Hell Below is an event-based series charting the stealth game of sub sea warfare, tracking the dramatic narrative from contact to attack of the greatest submarine patrols of World War II. The Rudeltaktik aka wolfpack tactic was made famous by Admiral Karl Dönitz, Hitler's mastermind of submariners. His strategy: to send teams of U-boats to bear against the convoys of ships heading from Canada to Britain, cut maritime lifelines, and starve the enemy into defeat. Take a deep dive into the North Atlantic as we go above and below sea level to relive one of the first attacks of Dönitz's lethal subs in 1940, headed by leader of the pack Commander Otto Kretschmer. Then follow Britain's war strategists as they race to combat this new deadly attack.

@MasterCedar

27 күн бұрын

There is not a lot of use in putting a link to part two while making part two a "private" video.

@stephend4909

27 күн бұрын

@@MasterCedar Yes there is. hehehe.

@lawrenceleverton7426

24 күн бұрын

Give the Credit for this series to Smithsonian Channel. Come on give credit where credit is due. Not once was that mentioned.

@FreeDocumentaryHistory

23 күн бұрын

@@lawrenceleverton7426 credits roll

My grandfather, a WW II battleship sailor, was close friends with his neighbor, who was a German WW2 U-Boat sailor, and he was the friendliest, kindest, man I remember knowing as a kid. Albert was his name.

@mattmatt6572

22 күн бұрын

Most the individual soldiers be it japs or Germans or any are just doing their jobs and caught up in the moment. Many American soldiers have also perpetrated many evils under such pretense. I am absolutely positively anti war. Unfortunately that seems quite impossible as long as this world turns.

@raganusmc

18 күн бұрын

That's kinda cool I would have loved to hear the stories from Big bolth of them it's funny that two people who where out to kill each other where friends

@tyronevaldez-kruger5313

12 күн бұрын

​@@raganusmc it's unfunny that war is between government's old farts who send soldiers to kill each other. They lean back and don't have to pull the trigger

@zpetar

7 күн бұрын

Why he wouldn't be friendly, kind man... Wars are started by country leadership. For huge majority of people 1st choice would be always peace. That German was drafted without anyone asking him if he really wants to do it.

Those U Boat captains and crews were fearless warriors for sure and deadly opponents .

@desertdetroiter428

27 күн бұрын

Not really.

@RandalSiggson

26 күн бұрын

Cunning plus far ruthless come terror, plus the stouth fullness is key. British slang terms the U-boats need to be recharged with above the surface of the ocean. The full force is the key provided the main battery keep the wolf pack submerged for hours the sub will sink or be discharged an destroyed....

@SolidAvenger1290

25 күн бұрын

@@desertdetroiter428 Back then, most of our relatives would strongly disagree with you. Winston Churchill and many Allied leaders feared that Germany would reach 300 U-boats during WW2 to finally choke the British Isles. The same fearless warriors from Battleship Bismark to the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper were also in the surface fleet. Germany's naval power went beyond Europe and did have some ships in Australia that did hurt Allied shipping

@martcon6757

24 күн бұрын

They absolutely were, extremely brave men. It was only due to the actions of America during the Laconia incident that they were ordered to cease assisting survivors.

@desertdetroiter428

24 күн бұрын

@@martcon6757 Lol…”brave men.”

My grandfather, Earl Lee Bradner, was Chief Mate on the S.S. Margaret, a Merchant ship that was torpedoed off of Cape Hatteras by U571, Captained by Helmut Mohlmann, on April 14, 1942. None of the 29 crew members were ever found. They were carrying a cargo of sugar. This happened way before I was even a thought to my parents, so I never met him.

best Uboat war documentary

Wolfpacks required extensive radio communication to coordinate the attacks. This left the U-boats vulnerable to a device called the High Frequency Direction Finder (HF/DF or Huff-Duff), which allowed Allied naval forces to determine the location of the enemy boats transmitting and attack them.

