Rise and Fall of the U-Bootwaffe

Germany was destroyed, devastated, broken and helpless under the victorious Allied powers after World War One. The ill-conceived Treaty of Versailles had a boot on the German throat. They were allowed a small defensive military not to exceed 100,000 troops and no more than 800 officers. Above all, Germany was not permitted any U-Boats of any kind. How was it then, that as early as 1936 when German U-Boats first went into combat, that they had the most advanced submarines at sea? Further, when World War Two began on 1 September 1939, they had even more units and more advanced submarines than any other navy? While it is true that the U-Bootwaffe had far too few U-Boats on 1 Sept. 1939, they had the most advanced submarines of the time. This book explains the secret planning of the new U-Bootwaffe, the mid-war changes anticipated and requested by Karl Dönitz and it gives his analysis in 1946 why the war went like it did.