Minelaying submarines were, in this assessment, the Kaiserliche Marine's most effective means of attacking Britain during the First World War. Interwar Germany retained an interest in submarine minelaying as an additional capability, but gave little priority to dedicated minelaying submarines. Minelaying equipment instead appeared across its surface warships. The space devoted to it competed with other capabilities on ships already expected to perform several roles.
Notable Point · 25:10-26:02
Mine warfare crowded onto surface ships
Germany gave little priority to dedicated minelaying submarines while fitting mine capacity throughout its surface fleet.