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Donitz's Last Gamble
0 - Default Title
Description
Caught unawares, the British and American navies struggled to cope with a novel predicament - in shallow waters submarines could lie undetectable on the bottom, and given operational freedom, they rarely needed to make signals, so neutralizing the Allied advantages of decryption and radio direction-finding. Behind this unpleasant shock lay an even greater threat, of radically new submarine types known to be nearing service. Dönitz saw these as war-winning weapons, and gambled that his inshore campaign would hold up the Allied advance long enough to allow these faster and quieter boats to be deployed in large numbers.
This offensive was perhaps Germany's last chance to turn the tide, yet, surprisingly, such an important story has never been told in detail before. That it did not succeed masks its full significance: the threat of quiet submarines, operating singly in shallow water, was never really mastered, and in the Cold War that followed the massive Soviet submarine fleet, built on captured German technology and tactical experience, became a very real menace to Western sea power. In this way, Dönitz's last gamble set the course of postwar anti submarine development.
Product details
Number of Pages:
208
Release Date:
2008-07-23
Publication Date:
2008-07-23
Publisher:
Pen & Sword Books
Languages:
Original:
English
ISBN10:
1844157148
ISBN13:
9781844157143
Weight:
657 g
Height:
177 cm
Width:
245 cm
Thickness:
15 cm
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