@gaborrajnai6213

20 күн бұрын

Yeah, thatshow the Germans found the convoys as well. That circle shaped thing on the conning tower was a directional finding antenna. But they monitored radio traffic in antennas all around the Atlantic coast as well. If two of those towers catched the transmission of a convoy ship they could find its position, and since they made their tranmission periodically, they could determine the convoy's speed and course as well. Then they sent out a U boat to investigate, which generally submerged and listened for the propeller noises, which could be catched sometimes 100 km afar, so he could calculate the exact position and course of the convoy. Then after chasing it down and identified tit the U boot called in the wolfpack. Then the sub generally shadowed the convoy for a few hours till the other subs got into position. During the attack phase one sub launched its torps which got the attention of the escorts who moved away hunting for it, then the other subs teared apart the remaining merchant ships. As of Kretchmer, he didnt sink his prey at first shot, but damaged it enough that since it was slower it had to move out of the convoy, then he simply finished it off with his deckgun.

I served 2 years on board the USS Toledo SSN-769, 96 - 98..i cant imagine what it was like to serve on those old disel boats undwr those conditions and stress

@beeman2075

10 күн бұрын

Did you enjoy your time serving on USS Toledo? Thanks for your service. SmarterEveryDay did a great video series of a day onboard that submarine that I found fascinating to watch. The meals especially look very good quality.

@Medrun

10 күн бұрын

@@beeman2075 Looking back i wouldnt trade it for anything.

@beeman2075

9 күн бұрын

@@Medrun Thanks for replying, and glad to hear you enjoyed your time on board Toledo.

Excellent documentary! Having served on a ballistic missile sub, I can only imagine the living conditions on u-boats and diesel subs. Nothing compares. 😲 THANK YOU so much for this bit of history and for giving me a different perspective.

My sailing instructor in West Germany had been a seamen on a u-boat during WWII. His wounds were such that he was sent to a rehabilitation hospital in Bavaria. He told me if he had not been wounded so severely, he would have been sent back and probably died in combat. At that time, circa 1972, I was not aware of the very high casualty rates of the Germany submarines.

A great salute to all soldiers, no matter they are German, British, French, US, Japanese,or whatsoever .... They all are brave men, heroes and patriots. They risk their lives, give up their ideals and dreams, fight for their country and their beliefs. Many of them ultimately died in the battlefields. 😢😢😭😭 Peace and no more wars.🤝🤝🙏🙏

Well done, but one comment from a retired Navy Chief Submariner- Depth Charges do NOT have to hit the submarine's hull to sink it (although BONUS if you do!). The point of Depth Charges is to generate an explosion of pressure that will damage or overcome what the submarine's hull pressure can withstand. So if a Type VIIC U-boat's hull would be able to withstand about 3,300 Pounds per Square Inch (PSI). If you get an average WW II Depth Charge to go off within 10 feet of her hull, the Depth Charge's explosion would generate about 10,000 PSI, and therefore, damage and perhaps even breach her hull. Just sayin....

The crew are truly heroes. Submarines are monsters under the ocean

I have been searching for this series for sooooo long. Thank you so much and keep posting. 👍

Great documentary! Thank you so much! 🙏 I'm glad this channel found me.

Excellent.Thanks for upload.

Thank you for uploading this amazing documentary

Great documentary. Thank you LOVE it.

Very interesting documentary, thanks for sharing.

Really enjoyed this documentary.

Excellent doccie! Thank you from Somerset West, South Africa. Esp. on D-Day..and I'm german. ☝️🇿🇦🇩🇪

Submarine-ers , I made the mistake of calling ww2 sub guys submariners twice in my years and got chastised both times. The first time the guy said something like , Aqua-man is a submariner , we are Sub Mariners. They weren’t kidding either.

I really like this program.I have a huge interest in submarines, regardless of when or whom the boats originally come from,this program starts off with German Uboats and it's early aces.Thank you for this show!!!

Very good presentation of the facts.

@keretaapiindonesia_

19 күн бұрын

I do agreee

What a good series!

I had a work colleague in the 70s he told me he was sunk three times he was in the merchant Navy in WW11 as a cook once you took to the lifeboat. His pay was stopped his mother knew something was wrong when her allotment stopped ,

@babuzzard6470

20 күн бұрын

How miserable is that, stopping a blokes pay because his ship was sunk.

Oh the old war days before bunker busters and drones

3/4s of all German submariners died in their submarines.

