I aquired a group of medals, bits and pieces, books and paperwork belonging to a 1WW naval officer who served on U-boats. Amongst the paperwork was the mans typed written memoirs and experiences written in 1942 which I had translated. These cover his thoughts, feelings operational experience and action encountered relating to his first boat the U-54. I found this very interesting and complelling reading.
I thought you might like to share this and will split it up about 7 parts, posting 1 part every couple of days. The first part is general but it soon picks up. Stick with it and I am sure you will enjoy it.
Hans Branscheid was born on 2nd March 1889 and served in the navy for just over 11 years from 1st October 1908 to 24th November 1919.
He served as a Watch Engineer on SMS "Kaiserin," to September 1915, then attended U-Boat School until December 1915, being posted to "U-54" (actually launched 25.5.16) until November 1917. He was then transferred to "U-118" (launched 23.2.18) and served as Leading Engineer of that sub until the end of the war.
Part 1.
In the wrestling match between the powers that is the present war, we have as a goal before our eyes, along with gaining an advantage on the continent, the freedom of the seas. We and other peoples involved with merchant shipping stand to win this freedom at sea by overthrowing England, a maritime power, that for centuries has employed the concept of ‘Freedom of the Seas’ to its own advantage and to the disadvantage of peoples who are struggling towards it. This supremacy at sea that England possesses must be shattered in this present war, if Great Germany is to have value as a world power. We can no longer allow it to happen that, because it suits it to do so, a jealous and spiteful enemy bars us from the oceans of the world on a whim, by keeping the entrances to those oceans blockaded. If we manage now to open up the way for our overseas trade, then we must for the foreseeable future keep ourselves so strong that no power in the world can prevent us any more from conducting a peaceful exchange of goods with foreign nations who also maintain a merchant fleet. The position of strength, which will allow us to achieve this, lies however in the provision of a navy, which commands, respect.
Not everyone is convinced of this concept, and it is vital that it becomes part of the common assumptions of the German people that the best protection for their own house and home is for them to be a strong sea-power. So we must give prominence to thoughts of the sea, and keep drilling them into the people. If we intend to be a world power, for good or for ill we must concern ourselves with the high seas, for to be a world power is impossible without sea-power.
I hope that the following reflections on my experiences during the world war may contribute to the deepening of this concept of the sea; I am directing them mainly towards the young people who will one day be called to take charge of our splendid modern ships.
If I usually give talks about my experiences on U-boats during the world war, it is because I hope that I can make this theme that has so often been spoken about somewhat more interesting by means of personal reminiscences. Reading about warships is one thing; to hear first-hand accounts from people who were there at the time is a quite different matter. One can also embellish the account with details, which are suitable for depicting to the audience the realities of life on board and at sea.
As I said earlier, during the World War I was a submariner, and experienced the war at sea on these boats from their earliest beginnings. One could say a lot about this; but if one takes stock of ones memories, it is important to concentrate on what is worth passing on to the young people who would also like to go to sea.
At the end of 1914 I volunteered to join the U-boat arm from my ship of the line the SMS “Kaiserin”. I found my boat still being constructed in the shipyard. It didn’t give the impression that it would be much use in the war against England. The boat lay on a slip; its outer shape was already recognizable, and the innards were in the throes of being installed in the pressure hull by speedy hands. Everything was moving fast; the moving of the engines from the workshops into the boat and the installing of the same in the overall whole followed one another quickly. It was impressive to see how everything, part by part, fitted into its proper place as intended and according to a clear plan. How reliably all the individual pieces are assembled becomes in certain situations at the front-line a matter of life or death for the crew and a matter of survival for the boat.
My opinion was confirmed that the high level of technical knowledge of our engineers and specialists and the reliability of the workforce even at the stage of building the submarines are plainly responsible for the achievements that have been accomplished by this branch of the services.
The time came for the completion of the boat, and with it the first tests of the engines and of the diving characteristics.
The arrangements and preparations for that do not belong here. The taking of the crew on board soon followed, and one day the hour came for the commissioning of the boat. It is not generally understood by laymen that the commissioning of a ship newly-built specially for service at the front is always a festive affair. With the hoisting of the flag the ship becomes a warship and constitutes a unit in the fleet. Every man of the crew longs for the day of the commissioning to come as soon as possible, for he knows that he then has a real ship under his feet, to which he belongs and to which he feels tied whether in life or in death.
