Presentation given for Military Geography, Google Earth component not uploadable here.

1. Military Geography
Submarines
Geo 4950
Dr. Fahrer
by
Jeff Bahls
This is a dual presentation using Google Earth as well.
I will attempt to answer all questions, however; some items may be classified and I will not
discuss in detail those items.

2. Scope of Submarine Geography
• In this presentation use of Google Earth is
employed to show spatial relations between
states and topography of ocean floors
• While used in WWI, submarine warfare
developed dramatically during WWII
– Will give States, Statistics, Base Locations
• The Cold War saw many developments as well
– Submarine Warfare Tactics from WWII to present
• Present Day Fleets

3. WWII Submarine (United States)
USS Billfish SS-286
Note the Cannon
Note the Bow

4. WWII Submarine (German)
U-853
It was not
until after
WWII that
subs were
designed to
run
submerged
vice
surfaced as
you see
here.

5. United States Submarine Readiness
• On December 7th, 1941 there were twenty one submarines attached to
the U.S. Pacific Fleet based in Pearl Harbor. Following the attack, the
American submarine fleet received at 4:00pm on the afternoon of 7
December 1941 orders issued by Admiral Harold Stark, the Chief of Naval
Operations, for all available boats to immediately put to sea and for those
already underway to conduct "unrestricted submarine warfare" against
anything Japanese.: The United States, by calling for unrestricted
submarine warfare, officially renounced article 22 of the London Naval
Treaty of 1930 which formally spelled out the guidelines and procedures
that a submarine was required to follow when attacking an enemy non
combatant vessel. When the war began, U.S. submarines had no RADAR
(Radio and Detection Ranging) but by August of 1942 an air search system
(the SD) and the first surface search RADAR system (the SJ) was installed
aboard a US submarine. By early 1943, the US had begun limited use of a
proven cooperative attack tactic known as "wolf-packing".

6. Another Problem: Torpedoes
• Torpedo problems plagued the fleet submarine throughout much of the
war, but the early years proved to be the most trying time for sub skippers
regarding the ordnance they carried. Malfunctioning torpedoes were
reported by boat captains from the onset of hostilities and the response
from BuOrd was always the same: The weapons were fine, it was the
crew's inabilities that were to blame. History has proven otherwise.
• US fleet submarines went into battle armed with the MK XIV steam
torpedoes which were equipped with the MK VI influence exploder. The
design behind the exploder was to allow the torpedo to detonate within
the magnetic field under the keel of the target boat, effectively breaking
the ship's back.

7. Submarine Tactics Offensive
• German Flotilla's commander, Kapitan sur Zee Karl Donitz, was a
firm believer in the value of the submarine.
• Tactics
If Donitz had been frustrated in his hopes of priority being given
to the U-boat arm, he had, undeterred, given considerable
attention to the development of effective tactics. At this time
the submarine was considered irrelevant by many in naval
circles, especially in the British Royal Navy, but also in some
quarters of the German Naval High Command. The submarine, it
was argued, was too slow, and too easily detected by the
British ultra-sonic detection device known as "asdic". As late as
1937, the British Admiralty declared that the submarine would
never again be a major threat. Donitz did not share this belief.

8. Submarine Tactics Offensive
Video-WWII-TVC10B
Start 40 sec in to end

9. Submarine Tactics Offensive
• Tactics
The tactics he and his team developed had four basic ideas.
Previously, submarine commanders had been taught to attack at a range of
at least one and a half miles. This, it was believed, would minimize the risk of
detection by asdic, but it also demanded the expenditure of a full salvo of
torpedoes in order to achieve a great enough "spread", with a very poor
standard of accuracy.
Donitz, reasoning that there was no proof that the "asdic" detection system
was actually as effective as had been claimed, ordered his commanders to
close in to about 550 yards before attacking. This had the major advantage
of increased the chances of obtaining more than one hit with a salvo of four
torpedoes. During the war some U-boat commanders like the "ace", Otto
Kretschmer, would develop this tactic to the point of actually sailing into the
middle of convoys and picking out the best targets.
This employed the use of Point and Shoot Torpedos

