[Hitman]

After having studied a bit about WW1 subs and her commanders, I´m absolutely surprised about something...take a look at this examples:

-Lothar Von Arnauld de La Periere: 1886-1941, 400.000 tons sunk, apparently staff officer in 1941

-Walter Forstmann: 1883-1973! ( Geez, he even still lived when I was born! ) 380.000 tons sunk, apparently active officer in WW2

-Max Valentinier: 1883-1949, 300.000 tons sunk

-Otto Hersing: 1885-1960, 36 ships sunk

Well.....this are only some of the WW1 U-Boot aces, but all of them lived through 1939 and even more. How is it possible that none of them took command of a submarine or -what amazes me even more- were not part of BdU????

Why did they nearly dissapear from the Kriegsmarine, after having been U-Boot aces during WW1??

Was Dönitz jealous, or were they simply too old to command a submarine?

This is a fantastic enigma to me....we usually have an inclination to think about WW1 and WW2 as separate conflicts, and we don´t realize that the few years that separated them in fact determined that many WW1 combatants repeated their roles in WW2. For example, Hitler himself fought in WW1, Rommel obtained the "Pour le Merite", Dönitz also served on U-Boots.....

I know that many aircraft pilots of WW1 served on the Luftwaffe, but I can´t understand how it is possible that the former U-Boot aces of WW1 simply dissapeared and had no attention during WW2....

Can someone with better historical knowledge explain this? :hmm:

[Deamon]

Many of the Aces did become buissines man an sutch and keept to be so. Many other Aces joined Hitlers Party and SA and SS and become leaders there! and they were also often responsible to prepare the youth for their U-Boat duty! Makeing propaganda for the U-Boat duty and sutch.

The U-Boat duty was very demanding to the health so some got problems with their health, and wasn't able to go to sea anyway.

BTW: Many U-Boat Sailors lost their minde and ended up in the psychiatry. The war was a to big stress for to many.

But i don't know whether some one else, exept Dönitz, was in active duty in the staff or did contributet in other way to the "Kriegsmarine". But going to sea again is not imaginable. Alone to health reasons, it would be a to big stress again. War needs always fresh meat. So the new U-Boat fleet was been builde up from young talented and motivated boys. And i think that was the right way.

Again after the WWII and after the very bad experiance with the Nazi dictatorship, there was again some U-Boat Aces who participated in founding the new democratic constitution that was supposed to prevent that sutch will happen again.

BTW: I was yesterday in the U-Boatmuseeum in Bremerhaven and visited the typXXI, the first time that i have seen a real sub , man that was great and exciting

regards
deamon

[Nemo66]

[Oesten]

After commanding a U-boat in WWI, and losing, it would be very hard for anyone to go through it all again. Especially since the German U-boat fleet was far too small in 1939, just as it was in 1914.

[TwistedFemur]

as daemon stated I think that maybe the WW1 u-boat aces trained the submariners in WW2

and yes war is a young mans sport


ps: we have a type XXI here in the U.S. its called the nautiless (SP?)
it was Americas first nuclear powered sub and it was basically a copy of the german type XXI with a nuclear power plant stuck in its bowels

[Deamon]

[Guest]

Sorry for the long delay (I dont check this Forum often)

to answer your question

USS Nautilus

[Deamon]

Thanks.

Deamon

[GlowwormGuy]

Remember in the Sound of Music when the Nazis offer Capt von Trapp a commission in the KM? He would have been assigned to a training command then, right? If he had accepted that is.

Mountbatten

[Deamon]