German Submarine U-1105 ‘Black Panther’ – The Naval Archaeology of a U-Boat by Aaron Stephan Hamilton, provides an invaluable resource for anyone interested in U-Boat technology and history.
Improved anti-submarine warfare technology and strategies developed by the Allies forced Germany to alter its tactical approach in its war on Allied shipping and inspired technical innovations that proved to be the forerunners of devices used by submarine building nations after World War II. The U-1105 was one of the most advanced submarines of its time, employing a snorkel device that greatly extended the time a submarine could remain submerged, a rubber coating that greatly hindered detection by Allied sonar and its own sonar device that enabled it to detect Allied vessels while still submerged.
Hamilton’s extensive research is evident as he provides highly detailed technical explanations of both the challenges faced by submarines and the solutions devised by German scientists and sub designers. Fortunately for those of us who are not engineers, Hamilton provides lucid and easily accessible explanatory text that is greatly enhanced by drawings, charts and photographs. The design, development and testing of snorkel devices, the Alberich rubber coating and the GHG Balkon sonar device were of great interest to US, British and Russian scientists after the war and Hamilton provides a highly readable history of the people involved in investigating the U-1105 after the war.
Hamilton relates the history of U-1105’s deployment, its lone combat patrol and eventual surrender on May 9, 1945. This is followed by an interesting and sometimes humorous chapter on the British efforts to evaluate the sub and its technology.
The U-1105 was eventually brought to the US where it was repeatedly sunk, raised and sunk for a final time as the result of detonation testing. An enduring mystery surrounding the ship is why the US bothered to sail the U-1105 across the Atlantic under greatly hazardous conditions, only to use it as an explosives test bed. The US performed no technological testing and it was not until 1980 that US subs were equipped with Alberich-like anti-detection technology.
This is not at all a technical “dry as dust” history, as Hamilton does an excellent job of factoring the human element into his story and his accounts of the people involved in this sub’s history are both entertaining and at times touching.
Currently the U-1105 wreck is a recognized archaeological site and a dive site; once again Hamilton provides a wonderfully detailed account of both the science and current diving opportunities. A marvelous feature is a series of color photographs cross referenced to a schematic drawing of the sub.
Appendices include U-1105’s technical specifications, a WWII crew list and a chronological history.
This is a book that should satisfy both the casual reader and those especially interested in understanding the technological aspects of submarine warfare. Another fine Osprey publication.
