SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: And now the next paragraph:
“The building and the thorough trial of the prototype vessel made it possible to obtain the parts for U-1 to U-24 in 1933 to 1935, long before the order for the assembly of the vessels; and the latter was prepared beforehand as far as was possible without endangering secrecy.”
RAEDER: Yes.
SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: Now, would you turn on to Page 156. You see where the next quotation is from:
“At the beginning of 1935”—that is 6 months before the Anglo-German Treaty—“there were probably six 250-ton boats ready for assembly, six 275-ton and two 750-ton boats on which preparatory work was being done. About 4 months were needed for assembling the small ships and about 10 months for the big ones, dating from 1 February 1935, but everything else was still quite uncertain.”
Now, look at the next words:
“It is probably in this very sphere of submarine construction that Germany adhered least to the restrictions of the German-British Treaty.
“Considering the size of the U-boats which had already been ordered, about 55 U-boats could have been provided for up to 1938. In reality 118 were completed and under construction.
“The preparations for the new U-boat arm were made so early, so thoroughly and so carefully, that already 11 days after the conclusion of the German-British Naval Treaty, which permitted the construction of U-boats, the first German U-boat could be put into commission on 29 June 1935.”
Now, take that sentence, which is written by Admiral Assmann, and we’ve seen what your connections with Assmann were through about 100 documents. He said: “It is probably in this very sphere of submarine construction that Germany adhered least to the restrictions of the German-British Treaty.”