U-223 U-539 U-852 (photos)
U-247 U-616 U-960
U-340
CONVOYS:
SL 139/MKS 30 RA 57 JW 62
SL140/MKS31 JW 56A JW 59
JW 56B RA 62
RA59 HXS 300
ADM 199/2062 VOL. 6 (1/45 TO 12/45), 224 PP.
U-BOATS:
U-300 U-681 (Photos) U-1024
CONVOYS:
HX332 TBC 135
HX346
This volume also contains a number of essays summarizing certain aspects of the U-boat war. See especially “The Radio War” “Statistical Summary of the War on British, Allied and Neutral Merchant Shipping “ “Scientific History of Anti-Submarine Weapon Development” and “Final Assessments.” The last booklet in this volume contains a 14-page document based on 1945 interviews with Karl Dönitz, who outlines in detail the “phases” of the U-boat war as he saw them.
BRITISH “POST MORTEMS” (SPECIAL FILE)
At the Admiralty Office of History: Five oversize, bound volumes:
U-BOATS
ITALIAN SUBMARINES
Anfitrite
Asteria
Avorio
Baracca
Berillo
Cabolto
Calvi
Caracciolo
Durbo
Ferraris
Glauco
Gondar
Millo
Naiade
Ondina
Perla
Saint Bon
Tritone
“HESSLER HISTORY”
The U-boat War in the Atlantic: 1939-1945, by Günther Hessler, assisted by Alfred Hoschatt and Jürgen Röhwer. 396 pp. plus charts.
Written for the British Admiralty and the U.S. Navy in the immediate postwar years by Dönitz’s son-in-law, who made use of the secret War Diary of U-boat Control (FdU/KTB), this is the only known “official” German history of the U-boat war. Translated by unidentified Admiralty linguists, it has been microfilmed. In 1989, HMSO published a revised and corrected version of this indispensable work in one volume (see Books section) with an introduction by Andrew J. Withers, RN.
ADM 186/802 Vol. 1 (BR 305-1): August 1939 to December 1941