Now the time has arrived for the crew to be made familiar with the equipment in the new boat. Both officers and men have to be at their allotted position in the shortest possible time and to know the functions of all the equipment both immediately to hand and further away as well. Every handgrip must be practised in order to be able to avert imminent danger away from the ship. In order to train the crew as thoroughly as possible and to demonstrate the probable effects of an attack a good deal of role-playing exercises take place on board ships. Among these the crew need to be clear about the steps that need to be taken (both on the surface and when dived) for practising getting rid of damage caused by an influx of water or sustained as a result of an enemy attack. Both officers and men need, in short, to be so familiar with the ship that they can successfully help out in the event of real emergencies. This includes knowing about the construction and parts of the ships in all the various compartments, and emergency equipment for dealing with gas, fire and leaks. For what is the use, when the alarm “Fire on board” is called they can’t lay hands on the extinguisher, or in the event of a leak, on the means of stopping it. Their reactions in emergencies must be quick and circumspect, and that can only happen with a crew that even in their sleep knows where to find the equipment to deal with emergencies, and how to handle it appropriately.
The most important thing of all in the training of the crew of a submarine always remains the diving-manoeuvre. Here, the target to aim at must always be perfection in carrying out the manoeuvre in safety and reliability, in the case of every single man involved in the diving-manoeuvre. Depending on circumstances boat and crew stand or fall on the efficiency of the dive. It is possible to take the boat below the surface in two minutes or even in a substantially shorter time; but it would be wrong to make it one’s ambition to want to take the diving-manoeuvre to the point where the running of the boat could not guarantee the boat’s immunity from serious dangers. Emergency manoeuvres must be kept for situations of the most serious danger, when there really is a need for them. When the boat is under enemy attack, in grave danger, and must be taken under water in the shortest possible time, in my experience, with a good crew, the boat can be taken from ‘diesels running’ to periscope depth in 45 seconds or less. But as already mentioned, that is an emergency manoeuvre only, only to be resorted to in the face of the likelihood of being rammed by the enemy, or suddenly coming under fire, or something similar. It should not be regarded as normal.
After the commissioning and extensive diving practices, and after further testing of the boat’s diving characteristics, there very soon followed the ‘sea-worthiness test’, in other words the test of readiness for going to sea and of the operational state of the boat.
The crew in the meantime had settled in properly and stowed their essential kit in their small but adequate lockers. If the objection is made, that everything on board is so confined that living space is inadequate and so on, that is only to be expected. Certainly the space would be too confined if anyone wanted to bring on board a piano rather than a mouth organ, or half his worldly possessions. That is not what a submarine is like.
I thought you might like to share this and will split it up about 7 parts, posting 1 part every couple of days. The first part is general but it soon picks up. Stick with it and I am sure you will enjoy it.
Hans Branscheid was born on 2nd March 1889 and served in the navy for just over 11 years from 1st October 1908 to 24th November 1919.
He served as a Watch Engineer on SMS "Kaiserin," to September 1915, then attended U-Boat School until December 1915, being posted to "U-54" (actually launched 25.5.16) until November 1917. He was then transferred to "U-118" (launched 23.2.18) and served as Leading Engineer of that sub until the end of the war.
Part 1.
In the wrestling match between the powers that is the present war, we have as a goal before our eyes, along with gaining an advantage on the continent, the freedom of the seas. We and other peoples involved with merchant shipping stand to win this freedom at sea by overthrowing England, a maritime power, that for centuries has employed the concept of ‘Freedom of the Seas’ to its own advantage and to the disadvantage of peoples who are struggling towards it. This supremacy at sea that England possesses must be shattered in this present war, if Great Germany is to have value as a world power. We can no longer allow it to happen that, because it suits it to do so, a jealous and spiteful enemy bars us from the oceans of the world on a whim, by keeping the entrances to those oceans blockaded. If we manage now to open up the way for our overseas trade, then we must for the foreseeable future keep ourselves so strong that no power in the world can prevent us any more from conducting a peaceful exchange of goods with foreign nations who also maintain a merchant fleet. The position of strength, which will allow us to achieve this, lies however in the provision of a navy, which commands, respect.
Not everyone is convinced of this concept, and it is vital that it becomes part of the common assumptions of the German people that the best protection for their own house and home is for them to be a strong sea-power. So we must give prominence to thoughts of the sea, and keep drilling them into the people. If we intend to be a world power, for good or for ill we must concern ourselves with the high seas, for to be a world power is impossible without sea-power.
I hope that the following reflections on my experiences during the world war may contribute to the deepening of this concept of the sea; I am directing them mainly towards the young people who will one day be called to take charge of our splendid modern ships.
