NATIONAL SUBMARINE DAY - April 11

Interesting. I did not know that and it's my name-sake. I was aware that yesterday marked a memorable day in Submarine History. Namely the loss of the Thresher.

The role of submarines in World War Two is very well-known, and misunderstood on so many levels. The "master narrative" we are taught is that Germany ruthlessly used submarines in an unrestricted campaign against merchant shipping that nearly won them the war. That story is correct, but relates to German submarine use in the First, rather than the Second World War.

Germany started the First World War with a small, but well-trained submarine force and used it initially according to the laws of maritime war, which required surfacing, firing a warning shot and then assisting merchant crews to evacuate their vessel prior to sinking or capture. This didn't work very well, and in early 1915 Germany instituted "unrestricted" submarine warfare; sinking vessels without surfacing or signaling and firing at both combatant and non-combatant vessels. The UK was within 14 days of surrender as the "U Boat Menace" was unstoppable. Sonar had yet to be invented (debuted in 1917) and by 1916 Germany had more than enough modern boats and experienced crews to essentially strangle Britain's imports including the all-important importation of food.

It was only the sinking of the Lusitania and a warning by the still neutral United States to knock it off (with a threat of reprisal) that caused Germany to back down, and then the introduction of sonar brought with it effective anti-submarine warfare technology and the threat was greatly reduced.

World War Two did see a powerful maritime nation essentially starved to death by aggressive and unrestricted use of submarines, but it wasn't the Germans starving the British, it was the Americans starving the Japanese. We learned very well from the German campaign in the last war and sunk anything and everything that wasn't on a known allied route at a known time, including more than a few accidental friendly fire incidents sinking our own vessels, but it was American submarines and their crews more than any other weapon or force that defeated Imperial Japan. Our submarines are the reason they had no fuel or ammunition by the end of the war.

Interesting that I have never heard of "National Submarine Day" and served on them for over 20 years.