Submarine warfare

Short description: Naval warfare conducted by submarines

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missing name, the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel in combat. Part of a series on

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Submarine warfare is one of the four divisions of underwater warfare, the others being anti-submarine warfare, mine warfare and mine countermeasures.

Submarine warfare consists primarily of diesel and nuclear submarines using torpedoes, missiles or nuclear weapons, as well as advanced sensing equipment, to attack other submarines, ships, or land targets. Submarines may also be used for reconnaissance and landing of special forces as well as deterrence. In some navies they may be used for task force screening. The effectiveness of submarine warfare partly depends on the anti-submarine warfare carried out in response.

## Contents

* 1 American Revolutionary War
* 2 American Civil War
* 3 World War I
* 4 Interwar period
* 5 World War II
* 5.1 Atlantic Ocean
* 5.2 Pacific Ocean
* 5.3 Other areas
* 5.3.1 Mediterranean Sea
* 5.3.2 Indian Ocean
* 6 Post-World War II
* 7 See also
* 8 Notes
* 9 References
* 10 Further reading
* 11 External links

## American Revolutionary War

The first attack by a submarine allegedly occurred on September 8, 1776, by the American submersible Turtle in an unsuccessful attack on the British ship of the line HMS Eagle.[citation needed]

## American Civil War

The age of submarine warfare began during the American Civil War. The 1860s were a revolutionary period for naval warfare. Many new types of warships were being developed for use in the United States and Confederate States Navies. Submarine watercraft were among the newly created vessels. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a submarine occurred on 17 February 1864, when the Confederate submarine  missing name, a privateer, sank the sloop missing name in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Shortly afterward, however, H. L. Hunley sank, with the loss of her entire crew of eight.

## World War I

Main article: Engineering:U-boat campaign

See also: Engineering:Mediterranean U-boat campaign of World War I

British WWI propaganda poster

Submarine warfare in World War I was primarily a fight between German and Austro-Hungarian U-boats and merchant vessels bound for the United Kingdom, France, and Russia. British and Allied submarines conducted widespread operations in the Baltic, North, Mediterranean and Black Seas along with the Atlantic Ocean. Only a few actions occurred outside the wider European-Atlantic theatre.

The first round of major German submarine attacks on Allied merchant ships began in February 1915, but American civilian deaths, especially with the sinking of Lusitania, turned American public opinion against the Central Powers. The U.S. demanded it stop, and Germany conducted submarine attacks under prize rules from September 1915 to January 1917. Admiral Henning von Holtzendorff (1853–1919), chief of the admiralty staff, argued successfully in December 1916 to resume unrestricted attacks from February 1917 and thus starve the British. The German high command realized the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, now to include deliberate attacks on neutral shipping, meant war with the United States but calculated that American mobilization would be too slow to stop a German victory on the Western Front[1][2] and played a large role in the United States entering the war in April 1917. Once naval convoys were implemented, sinkings did not reach the German Imperial Admiralty Staff's optimistic projections.[3]

The sinking of Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. was the first combat victory of a modern submarine,[4] and the exploits of Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist., which sank three British cruisers in under an hour, established the submarine as an important new component of naval warfare.[5] During World War I more than 5,000 Allied ships were sunk by U-boats.[6]

German submarines were used to lay naval mines and to attack iron ore shipping in the Baltic. The British submarine flotilla in the Baltic operated in support of the Russians until the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. During the war, the British invested efforts into developing a submarine that could operate in conjunction with a battleship fleet – the "Fleet Submarine". To achieve the necessary 20 knots (37 km/h) (surfaced) the K-class submarines were steam powered. In practice, the K class were a constant problem and could not operate effectively with a fleet.

## Interwar period

Between the wars, navies experimented with submarine cruisers (France,  missing name), submarines armed with battleship caliber guns (UK, Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist.) and submarines capable of carrying small aircraft for reconnaissance (Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. and Surcouf).

