Putting History Into Perspective

This is an ongoing project of mine that aims to teach the history of German U-Boats during the second World War. U-Boats are a truly fascinating topic, that have been made legendary by movies, games, novels, and TV shows. Despite the interest however, many people, including myself, don't understand them. Many people don't understand their role in the war, or how they operated. This project is a series of studies that aim to entertain and educate the audience, and perhaps challenge what they thought they knew about U-Boats. These studies have also been great practice in doing data analysis, story telling, visual design, and development.

Above you see a rough prototype illustrating the patrols of all U-Boats during the war. While basic, this visualization immediately highlights a few things most likely unfamiliar to the audience. First, most people have no concept of the scale of their operations. This visualization puts this into basic terms and is easily grasped while observing the map. Second, this visualization clearly illustrates where they operated. This is a key insight, that with a little background knowledge, can help you understand the strategy of the German Navy.

• In preparation for what would become "The Battle of Britain", Germany begins an aggressive assault on English shipping, trying to starve it of resources.

• On June 22, 1940, France falls to Germany, and within a month, Germans begin naval operations on France's western coast.

• The U.S. joins the war on December 10th 1941. One month later, German U-Boats are visiting American shores.

• In preparation for an invasion of Africa, U-Boats begin entering the Mediterranian through the Strait of Gibraltar.

• By 1943, England has secured air supremacy, and technologies such as the Radar have been introduced, forcing u-boats to operate far off shore, severely limiting their effectiveness.

• Germany broadened its sights, and began disrupting England across its entire empire.

• Despite having liberated Paris on August 25th, 1944, fighting continued in France until Germany's ultimate surrender.

Future

I plan to make this project more extensive an create a compelling narrative that will educate and entertain viewers, similar to work being done at the New York Times ^[1][2]. These are some exploratory studies that incorporate the data I've gathered and analyzed, and different presentation techniques.