@benwilson6145

24 күн бұрын

The British Merchant Navy lost a higher percentage of its men than did the Royal Navy, the Royal Airforce or the Army

@asullivan4047

22 күн бұрын

Because Donitz refused to come to grips that the British broke the enigma code-!!!😉. It's called arrogant state of mind-!!!😳

@franc9111

18 күн бұрын

@@asullivan4047 That's not quite right. When the 'happy time' as the Germans called it came to an end, Dônitz did in fact have a hunch that his codes had been cracked, and they did try to change them. He went back to the those who had set up the enigma system to check with them that their system was still absolutely foolproof. They assured him that it was. For a short period of time the Germans also managed to crack the British Naval secret codes, but the Royal Navy realised what had happened and rectified it. A Royal Navy ship managed to recuperate an enigma machine and the codebooks from a surrendered U-boat without the Germans knowing. It was sent to Bletchley Park, but they had to be very careful about how they used the new information as of course they didn't want to give the game away.

@johannsebastianbach9003

6 күн бұрын

Most of these numbers where in late 43/44

Interesting/informative/entertaining. Excellent reenactments along with guest speakers contributing to accurate historical information-!!!🤗. Had Admiral Doenitz had 50 more U-boats. Perhaps Britain would have been starved into submission-???🤔. Excellent motion photography pictures of a actual ship sinkings-!!!😉.

Heart of gold,clear horizon

"Wow! The machines in this video are absolutely gigantic!"

Depth charges arebine of the most ingenious inventions of necessity.

The both of you make my anatomy pop

The struggle was real, I could just imagine what was going on through their mind and gut....damn

U-571 was ahead of its time.

U-Boats had a 75% loss rate. The highest of any German service. 30k submariners died, and 5k were captured out of 41k submariners. Do the math. One other thought, Donald McIntyre returned Otto Kretschmer's binoculars in 1955.

@ThunderStruck94660

25 күн бұрын

Yeah, that sucks.

@Haziq1992

23 күн бұрын

how many total U boat had been build ?

@thesunofkurdistan6521

23 күн бұрын

​@@Haziq19921100

@oswaldoramosferrusola5235

21 күн бұрын

A great gesture to an erstwhile deadly enemy!

Running silent running deep

@franc9111

18 күн бұрын

The U-boats weren't designed to go very deep, in fact their design was pretty outdated. A newer model was being built towards the end of the war, but by then it was too late. The shipyards got heavily bombed and even the U-boat pens made of reinforced concrete could be holed with a 'tallboy'.

Highly recommend the movie Greyhound featuring Tom Hanks. It's a great movie depicting the battles between war ships and u boats.

@FreeDocumentaryHistory

17 сағат бұрын

Yep. I've seen it. Excellent reco.

Best to fall asleep to

Superb video. Really informative 😊

Cool

Here’s a few books that I can recommend.. the U-boat Flotilla book set by Lawrence Paterson, U-boat Ace, the story of Wolfgang Lüth by Jordan Vause and The Real Cruel Sea by Richard Woodman.

@FreeDocumentaryHistory

26 күн бұрын

Thank you. Book recos are always welcome!

@amazer747

23 күн бұрын

Kretchmer's book is called "The Golden Horseshoe", which was U99s emblem.

Superb! History comes alive in this episode!

@davidc3839

23 күн бұрын

Yes, it was like watching the action through the computer.

Always love to think about what the sub crews go through when sunk and smile.

Bought this series off of i-tunes. Great series.

This same depiction was on black lagoon ❤

I sunk several boats in my lifetime, BF1 really made me a real man.

At least when they wake up, they will know where all their friends are. *Hope you get this reference because of the title of the video P.S. great video this is

I understand that the budget for these documentaries is always extremely low, but how much would it cost to give the actors a period haircut? Some students would probably do it for free. Maybe I'm asking too much. Even the movie Dunkirk had the actors with 21st century haircuts, which immediately didn't feel right. The characters have period uniforms, period weapons, period accessories, but just happen to visit modern barbers.

Such an old video, but only posted 4 days ago!

I know that Winston Churchill feared one thing the most and it was the U Boats. They are deadly to the enemy but also to the crew of the U Boats especially when most get destroyed and many sailors were killed. They are floating coffins!

@raymondtorres-gy8uj

26 күн бұрын

Sorry but i'm a lil bit confused with the last sentence you wrote bc i don't know who do you mean with," They're deadly to the enemy but also to the crew of the U Boats especialy when most get destroyer & many sailors were killed" That's just not making sence to me. 👍🙏

@ScoobyShotU

25 күн бұрын

It means it killed just as many germans as they did the enemy because the uboats by the end of the war were basically sitting ducks​@@raymondtorres-gy8uj

@davidc3839

23 күн бұрын

The crew called them 'iron coffins' - I'm I'm sure you know that. My father-in-law was a stoker on a convoy ship. He went above to get some fresh air and they were torpedoed. He was one of six people from his ship picked up. He was 19 and lived into his 90s - the need for a break and luck meant he survived. Many people were left in the sea because ships were now allowed to stop for survivors due to the risk of being torpedoed.

