The term wolf pack refers to the mass-attack tactics against convoys used by U-boats of the Kriegsmarine during the Battle of the Atlantic and submarines of the United States Navy against Japanese shipping in the Pacific Ocean in World War II. A convoy is a group of vehicles or ships traveling together for mutual support. ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... The Kriegsmarine (or War Navy) was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945, during the Nazi regime, superseding the Reichsmarine. ... Combatants Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy United States Navy Kriegsmarine Regia Marina Commanders Sir Percy Noble Sir Max K. Horton Ernest J. King Erich Raeder Karl Dönitz Casualties 30,248 merchant sailors 3,500 merchant vessels 175 warships 28,000 sailors 783 submarines The Second Battle of the Atlantic... German UC-1 class World War I submarine A model of Gunter Priens Unterseeboot 47 (U-47), German WWII Type VII diesel-electric hunter-killer (SSK) submarine Inside of the Argonaute, showing the typical obstructed, tiny space of a post-WWII diesel attack submarine. ... USN redirects here. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead...

Karl Dönitz used the term Rudel to describe his strategy of submarine warfare – Rudel can be translated as "pack" of animals, but it also translates as herd, pride, or swarm, depending on the type of animal associated with the word, so this has become known in English as "wolf pack" (Wolfsrudel), a more accurate metaphoric, but not literal, translation. Karl Dönitz (IPA pronunciation:  ); September 16, 1891–December 24, 1980) was a German naval leader, famous for his command of the Kriegsmarine during World War II and for his twenty-day term as President of Germany after Adolf Hitlers suicide. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

U-boat movements were controlled by the Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote much more closely than American submarines, which were given tremendous independence once on patrol. Accordingly, U-boats usually patrolled separately, often strung out in co-ordinated lines across likely convoy routes, only being ordered to congregate after one located a convoy and alerted BdU, so a Rudel consisted of as many U-boats as could reach the scene of the attack. American wolf packs, usually comprised three boats that patrolled in close company, organized before they left port under the command of the senior captain of the three. "Swede" Momsen devised the tactics and led the first American wolf pack to sea in October 1943. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (September 16, 1891—December 24, 1980) was a naval leader in Nazi Germany during World War II. Despite never joining the Nazi Party, Dönitz attained the high rank of Grand Admiral (Großadmiral) and served as Commander in Chief of... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... Admiral Charles Momsen, USN Charles Bowers Swede Momsen (21 June 1896 _ 25 May 1967) was born in Flushing, New York. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ...

Wolf packs fell out of use during the Cold War; modern submarines being so much more maneuverable and destructive than those of World War II that there is no need for them to hunt in packs. Instead, the United States Navy deploys its attack submarines on individual patrols, with the exception of one or (rarely) two attack submarines in each carrier group. American ballistic missile submarines have always operated alone. (Soviet ballistic missile submarines operated in well-protected bastions.) However, with the opening shots of the 2003 invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the term "wolf pack" was brought back into use to describe the fleet of American and British nuclear submarines which operated together in the Red Sea to fire tomahawk missiles at Iraq. USS Providence was the first boat to fire its entire load of missiles and earn the nickname "Big Dog of the Red Sea Wolf Pack." For other uses, please see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... USN redirects here. ... This article regards the 2003 invasion of iraq. ... USS Los Angeles A submarine is a specialized watercraft that can operate underwater. ... Location of the Red Sea Image:Red Seaimage. ... The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile with stubby wings. ... USS Providence (SSN-719), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the fifth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Providence, Rhode Island. ...

References

• Karl Dönitz, Memoirs: Ten Years and Twenty Days (New York: World Publishing Company, 1958)

• Peter Maas, The Terrible Hours: The Man Behind the Greatest Submarine Rescue in History (HarperCollins New York, 1999)

• E. B. Potter and Chester W. Nimitz, eds; Sea Power: A Naval History (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1960)