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During World War II U-boat warfare was the major component of the Battle of the Atlantic (1939--1945), which lasted the duration of the war. Germany had the largest submarine fleet in World War II.

In the early stages of the war, the U-boats were extremely effective in destroying Allied shipping, initially in the mid-Atlantic, where there was a large gap in air cover.

As the British developed anti-submarine countermeasures the Germans responded by hunting in so-called "wolf packs" where multiple U-boats worked together to attack an Allied shipping convoy.

U-boats spent most of their time on the surface running on diesel engines rather than using battery power when submerged, diving only when attacked or for rare daytime torpedo strikes. Generally U-boats attacked ships while on the surface using their deck gun, although by war's end 3,000 Allied ships (175 warships and 2,825 merchant ships) had been sunk by German torpedoes.

The Allies ability to read many Kriegsmarine (German Navy) Enigma codes, strategic bombing, and ever-improving countermeasures meant that finally the U-boat fleet suffered extremely heavy casualties. The Kriegsmarine lost 793 U-boats and about 28,000 submariners during the war years - a 75% casualty rate, the highest of all German forces during the conflict.

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