10. Submarine Tactics Offensive
• Tactics
Donitz also adopted the tactic of night-time surface attacks.
Indeed his U-boats generally only submerged to evade the
enemy or escape adverse weather conditions. A U-boat on the
surface, especially at night, presented a very small target, and
both speed and endurance were significantly greater than
when operating submerged.
(Submarines of this era ran much faster on the surface via
the diesel engine, instead of submerged off of the battery.)
Although U-boats sometimes used gunfire to sink merchant
ships, mainly to economize on their stock of torpedoes, the
latter, so far as Donitz was concerned, remained their chief and
most effective weapon. Certainly he impressed on his
commanders the need to avoid surface combat, in which the U-
boat's pressure hull was fatally vulnerable to even one hit.

11. Submarine Tactics Offensive
• Tactics
The tactic with which Donitz is usually most closely associated is the
"wolf pack" attack. This had in fact first been suggested during World
War I, but it was left to Donitz to refine and put it into practice. As it
eventually evolved, the tactic called for a group of U-boats to be
spread out across the anticipated path of a convoy. During daylight
hours they would sail towards the convoy, usually at about 10 knots,
whilst after dusk, in order not to miss their target in the darkness, they
would turn and sail in the same direction as the convoy. The first U-
boat to spot the convoy would signal its position to U-boat
headquarters, and send out homing signals to assemble the rest of the
pack. When the attack actually began, each commander would be left
to decide his own tactics. The original wide spread of the pack meant
that continuous attacks were often mounted for several days as fresh
U-boats came up with the convoy.

12. TOTAL MERCHANT SHIP LOSSES - SEPTEMBER 1939 to AUGUST 1945
Number of British, Allied, Total Gross Registered
Location
neutral ships Tonnage
North Atlantic 2,232 11,900,000 tons
South Atlantic 174 1,024,000 tons
UK waters 1,431 3,768,000 tons
Mediterranean 413 1,740,000 tons
Indian Ocean 385 1,790,000 tons
Pacific Ocean 515 1,348,000 tons
Causes in order of
Number of British, Allied, Total Gross Registered
tonnage sunk
neutral ships Tonnage
1. Submarines 2,828 14,686,000 tons
4. Aircraft 820 2,890,000 tons
2. Mines 534 1,406,000 tons
5. Other causes 632 1,030,000 tons
6. Raiders 133 830,000 tons
3. Warships 104 498,000 tons
7. Coastal forces 99 230,000 tons

13. Wolf packing / Sea Routes / Convoys
start – stop at 1:20 start at 2:10 to end
Video-WWII-TVC10C

14. United States Became Just as Effective!

15. Anti-Submarine Warfare (Defensive)

16. Defense Against U-Boats
Video-WWII-TVC10P
Start to 1:30 and 3:00 to end

17. Defense Against U-Boats
Video-WWII-TVC10J
Start :35 to :50

18. Convoy Routes
(U.S.)

19. Convoy Routes (Soviet)

20. U-Boat Bunkers
• Geography Question: Why would the
Germans build bunkers in other countries?
• (Show Google Earth)

21. German U-Boat Bunkers
U-Boat Bunkers in Germany, 1939 - 1941
Roof
Location Name Size (m) No. of Docks Capacity When Constructed
Thickness
Hamburg Elbe II 137 x 62 3 0 dry, 2 wet = 2 6 boats Dec 1940 - 1941
Hamburg Fink II 151 x 153 3.6 0 dry, 5 wet = 5 15 boats Mar 1941 - 1944
Heligoland Nordsee II 156 x 88 3 0 dry, 3 wet = 3 9 boats Jan 1940 - Jun 1943
Kiel Kilian 176 x 79 4.8 0 dry, 2 wet = 2 12 boats Nov 1941 - Nov 1943
Kiel Konrad 163 x 35 3.5 1 dry, 0 wet = 1 5 boats Apr 1943 - Oct 1944
Bremen Hornisse 362 x 68 4.5 Mar 1944 (incomplete)
Bremen Valentin 450 x 100 7.3 Feb 1943 (incomplete)

