Figure 1.--Bremen is a major German port. During World War II it was an impoortant center of U-boat construction and repair. This is what it looked like at the end of the War. Germany's U-bboat construction program required an jndustrial effortcomparabble to the 47,000 tanks built during the War. Without the war in the West, Germany could have easily matched Soviet tank production.

The Kriegsmarine was the junior German service in World War II. It involved a small fraction of German manpower. Unlike Ostheer, however, building the KM's ships required an enormous industrail effort. And these ships, bith surface vessels and U-boats required huge quantities of steel and other critical materials, especially copper. And virtually all of this effort was devoted to the war in the West. Take just the battleshio Bismarck. While Bismarck was one of the largest of the German surtface ships, there werte other battle ships,m battle cruisers, and heavy cruisers. Abd the German surface and U-Boat fleets required a major iundustrial commitment. They were competing against the British Royal Navy and the United States Navy--with far greater resources for the vital struggle for control of the North Atlanic sea lanes. Bismarck had a displacemrnt of 50,000 tons. The mainstay of the German armored force were the Mark IIIs and IVs which weighed about 25 tons. The Bismarck alone was enough steel and other critcal materials to build 2,000 Panzer Mark IIIs. The Germans built less than 6,000 during the War. The Mark IV was only slightly heavier and produced in slightly larger numbers--about 8,500. An amateur historian points out, "In 1942, the Soviets built 15 warships- submarines and destroyers and torpedo boats. Germans built nine destroyers and torpedo boats, and 222 submarines. That many submarines is worth more than 800 million Reichsmarks of industrial effort, as much money as another 8,000 Panzer III’s." [Arslan] And 1942 is the year that the War was decided on the Eastern front. Of course the primary naval vessel built by the Germans during the War was the U-boat. There were several types of U-boats, but an average tonnage would be about 900 tons nd the Germans built some 1, 150 U-boats. That would mean over 40,000 Mark III and IV tanks. Thatt is very close to the 47,000 tanks the Germans built during the War. The point being that while relatively small in manpower terms, the Germans had to devote huge resources to the Kriregsmarine, almost exclusively to fight the war in the West. Without the naval war in the West, the Germans could have easily doubled their tank production. approaching the level of Soviet tank production..

Sources

Arslan, Cem. Internet post (Septenber 13, 2020).

Created: 2:39 AM 1/18/2021
Last updated: 2:39 AM 1/18/2021