![]() Actually the U-boat being able to influence the outcome of the war at ALL is fantasy, but that's another matter. The idea this is some kind of game changing war winner if it shows up in late 1943 or 44 is pure fantasy IMO. It probably WOULDN'T have been that much more lethal to convoys. It would certainly be more survivable (to what degree is debatable, it would still need to move slowly to be both quiet and extend underwater time, so this idea it would be too fast for period ASW gear is pure fantasy.). It would generate few additional attacks and the convoy would leave it behind like it would other unless it surfaced to give chase. Simply by being held down by escorts, which it would be, it wouldn't be able to chase or maneuver around a convoy at high speed for any period of time. The problem really is simple: for electric submarines being held submerged already trashes your ablity to operate effectively. The idea of it zipping around convoys at like 15 knots tossing torpedoes in all directions while baffling escorts is pure fantasy. Thus at the critical phase of intercept it would actually probably have it's LEAST margin of superiority over an earlier submarine. So it would really have to rely on the same "sprint and sit" type tactics as other submarines and because it could not attain high speeds underwater over distance or snorkel at increased speed it would likely have to do this on the surface. The big problem though is that it still isn't reliably faster then even many 'slow' convoys (around seven knots) underwater over distance. If both could use the snorkel the type XXI wasn't any faster at all. It had to snorkel less, but it wasn't particularly faster underwater unless an earlier U-boat was so endangered that it couldn't snorkel at all. The effect even if deployed in larger numbers wouldn't have been significantly different then the snorkel boats already in service. ![]() It couldn't increase this by snorkeling either, the snorkel was a telescoping type was only stressed for six knots submerged operations. The 17 knot maximum for instance is ALWAYS mixing the asterisk that says "for ONE HOUR". It's economical underwater cruising speed for maximum distance submerged was still five knots, it could have stepped this higher, but the efficiency curve was anything but linear. That is laughable the big effect of the extended battery bank was to allow it an extended time in 'crawler gear' underwater. To hear some people talk you'd think this thing was like a modern attack submarine. The effect of all this is also often VASTLY overstated. It was nothing but an evolutionary modification of an existing design. ![]() This is easily seen by the fact a GUPPIE Tench or Balao is basically 95% of a Type XXI. All these qualities made them an extremely dangerous weapon against Allied merchant shipping in the Atlantic.Beside some streamlining it's big 'innovation' was just that it had more batteries, it was in all other aspects just a conventional submarine. ![]() They also had rich - as for the end of World War II - electronic equipment. In addition, a new type of propulsion was used and a much better hydrodynamic shape of the hull and kiosk was taken care of, which allowed for the phenomenal underwater speed of 17 knots for those times! The Type XXI ships also had a long range, a very large maximum depth, and were much quieter than previous German submarines. First of all, a large-scale modular structure was used in it, which significantly reduced the production time of a single ship. The Kriegsmarine command in 1943 decided to create a completely new type of submarine, which turned out to be a technological breakthrough in the construction of this type of units. The Type XXI U-boats were created in connection with the increasing losses incurred by German submarines in the Battle of the Atlantic, related to the use of more and more sophisticated methods by the Western Allies (Combating Submarines). Secondary armament is 2 twin 20mm AA cannons or 2 twin 30mm AA cannons. The maximum surface speed of the Type XXI U-boats was 15.6 knots, and the maximum underwater speed was 17.2 knots! The main armament of the Type XXI units were six 533 mm torpedo tubes located in the bow. The Type XXI units were 76.7 m long, 6.6 m wide, and had an underwater displacement of 1,820 tons. The Type XXI U-boats were German ocean-going submarines that started serial production in 1944.
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