'Merker Plan' was a German scheme to accelerate the building of warships and U-boats by limiting the number of yards dedicated to the completion of small surface vessels so that all of the other yards could concentrate their efforts on the rapid assembly of the new U-boats, whose components were being manufactured by facilities all over Germany and brought to the yard only as and when needed for the assembly of U-boats (5 July 1943/8 May 1945).