@WielkaStopa-qh1rr

21 күн бұрын

@@davidc3839 I've always somehow knew smoke break is very healthy

Later on in the war the allies had support groups to help the convoy escort beat off attacking U Boats. By 1943 a U Boat in Kretschmer’s situation in 1940 would have been toast? The allies had the strength to spare ships to pin down a U Boat until it either ran out of air, which would force it to surface, or until it was hunted to death.

Cool video, but could they have found a bigger cap for the guy ?

❤

75% sunk by 20% of the German captains can be attributed to fighting during “Happy Time” when defenses were lacking..not just the captains “taking it to the edge” like the historian says

Kretshmer sealed the fate of his fellow sub commander

man i need to play Silent Hunter 3 again!

Son of Carl Donest is a caption on U 99

You know you are an elite U-boat captain when you are as cold as a cucumber. lol

Imagine it's the dead of night in the middle of the Atlantic in a convoy and your sitting there smoking a cigarette, eating, sleeping or whatever having 0 idea about the wolfpack of U-Boats lurking beneath you. Absolutely not.

The grey potato is so very hungry…

Das Boot 1981 very good movie

Any one notice that the actor play the captain has a hat that is 2 sizes to big.

@smudgey1kenobey

25 күн бұрын

Exactly, poor guy!

@mattmatt6572

22 күн бұрын

That is due to head shrinkage from being down in the sub to long without resurfacing.

@LemonHead-sq5ws

22 күн бұрын

@@mattmatt6572haha niagah

@lawrenceleverton7426

21 күн бұрын

Typical of a pin head officer. The days of bad "Occifers" started with tail hook.

The man in the picture is admiral donitz Commander in chief i think first name karl Donitz Built the U-boat up and strategy 🐺 wolf pack

That's not Silent Otto. Later he became the Flotilla Admiral.

Brave

A good documentary really enjoyed it, but the music spoilt it for me

@mattmatt6572

22 күн бұрын

Good grief people are picky for a free film. If you don't like it don't watch. I like the music.

German U boats crew and captain serves their dutys like Japanese Kamakazi fighters, fearless and ambush enemy line.

😮😮😮

Cause a huge distraction

This German People its incredible for everething love this People hand în hand ❤❤❤❤❤❤ I die for hims

What are those triangular "teeth" on front of the U 99 for, was that standard equipment for a (German) submarine ? And what happened to Kretchmer's special binoculars, are they on display in a museum ?

@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684

13 күн бұрын

They were "net cutters" designed to allow the submarine to pass through underwater anti submarine netting. They were mostly removed early war as the chance of using them was negligible. Apart from U-47s attack on Scapa Flow in Oct 1939 that is.

@shaunmcclory8117

2 күн бұрын

The British capt. Met up with the German commander in the 1950's and returned them to him!!

Yeah ASDIC was pretty shtty equipment. Although Germans didnt know about the existence of thermal layers which simply reflects the soundwaves back to the surface, but they knew if the go deep enough they have a chance they wont be spotted on ASDIC, and it generally worked. Later in the cold war the thermoclines were utilized extensively by skippers to hide. And German submarines were fully aware if they were radared, their radio operators actually monitored the frequencies on which allied radars operated. The problem was that they couldnt shadow the convoy anymore on the surface to collect a wolfpack, because a radar would simply pick them up. On the other hand, if they would complete the snorkel ships in numbers and remain submerged, radar would have remained useless against them. Today the most effective weapon against a sub is another sub, surface shipping is almost powereless, they dont even know they are in the crosshairs until its too late.

These heroes, poor souls fighting for nothing , what can they do,

@don9733

23 күн бұрын

How about stop trying to conquer the world

Scholarly commentators

I've always wondered why the German wolf packs didn't attack the escorts first and destroy them and then the whole convoy would be vulnerable. Also, did hear that right, the Corvettes were 205 feet long and the type 7 was 218 feet long?

