Underwater war

Assets of the submarine

The Sous-marin of attack profits from considerable tactical advantages:

the discretion which enables him to be the only one to be able to penetrate in a zone controlled by the adversary;
the notice , because he is generally prevented presence of unfavourable units good before those cannot detect it;
the power of striking of the torpedes and the missiles with change of medium.

The submarines generally act in an independent way because the co-operation with other units is not very compatible with the discretion which constitutes their principal asset.

Types of underwater operations

The submarines of attack can receive three types of missions:

Offensive operations

against the commercial traffic of the adversary in a strategy of naval blockade, strategy employed by the Germans during the two world wars around British Isles and by the Americans, during the second world war in the Pacific against the Japanese;
against the enemy naval forces.

Defensive operations

The submarines are laid out in sectors which constitute stoppings off friendly coasts, straits which the adversary must borrow or to protect a zone from operation. Thus the allied submarines had been laid out with the entries of the English Channel in protection of the unloading of Normandy. If the underwater threat is particularly strong, it can prohibit a zone with a fleet of surface or to leave the port ( strategy of prohibition), like showed it the British underwater forces during the war of the Falklands with the torpedoing of the Argentinian Croiseur " Belgrano ", thus protecting their zone from operation.

Special operations

Unloading or recovery of agents or commandos in hostile zone, damping of mines, monitoring and recognition of enemy coasts.

History of the underwater war

See too

Underwater
Sonar

Random links: