What are your views on the Type XXI - the "Electric Boat" which appeared in 1944 and was just becoming operational when the war ended in 1945 ?

She was the long awaited replacement for the tired and long obselete Type VII and other U-Boats of that generation.
In terms of technology she promised a quantum leap forward on what had gone before and what might be presented to the Allies.

She was fast , designed for speed underwater - she had an enlarged battery capacity which gave her an incredible ( for the time) turn of speed over short distances underwater.
Self loading torpedo tubes meant she could be ready for action again in a much shorter period of time , she could stand off and fire from distance not having to get too close to the convoy or the potential target.

She was a prefab. build - sectioned built on differnet sites and assembled on the slipway , built time would have been quicker and production more streamlined and efficent.

She incorporated all the leading advances in terms of radar and both to find the enemy and to protect herself against attack - the Type VII's had it "built on" - the Type XXI had it built in - this was a considerable improvement on what had gone before.

But was she the answer or was she just a pipeline panacea the imagined hope for the future ?

She was no doubt a head of anything which the Allied navies had in service or on the drawing board - the Allies knew she was in development and waited her arrival with some concern and reservations.
A great deal of hope had been invested in her - she was another of the "wonder weapons" which would turn the tide in Germany's favour - at least in that she would issue a challagne which had gone unanswered since 1943 - in a theatre of operations which had for over a year before hand been increasingly wrestled from the grasp of the U-Boat arm.

Just how good was she - what did she promise and what did she actually deliver or might have delivered ?
I am inclined to look on her in the same light as the early model Panthers - a great design - a huge potential but a weapons system which had been developed under the problematic constraints of war and one which carried into its operational life potential problems which would take sometime to iron out - some of them quite serious.

What are your views ?

There can be little doubt that this boat formed the basis for what followed - design wise she was a winner - in terms of post war submarine development she was a benchmark ,the first true submarine .

I agree Tyschen, had they really come into service would they have prolonged the war making the Allies had used the A-Bomb over Germany ?. A horrific thought of course.....

Excellent internal views and photos here:

http://ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2003/ ... ot_xxi.htm

That is an excellent site Cam , now "saved".
Back in the mid -90's I spent a rather wet afternoon in St.Nazaire - and had a look around an Atlantic Class submarine which they have in the lock gate bunker.
This boat is to all intents and purposes a Type XXI - very slight differences but it is a doppleganger - no mistaking it.

I will add a few odds and ends later in the day.

Problems with the XXI - quality control at the sub-assembly plants , the sections didn't always fit smoothly - quality of metals - high quality metals often not available - they had to be replaced with ferrous metals - corrision and breakdowns occurred.
Leaks on dive tests - implosion of liferaft containers - teething problems wqhich like the Panther were being taken into the frontline , the loss of training grounds in the baltic , lack of fuel , the need to shorten training and the lack of crew expereince and shake down time left the experience and quality of the crews not near what they were in 42-43.

A good photo Cam , the complex nature of the construction is well illustrated.



The total departure in build process is evident outer skin and pressure hull being in open piece.
The huge rudder space can be seen , the turning circle of the boat was not very good.

The type XXI was an excellent boat. A leap in technology when they made these . What I find weird is why they bothered to make the type XXIII which also was an "electric boat". It was a crappy design but cheaper. I know the norwegian navy had one type XXIII after WW2 but they never bothered to use her and instead used type VII's.

Regards
Enigma