Top 5 Facts: U-boat trivia

1. Pack hunter – U-boats were famous for hunting targets in groups known as ‘wolf packs’, which would engage the enemy as a single deadly unit, much like the animal namesake.

2. Veteran – While U-boats were at their most numerous and advanced during World War II, early versions were used in World War I too, sinking many a military and civilian ship.

3. Breaking the rules – Despite the 1919 Treaty of Versailles forbidding the construction of submarines, by the start of World War II Germany already had 65 U-boats, with 21 battle-ready.

4. Atlantic standoff – U-boats were most heavily used in the Battle of the Atlantic, a campaign to seize control over supply routes to and from America that lasted throughout World War II.

5. Lone survivor – The only VII-C U-boat that remains intact today is model U-995. This vessel is on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial in Schleswig- Holstein, Germany.