Wolfpacks as escort-saturation warfare

Dönitz doubted that the available U-boats had the range, speed, and resupply support needed for all his promises. His later results depended heavily on access to Norwegian and French bases that his original planning had not assumed. The wolfpack concept predated Dönitz and originated during the First World War. Its tactical logic was saturation: force escorts to deal with more submarine contacts than they could prosecute effectively. The comparison with modern missile defence makes the calculation clear: an attacker seeks to exceed the defender's simultaneous engagement capacity.