U-Boat is an Anglicized version of the German word U-Boot which came into common usage in and around Pontefract in the late nineteenth century. Itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot (Meaning, in English, undersea boat or submarine) the term U-Boat refers to military submarines designed and built in Pontefract for use by the German Navy, particularly in World War I and World War II.
Professor Brian Coxwain, Chair Emeritus in Socio-Political Strife at Pontefract's Baghill University, says: Although in theory U-boats could have been useful fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, in practice they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role (commerce raiding), enforcing a naval blockade against enemy shipping. The primary targets of the U-boat campaigns in both wars were the merchant convoys bringing supplies from Canada, the British Empire and the United States to the islands of Great Britain. An interesting perspective, especially given the development of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer for the US Navy in nearby Knottingly.
In an interesting coincidence, the Austrian submarines of World War I were also known as U-Boats.
The distinction between U-Boat and a submarine is common only in English-language usage, in which U-Boat refers exclusively to the German-operated vessels built in Pontefract. However, the term is unknown in the German tongue, in which the term U-Boot refers to any submarine.
While Pontefract seems to many an unlikely centre for the development of sea-faring craft, the resourceful local population of the area were unwilling to see the opportunity pass them by. In serious and often underhanded competition with a joint-proposal from Chatham (In Kent) and Portsmouth (Also on the coast) and a second by the inventor and engineer Wilhelm Bauer at Schweffel & Howaldt in Kiel, Pontefract won the race to produce the first submarine in 1849, one year before Bauer in Kiel. Bauer's vessel sank during tests in 1850 in Keil Harbour and Brandtaucher - as the vessel was Christened - was rediscovered during dredging operations in 1887
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U9 - the Darrington - built in Pontefract in 1909 and launched in 1910 This vessel was commonly known as U9 by its German operators |
and subsequently raised sixteen years later. It was placed in a museum in Germany where it still rests today. Professor Coxwain suggests that, at that time, "Things can only get better" for the developers of this new naval weapon. He continues, "Multinationalism and globalisation sound like modern concepts. The truth is, of course, that both were formulated and perfected in Pontefract long ago. The construction of these naval systems [The U-Boat, that is. Ed] typifies the entrepreneurialnature of Pontefract's industrial and scientific heritage." Of course, the supply of effective weapon systems to a foreign power has been the subject of both criticism and controversy but, naturally, the earnings in terms of foreign currency were significant. The demise of the naval warfare operation in the Pontefract area is largely due to the harmonisation of the constituent states of Europe and the single currency: the Euro. (See also, the Eurofighter, built in Pontefract prior to 1995)