22. German U-Boat Bunkers
U-Boat Bunkers in France, 1941 - 1944
Roof
Location Name Size (m) No. of Docks Capacity When Constructed
Thickness
10 dry, 5 wet =
Brest - 192 x 333 6.2 20 boats Jan 1941 - Jul 1942
15
Lorient Dom 81 x 16 1.5 2 dry, 0 wet = 2 2 boats Feb 1941 - May 1941
Scorff 129 x 51 3.5 0 dry, 2 wet = 2 4 boats Apr 1941 - Aug 1941
Keroman I 403 x 146 3.5 5 dry, 0 wet = 5 5 boats Mar 1941 - Sep 1941
Keroman II 403 x 146 3.5 7 dry, 0 wet = 7 7 boats May 1941 - dec 1941
Keroman
168 x 142 7.5 5 dry, 2 wet = 7 13 boats Oct 1941 - Jul 1943
III
Keroman
160 x 130 7 4 dry, 1 wet = 5 24 boats Jul 1943 (incomplete)
IVa
Keroman
95 x 150 7 3 dry, 0 wet = 3 (incomplete)
IVb
8 dry, 6 wet =
St. Nazaire - 291 x 124 7 20 boats Mar 1941 - Jan 1942
14
7 dry, 3 wet =
La Pallice - 195 x 165 7.3 13 boats Apr 1941 - Mar 1943
10
7 dry, 4 wet =
Bordeaux - 232 x 160 5.6 15 boats Sep 1941 - May 1943
11
Unknown = 13
Marseille Martha ??? x 230 Unknown 20 boats Jan 1943 (incomplete)
total

23. German U-Boat Bunkers
U-Boat Bunkers in Norway, 1941 – 1944
Roof
Location Name Size (m) No. of Docks Capacity When Constructed
Thickness
Bergen Bruno 131 x 143 6 3 dry, 3 wet = 6 9 boats Nov 1941 - Jul 1944
Trondheim Dora I 153 x 105 3.5 3 dry, 2 wet = 5 7 boats Apr 1941 - Jul 1943
Dora II 167 x 102 3.5 2 dry, 2 wet = 4 6 boats Jan 1942 (imcomplete)

24. Cold War Games
Geographically what is the significance of this view?

25. Submarine Tactics Have Changed
Since WWII technology increased the capabilities of submarines as well as their roles.
During this time the United States developed the concept of Triad Defense. Land based
nuclear missiles, Long range bombers, and Ballistic Missile Submarines.
To this end Fast Attack Submarines served to protect Ballistic Submarines as well as
surface fleets. This included sending attack submarines deep into the enemies ports as
well as playing hide-n-go-seek with enemy submarines. (Tell story)
Nuclear reactors enabled submarines to only be limited to the amount of food they can
carry for their crews.
Also new and improved Defensive Systems for ASW warfare were developed.
With all of these developments the main defense for a submarine remains the same
today as it did in WWII, to remain undetected. Thus the Submarine Service, with all of
its secrecy is called the Silent Service.

26. A Sub at Periscope Depth Can be Seen
from the Air

27. Soviet and U.S. Tensions
• The USS Baton Rouge, a Los Angeles class nuclear attack
submarine and the Russian Sierra class submarine collided
at 20:16 Moscow time, at 69o38.7' North and 33o46.9'
East, roughly 4.7 miles from the line connecting
Tsypnavolok Cape and Kildin Island (see map below). The
US Navy stated that the collision occurred more than 12
miles from the shore, at a location in international waters.
However, Russia uses a different set of rules for defining
the boundary between territorial and international
waters, and the Russian rules put the collision site inside
their territorial waters.

28. Recall Google
Earth location

29. SOSUS Array – Submarine Acoustic Detection
Pictured here is the
1st SOSUS Array net.
Later in the Cold
War, every port or
geographic choke
point would be lined
with Arrays.
Note Base locations
from Google Earth

30. Thermoclines / Sound Channels
How a submarine uses
the ocean itself to hide.
Factors include: salinity,
temperature and depth.
This concept is why it is
NOT necessary for a sub
to go thousands of feet
deep.
How could geographic
concepts by applied?