If I usually give talks about my experiences on U-boats during the world war, it is because I hope that I can make this theme that has so often been spoken about somewhat more interesting by means of personal reminiscences. Reading about warships is one thing; to hear first-hand accounts from people who were there at the time is a quite different matter. One can also embellish the account with details, which are suitable for depicting to the audience the realities of life on board and at sea.
As I said earlier, during the World War I was a submariner, and experienced the war at sea on these boats from their earliest beginnings. One could say a lot about this; but if one takes stock of ones memories, it is important to concentrate on what is worth passing on to the young people who would also like to go to sea.
At the end of 1914 I volunteered to join the U-boat arm from my ship of the line the SMS “Kaiserin”. I found my boat still being constructed in the shipyard. It didn’t give the impression that it would be much use in the war against England. The boat lay on a slip; its outer shape was already recognizable, and the innards were in the throes of being installed in the pressure hull by speedy hands. Everything was moving fast; the moving of the engines from the workshops into the boat and the installing of the same in the overall whole followed one another quickly. It was impressive to see how everything, part by part, fitted into its proper place as intended and according to a clear plan. How reliably all the individual pieces are assembled becomes in certain situations at the front-line a matter of life or death for the crew and a matter of survival for the boat.
My opinion was confirmed that the high level of technical knowledge of our engineers and specialists and the reliability of the workforce even at the stage of building the submarines are plainly responsible for the achievements that have been accomplished by this branch of the services.
The time came for the completion of the boat, and with it the first tests of the engines and of the diving characteristics.
The arrangements and preparations for that do not belong here. The taking of the crew on board soon followed, and one day the hour came for the commissioning of the boat. It is not generally understood by laymen that the commissioning of a ship newly-built specially for service at the front is always a festive affair. With the hoisting of the flag the ship becomes a warship and constitutes a unit in the fleet. Every man of the crew longs for the day of the commissioning to come as soon as possible, for he knows that he then has a real ship under his feet, to which he belongs and to which he feels tied whether in life or in death.
Now the time has arrived for the crew to be made familiar with the equipment in the new boat. Both officers and men have to be at their allotted position in the shortest possible time and to know the functions of all the equipment both immediately to hand and further away as well. Every handgrip must be practised in order to be able to avert imminent danger away from the ship. In order to train the crew as thoroughly as possible and to demonstrate the probable effects of an attack a good deal of role-playing exercises take place on board ships. Among these the crew need to be clear about the steps that need to be taken (both on the surface and when dived) for practising getting rid of damage caused by an influx of water or sustained as a result of an enemy attack. Both officers and men need, in short, to be so familiar with the ship that they can successfully help out in the event of real emergencies. This includes knowing about the construction and parts of the ships in all the various compartments, and emergency equipment for dealing with gas, fire and leaks. For what is the use, when the alarm “Fire on board” is called they can’t lay hands on the extinguisher, or in the event of a leak, on the means of stopping it. Their reactions in emergencies must be quick and circumspect, and that can only happen with a crew that even in their sleep knows where to find the equipment to deal with emergencies, and how to handle it appropriately.
The most important thing of all in the training of the crew of a submarine always remains the diving-manoeuvre. Here, the target to aim at must always be perfection in carrying out the manoeuvre in safety and reliability, in the case of every single man involved in the diving-manoeuvre. Depending on circumstances boat and crew stand or fall on the efficiency of the dive. It is possible to take the boat below the surface in two minutes or even in a substantially shorter time; but it would be wrong to make it one’s ambition to want to take the diving-manoeuvre to the point where the running of the boat could not guarantee the boat’s immunity from serious dangers. Emergency manoeuvres must be kept for situations of the most serious danger, when there really is a need for them. When the boat is under enemy attack, in grave danger, and must be taken under water in the shortest possible time, in my experience, with a good crew, the boat can be taken from ‘diesels running’ to periscope depth in 45 seconds or less. But as already mentioned, that is an emergency manoeuvre only, only to be resorted to in the face of the likelihood of being rammed by the enemy, or suddenly coming under fire, or something similar. It should not be regarded as normal.
After the commissioning and extensive diving practices, and after further testing of the boat’s diving characteristics, there very soon followed the ‘sea-worthiness test’, in other words the test of readiness for going to sea and of the operational state of the boat.
The crew in the meantime had settled in properly and stowed their essential kit in their small but adequate lockers. If the objection is made, that everything on board is so confined that living space is inadequate and so on, that is only to be expected. Certainly the space would be too confined if anyone wanted to bring on board a piano rather than a mouth organ, or half his worldly possessions. That is not what a submarine is like.