Nazi Germany, 1,170 planned, 118 completed (1944) The Elektroboot saga: Too late to win The Type XXI were large scale production Kriegsmarine’s “wunderwaffe” planned by Nazi Germany at the end of the war. Alongside the smaller Type XXIII “Elektobote” and numerous “midgets” at a stage events verged on desperation, it was supposed to reverse their … Read more
Type IX U-Boats (1936) Germany (1936-45) 194 produced (290 ordered) Type IX, the long-range U-Boat: During world war two, two main types of u-boats roamed the sea: The Type VII, basically a mid-range oceanic type, able to take position in the middle of the Atlantic without refuelling, and the Type IX, the cruiser type, able … Read more
Germany (1933), About 700 subs A Massive Improvement of U-Boat designs: If German tanks, aircraft and small arms from the German manufacturing complex had won a considerable and fearsome reputation in WW2, German submarines truly reached the world stage as the epitome of the genre, with just the perfect balance of engineering, simplicity, and ease … Read more
Type Ia, the oceanic type Germany (1936) U25, U26 The Unterseebooten Typ I, were in direct line inspired by the Spanish E1 and various other international orders (Turkey, Finland, Holland…) made at The Hague. They were oceanic types, therefore openly violating clauses of the Versailles treaty. By their general configuration, they announced the famous class … Read more
Seeteufel (1944) Germany (1944) Genesis of a tracked submarine The Seeteufel “Monkfish” was an evolution of the concept of human torpedoes and midget submarines that could be thrown out on the coastal areas when U-boats failed to achieve their objectives and survive to the allied total mastery of the skies and sea at that point. … Read more
German mini-subs and human torpedoes Germany (1944-45) Introduction: K-verband projects: Not a part of the series of famous “V-weapons”, these ultra-modern miracle weapons supposed to reverse the fate of the Reich, these very light units of the Kriegsmarine appeared late, as a last-ditch naval bulwark to the enormous means deployed by the allies. With the … Read more
Type II U-Boats (1935) Germany (1935), 50 Submarines Types IIa, IIb, IIc, IId In 1930, the false Dutch company NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw den Haag (set up in the Netherlands to develop submarines for Germany after WW1) set out to design a new class of submarine as a means of coastal patrol and defense. This … Read more