31. Soviet “Fishing Trawler” Spy Ship

32. ASW – P3 Orion Aircraft

33. Components of Submarine Warfare
Detection

34. Characteristics
According to the U.S. government, the top speed of Los Angeles-class
submarines is over 25 knots (46 km/h, 29 mph), although the precise
maximum is classified. Government sources give the maximum operating
depth as 650 feet (200 m).
The two diagrams are
roughly an accurate size
comparison
The government cites the same
characteristics for the Ohio Class

35. Ohio and Los Angeles Class’s Side by Side

36. Moving Havens
Example of SSN Patrol – called
Delousing
Example:
5 Miles
Route of SSBN
Example: 10 Miles

37. Geographic Question
• What could be the Geographic component of
a Ballistic Missile Submarine? (Think globally).

38. Ballistic Missile Submarine

39. Ballistic Missile Submarine

40. 4) After breaking the surface of the waves, the missile
continues being propelled vertically by the plume of steam
another 50 feet above the ocean’s surface where the first
stage rocket fires
3) The steam surrounds each missile rapidly shooting it
towards the surface of the ocean which is approximately 100
feet above the top of the sub
2) A separate rocket motor at the base of each silo fires
instantaneously boiling the water in the bottom of the
launch tube, creating huge volumes of steam
1) During the firing sequence, the hatch door on top of the
submarine is opened exposing the domed shape of the
Trident Missile nose section

41. s
Submerged Missile
Launch Basics
• 1. The missile launches out of its silo by firing its 1st stage boost motor (A).
• 2. About 60 seconds after launch, the 1st stage drops off and the 2nd stage motor
(B) ignites. The missile shroud is ejected.
• 3. About 120 seconds after launch, the 3rd stage motor (C) ignites and separates
from the 2nd stage.
• 4. About 180 seconds after launch, 3rd stage thrust terminates and the Post-
Boost Vehicle (D) separates from the rocket.
• 5. The Post-Boost Vehicle maneuvers itself and prepares for re-entry vehicle (RV)
deployment.
• 6. The RVs, as well as decoys and chaf, are deployed during backaway. f
• 7. The RVs and chaff re-enter the atmosphere at high speeds and are armed in
flight.
• 8. The nuclear warheads detonate, either as air bursts or groundbursts.

42. U.S. Attack Submarine

43. Mark 48 Torpedo
No more the point and shoot torpedo:
Wire guided like a video game.
Several automatic search patterns.

44. What One Mk-48 can do

45. Akula Class Soviet Attack Submarine

46. Typhoon Class Soviet Submarine

47. Citations
• Brandt, P., Alpers, W. & Backhaus, J. O., (1996), Study of the generation and
propagation of internal waves in the Strait of Gibraltar using a numerical model
and synthetic aperture radar images of the European ERS 1 satellite, J.
Geophys. Res., 101, 14237-14252.
• Defense and Arms Control Studies Program at M.I.T., Winter 92/93, v. 2, # 2, pp
19-24.
• Handler, J., "Russia’s Pacific Fleet -- Submarine Bases and Facilities," Jane's
Intelligence Review, April 1994, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 166-171. Maryland.
• Polmar, N., (1986), Guide to the Soviet Navy, Fourth Edition, United States
Naval Institute, Annapolis.
• Roscoe, T., (1949), United States Submarine Operations in World War
II, Theodore Roscoe US Naval Institute.
• Williamson, G., and Pavlovic, D., (1945), U-Boat Crews, 1914-45, London.

48. Citations
• http://www.ecoocean.com/en/scientists/research/ViewResearch.aspx?rid=3
• http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5367/is_200810/ai_n31108684/
• http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/t/thresher.htm
• http://www.historynet.com/the-uss-scorpion-buried-at-sea.htm
• http://www.museumoffloridaart.org/legendaryflorida/1942.html
• http://www.museumoffloridahistory.com/exhibits/permanent/wwii/panel.cfm
?panel=3_1
• http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsAtlanticDev2.htm
• http://www.naval-history.net/WW2RN10-194106.htm
• http://navsource.org/archives/08/pdf/0873924.pdf
• http://www.navy.mil/navydata/ships/lists/homeport.asp
• http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_25/sosus.htm
• http://www.uboataces.com/articles-uboat-bunker.shtml