## World War II

In World War II, submarine warfare was split into two main areas – the Atlantic and the Pacific. The Mediterranean Sea was also a very active area for submarine operations. This was particularly true for the British and French, as well as the Germans. The Italians were also involved, but achieved their greatest successes using midget submarines and human torpedoes. Dutch submarines sank a total of fifty enemy ships during the war, which together totaled 200.000 tons.[7]

### Atlantic Ocean

Grand Admiral Erich Raeder with Otto Kretschmer (left), a German U-boat commander, August 1940

* A number of U-boats were dispersed across possible paths of a convoy.
* A boat sighting a convoy would signal its course, speed and composition to German Naval Command.
* The submarine would continue to shadow the convoy, reporting any changes of course.
* The rest of the pack would then head to the first boat's position.
* When the pack was formed, a coordinated attack would be made on the surface at night.
* At dawn, the pack would withdraw, leaving a shadower, and resume the attack at dusk.

Depth charges detonate astern of the sloop Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist.. She participated in the sinking of 14 U-boats throughout the war

With the later increase in warship and aircraft escorts, U-boat losses became unacceptable. Many boats were lost, and the earlier experienced commanders with them.

Almost 3,000 Allied ships (175 warships, 2,825 merchantmen) had been sunk by U-boats.[8] Germany's U-boat fleet suffered heavy casualties, losing 793 U-boats and about 28,000 submariners out of 41,000, a casualty rate of about 70%.[9]

### Pacific Ocean

### Other areas

#### Mediterranean Sea

Main article: Engineering:Mediterranean U-boat campaign of World War II

#### Indian Ocean

Japanese submarines operated in the Indian Ocean, forcing the British surface fleet to withdraw to the east coast of Africa. Some German and Italian submarines operated in the Indian Ocean, but never enough to play a significant role.[10]

## Post-World War II

The advent of the nuclear-powered submarine in the 1950s brought about a major change in strategic thinking about submarine warfare. These boats could operate faster, deeper and had much longer endurance. Their larger sizes also allowed them to become missile launching platforms. Nuclear power would allow submarines to have greater accuracy and the ability to use torpedoes against ships, other submarines, and land targets.[11] In response to this the attack submarine became more important, particularly in regard to its postulated role as a hunter-killer. The US also used nuclear submarines as radar pickets for a while. There have also been major advances in sensors and weapons.[citation needed]

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union played what was described[by whom?] as a 'cat-and-mouse' game of detecting and even trailing enemy submarines.[citation needed]

As the likelihood of unrestricted submarine warfare has diminished, thinking about conventional submarines has focused on their use against surface warships. The mere existence of a submarine may curtail surface warships' freedom to operate. To counter the threat of these submarines, hunter submarines were developed in turn. The role of the submarine has extended with the use of submarine-launched autonomous unmanned vehicles. The development of new air independent propulsion methods has meant that the diesel-electric submarine's need to surface, making it vulnerable, has been reduced. Nuclear submarines, although far larger, could generate their own air and water for an extended duration, meaning their need to surface was limited in any case.[citation needed]

In today's more fractured geopolitical system, many nations are building and/or upgrading their submarines. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has launched new models of submarines every few years;{{Citation needed|date=December 2013} eady capable Type 209(Script error: The function "sclass" does not exist.) design from Germany and sold copies to Indonesia.[12][13] Russia has improved the old Soviet Kilo model into what strategic analysts are calling equivalent to the 1980s-era Script error: The function "sclass" does not exist., and so on.[citation needed]

However, thinking about importance of the submarine has shifted to an even more strategic role, with the advent of the nuclear ballistic missile submarine carrying Submarine-launched ballistic missiles with nuclear weapons to provide second strike capability.[citation needed]

A 2024 study found that climate change may decrease the detectability of submarines in certain locations.[14][15]

In March 2026, during Operation Epic Fury, the United States sank an Iranian frigate near Sri Lanka with a MK 48 torpedo.

## See also

* Unrestricted submarine warfare
* Antisubmarine warfare

## Notes

1. ↑ Dirk Steffen, "The Holtzendorff Memorandum of 22 December 1916 and Germany's Declaration of Unrestricted U-boat Warfare." Journal of Military History 68.1 (2004): 215–224. excerpt
2. ↑ See The Holtzendorff Memo (English translation) with notes
3. ↑ Tucker, Spencer; Roberts, Priscilla Mary (2014), Daniel Ramos, ed., World War I: Encyclopedia, United States: ABC-CLIO, pp. 312, ISBN 9781851094202, https://books.google.com/books?id=B1cMtKQP3P8C&q=World+War+I:+Encyclopedia
4. ↑ Story of the U-21, National Underwater and Marine Agency, http://www.numa.net/expeditions/u-21_1.html, retrieved 2008-11-02
5. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "WWI U-boats: U 9". http://www.uboat.net/wwi/boats/index.html?boat=9.
6. ↑ Roger Chickering, Stig Förster, Bernd Greiner, German Historical Institute (Washington, D.C.) (2005). "A world at total war: global conflict and the politics of destruction, 1937–1945". Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-83432-2, p. 73
7. ↑ "Periscoop Op! (deel 8)" (in Dutch). Klaar voor Onderwater (Den Helder) 48 (174): 12. December 2025. https://klaarvooronderwater.nl/kvo/Kvo-174.pdf.
8. ↑ Crocker III, H. W. (2006). Don't Tread on Me. New York: Crown Forum. p. 310. ISBN 978-1-4000-5363-6. https://archive.org/details/donttreadonme40000croc/page/310.
9. ↑ "The Battle of the Atlantic: The U-boat peril". BBC. 30 March 2011. https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/battle_atlantic_01.shtml.
10. ↑ Klemen, L (1999–2000). "The U-Boat War in the Indian Ocean". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942. http://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/u-boatindia.html.
11. ↑ Vergun, David (16 March 2020). "Submarine Warfare Played Major Role in World War II Victory". https://www.war.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2114035/submarine-warfare-played-major-role-in-world-war-ii-victory/.
12. ↑ "Forget North Korea's Subs: South Korea Can Build Some Amazing Attack Submarines". 7 August 2017. http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/forget-north-koreas-subs-south-korea-can-build-some-amazing-21800.
13. ↑ "Brand new South Korean-made submarine joins Indonesian Navy". http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/28/brand-new-south-korean-made-submarine-joins-indonesian-navy.html.
14. ↑ "Climate change may make it harder to spot submarines". The Economist. March 27, 2025. ISSN 0013-0613. https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/03/27/climate-change-may-make-it-harder-to-spot-submarines.
15. ↑ Gilli, Andrea; Gilli, Mauro; Ricchi, Antonio; Russo, Aniello; Carniel, Sandro (2024), Climate Change and Military Power: Hunting for Submarines in the Warming Ocean (Spring 2024), Texas National Security Review, doi:10.26153/TSW/52240, https://tnsr.org/2024/03/climate-change-and-military-power-hunting-for-submarines-in-the-warming-ocean/

## References

* Blair, Clay. Silent Victory: The U. S. Submarine War Against Japan 2 vol (1975)
* L, Klemen (2000). "Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942". https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/index.html.

## Further reading

Library resources about
Submarine warfare

* * *

* Resources in your library
* Resources in other libraries

* John Abbatiello. Anti-Submarine Warfare in World War I: British Naval Aviation and the Defeat of the U-Boats (2005)
* Gray, Edwyn A. The U-Boat War, 1914–1918 (1994)
* Hackmann, Willem. Seek & Strike: Sonar, anti-submarine warfare and the Royal Navy 1914–54. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1984. ISBN 0-11-290423-8
* Lance, Rachel (2024). Chamber Divers: The Untold Story of the D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations Forever. Dutton. ISBN 978-0593184936.
* Preston, Antony. The World's Greatest Submarines (2005).
* Roscoe, Theodore. United States Submarine Operations in World War II (US Naval Institute, 1949).
* van der Vat, Dan. The Atlantic Campaign Harper & Row, 1988. Connects submarine and antisubmarine operations between World War I and World War II, and suggests a continuous war.

## External links

* Historic films showing submarine warfare during World War I at europeanfilmgateway.eu

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