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How many tons of ships did the U-boats sink?
The German navy used the Unterseeboot, or U-boat, to sink 5,000 ships measuring more than 13 million gross register tons during the war. As the war geared up, the Germans and the British believed the big battles would be fought with huge ships like the HMS Dreadnought and its sisters.
How many ships or tonnage did German U-Boats Sink in 1917?
The U-boat campaign then became a race between German sinkings of merchant ships and the building of ships, mainly in the United States, to replace them. In April 1917, 430 Allied and neutral ships totaling 852,000 tons were sunk, and it seemed likely that the German gamble would succeed.
Did U-boats sink civilian ships?
On 7 May 1915, SM U-20 sank the liner RMS Lusitania. The sinking claimed 1,198 lives, 128 of them American civilians, and the attack of this unarmed civilian ship deeply shocked the Allies.
What was the largest ship lost in ww2?
Yamato – The largest battleship ever built, Yamato was sunk on 7 April 1945 by torpedo planes from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet and others. 280 of Yamato’s 2,778 crew were rescued. This was the greatest loss of life in a single warship in World War II.
What happened to the captain of the U boat that sank the Lusitania?
Kapit nleutnant Walter Schwieger, not dated Schwieger was an aggressive and skillful naval officer. In 1917, he received the highest honor that a German naval officer could receive. He died at sea that September when his U-boat struck a mine.
How did the Lusitania sink so fast?
The ship sank within 20 minutes of being hit by a German torpedo. There has been much speculation about its quick demise, many pointing to the second explosion that occurred after the initial torpedo strike. Some believe damage to the steam room and pipes caused the latter blast, hastening the Lusitania’s sinking.
How many ships did the U-boats sink in WW2?
During the war the U-boats sank about 2,779 ships for a total of 14.1 million tons GRT. This figure is roughly 70\% of all allied shipping losses in all theatres of the war and to all hostile action.
Why do ship captains go down with the ship?
In all, the tradition of a captain going down with the ship may be more about personal choice and lore of the sea than legal responsibility. In this handout provided by Donga Daily, The Republic of Korea Coast Guard work at the site of ferry sinking accident off the coast of Jindo Island on April 16, 2014 in Jindo-gun, South Korea.
How many Allied shipping losses were caused by German U-boats?
This figure is roughly 70\% of all allied shipping losses in all theatres of the war and to all hostile action. The most successful year was 1942 when over 6 million tons of shipping were sunk in the Atlantic. We have compiled a massive database on the merchants hit by German U-boats in the war.
Do captains have to stay on a sinking ship?
There is no international maritime law that requires a captain to stay on a sinking ship, but many countries either have their own laws or subscribe to international treaties that mandate certain behavior.