@Reignor99

Күн бұрын

I'm no expert but I heard the escorts zig-zagged around the edge of the formation to make themselves hard to torpedo. Plus the subs only had a few torpedoes and wanted to use them to sink the supplies instead of just sinking the relatively unimportant escorts.

Shame can’t watch the rest

Scariest service in military…. At least in the airforce you definitely hit the ground in one way or another…..there’s such a smaller chance of survival in a submarine accident or attack as compared to an aircraft.

Horrid way to die but its hard to feel sorry for Submariners. "1 torpedo- hundreds of merchant men dead and drowned"

@matteomaffei5519

11 күн бұрын

Guess it does apply to Allied submariners as well, yes?

As merchant seamen were the unsung heroes of the World Wars,you should feature them,instead of those who harm merchant seamen.

Why so many equipments i still dont understand ..so confusing and crew get easily stressed.. 😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

Δείτε την ταινία The Boat

@amazer747

23 күн бұрын

Das Boot - a very good movie which had authenttic action but spoit a little at he end by a fictious attack by single engined aircraft on the Uboat pens in La Rochelle.

Yeah, great accuracy -- not!! At only 0:16, Kretachmer sends a torpedo on its way with the command, "Feuer!" Shooting a torpedo was a pneumatic / electrical event -- no fire involved -- and the command used was "Los!" (Go!)

@mattmatt6572

22 күн бұрын

Make your own documentaries if you like. Oh what you don't want to put in all the hard work? Then shut your mouth about those who do.

@wordsmithgmxch

22 күн бұрын

@@mattmatt6572 A bit thin, the skin? No?

What's with the Bane mask? "Crashing this U-boat. With no survivors!"

Donitz asked for 300 U-Boats to begin the war with. Good thing the Kriegsmarine had gun complexes.

Can you make video about australia please ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

@lawrenceleverton7426

21 күн бұрын

Got to find a manned submarine first.

Lu all ,on peut m'expliquer pourquoi je dois croire que des sous-marins contre des navires marchand sont plus fort.....

were u-boat commanders hats always too huge for their heads or did the wardrobe department only have one hat?

@mattmatt6572

22 күн бұрын

It is common for submariners hats not to fit. If they spend to long at to deep without resurfacing they get head shrinkage.

We are not sub mariners , sir . Fair winds and following seas all my brothers of the deep on eternal patrol

6:00 not ‘literally’ a chess match

Fact that he says underwater bombs over and over again tells me that this is for an American audience

R.I.P Eric Grove.

Why didn't some one suss out that hey when we appear they there are waiting for us they have cracked our codes ???

@davidc3839

23 күн бұрын

The Germans were convinced that the enigma could not be cracked. They searched for spies within the Uboat headquarters - they did not look at the obvious and that cost them...luckily.

Looks like I'll watch Greyhound again to put the U-Boat back in its place. The bottom.

How much tonnage did the uboats miss, so they lost the war.

@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684

13 күн бұрын

Inspite of what is commonly believed over 90% of transatlantic convoys made it through unscathed. Though don't let the detract from the tens of thousands of merchant sailors who died horrible deaths to see that nazism was eventually defeated.

Hell Below is a pirated video from either the History or Discovery channel.

@lawrenceleverton7426

21 күн бұрын

Actually its "Smithsonian Channel" Video. Because I have 2 of the 3 Seasons of these. I questioned this the other day. I suspect a "Trademark Violation". He certainly cracked the infringement code. They put their Logo where the Smithsonian Channel Logo once was (ie Lower Right). And where the Smithsonian Channel credits were in the final roll, was over-layed with their hype on the next Episode. Either way, very good series. Thanks Smithsonian Channel. God Bless Submariners.

Im from america. I wish we spoke german. In stead we speak spanish. I wish things werent as they are.

We fought on the wrong side

@amazer747

23 күн бұрын

Who's we?

@user-io6pj8bz8h

23 күн бұрын

​@@amazer747Try critical thinking before posting.

@mattmatt6572

22 күн бұрын

Who is we you could be from any country idk? Or maybe you just talking bout "the royal we man"

@user-io6pj8bz8h

22 күн бұрын

@@mattmatt6572 Use critical thinking before posting.

@mattmatt6572

22 күн бұрын

Ok... so wich we are you talking about? Your family your country?? Wich side were you on?

Otto Krenchner not what you saying

Otto is a real legend….!!! His legacy will continue as long as life exists on earth.What a Commander..!!!