In his memoirs
dedicated to World War II, Winston Churchill
wrote that the only thing that made him worry about Great
Britain losing the war to Germany were the German submarines. In the small town, Laboe,
in northern Germany, the last surviving Type VII submarine
stands solitary on the beach. It was this submarine type
that worried Winston Churchill and posed the most severe threat
to shipping in the Atlantic Ocean at the beginning of the 1940s. Naval Legends: U 995 The Treaty of Versailles
strictly forbade Germany from designing, building,
or possessing submarines. All this was forbidden. Nevertheless, in order to preserve
their school of underwater shipbuilding and build upon the experience
gained in World War I, a shipbuilding design bureau
was registered in 1922 in the Hague, with German engineers
as members of its staff. This firm offered many
countries the possibility to purchase
projects of submarines developed on the basis of the
German World War I submarine, UBIII. Simultaneously, they were
working on the projects of so called
"mobilization submarines." The larger submarine
was called "Type I," while a submarine with
smaller displacement of 500 tons evolved to become
the "Type VII" project. The idea was that if and
when Germany entered a war, all the restrictions imposed
by the Treaty of Versailles would naturally
become obsolete, and submarines of this type could be
built very quickly in large quantities. The further development of Type VII
submarines and their construction became possible
thanks to a naval treaty signed between Germany
and Great Britain in 1935. This treaty allowed Germany
to have a navy of a total tonnage not greater than one third
of that of the British navy. As for submarines, Germany was given the right to
have a fleet equal to the British one. The important thing was that this
submarine was very easy to construct thanks to its design, which
allowed for extensive use of welding. Enormous numbers
of these boats could be constructed in
a relatively short period of time. Despite the design of Type VII submarines
repeating concepts from World War I, this ship had great potential
for further modernization. Thus, sub-types
A and B appeared, which differed from each
other only in their details. The general concept
of a medium submarine with a displacement of
700 tons remained unchanged. A submarine can only have
well-balanced characteristics up to some
specific dimensions. If it’s a large submarine, it starts to
have control issues when underwater, it also has problems with surfacing,
submerging, and excess trim differences. All this leads to a reduction in
a submarine's overall maneuverability. Considering that maneuverability is no
less important than combat capability, engineers added an important
improvement to sub-type B— the double vertical rudder. This allowed them to considerably
reduce the turning circle radius, which provided certain
tactical advantages. When the mass-production
of Type VII submarines began, they received
the designation VIIC. In this case there were two sub-types
as well, namely VIIC/41 and C/42. Specifications of submarine
U 995 (Type VIIC/41, 1943). Length: more than 67 meters.
Beam: more than 6 meters. Mean draft: 4.7 m.
Submerged displacement: 871 tons. With this modification,
the boat's hull was made longer by one frame spacing to accommodate
new sonar. It's 60 centimeters. Adding only one frame
allowed for a 20-ton increase in the fuel reserves as well,
but it had a negative impact on speed. The submarine lost about half
a knot from its submerged speed. It's a side-tank submarine.
Her aft and bow ends, side bulges, and deck superstructure
with the conning tower's railing were welded
to the pressure hull. Maximum diameter of the
pressure hull: almost 5 meters. Thickness of the pressure
hull: 18.5 to 21.5 mm. The submarine's pressure hull
is divided into six compartments: First—forward torpedo room. Second—forward battery compartment with
commanding officers' cabins on the deck. Third—control room with
conning tower on top of it. This is where the captain
was situated during an attack. The control room was
also the shelter compartment. It's surrounded by
concave bulkheads that are able to withstand
pressure up to 10 atmospheres. This is the pressure found
at a depth of about 100 meters. Fourth—living
quarters with the galley. The second group of batteries
was located in its hold. Fifth—diesel compartment.
Sixth—aft torpedo room. Two electric motors
were also installed here. The main ballast
went into five tanks: two at the ends in the outer
hull; two inside the bulges; and the last one in the pressure hull,
under the third compartment's deck. Three tanks could be
used to store fuel. Armament: five torpedo
launchers, caliber 533 mm. Ammunition: 14 torpedoes. The G7e electric torpedo. German
submariners nicknamed it the "eel." It's noteworthy that it
was developed in 1929. However, the design turned
out to be so successful that various modifications of it
were manufactured until 1944. The latest versions of the
torpedo were self-guided and equipped with a heating
system inside the launcher, which allowed it to travel
up to a distance of 7.5 kilometers at a speed of 30 knots. Artillery armament:
initially, these submarines carried the SK C/35 gun
with a caliber of 88 mm. However, with the
changing nature of combat, anti-aircraft armament began to
appear on "sevens" from 1942 onwards. U 995 had the following: Flak M42U cannon, caliber 37 mm;
two Flak 38 autocannons, caliber 20 mm. Power plant: two diesel engines
with a total power of 3,200 hp; two electric engines,
750 hp each; two groups of accumulator
batteries, 62 elements each. For this modification,
the power plant was rearranged to free up 11.5 tons
of displacement. This allowed engineers to increase
the pressure hull's thickness. As a result, the operating
depth increased to 120 meters, and the maximum depth
reached 300 meters. The boat was equipped
with a special system that allowed her diesel engines
to work underwater—a snorkel. Maximum surface speed: 17 knots.
Maximum submerged speed: 7.6 knots. Operating range.
Surfaced: 8,500 miles at 10 knots. Submerged: 80 miles at 4 knots.
Endurance: 40 days. Everything was sacrificed to increase
the combat capability of the ship. Two people shared one bunk,
and some even slept on torpedoes. All available space was
taken up by provisions, and even one of the lavatories
wasn't used during the first week of a combat cruise because it
was stuffed full of food supplies. To complete the picture, imagine how
the air those people breathed was— a mixture of diesel engine
exhaust and kitchen smells, spiced with a dense aroma
of cologne, which submariners generously applied to themselves as
they had no means to bathe properly. Crews spent
a long time in training to perfect all the maneuvers
on their submarines. A large number of torpedoes
were provided for training. Generally, they made tens of torpedo
launches under varying conditions. That's why, when a submarine
sailed out on a combat patrol, it was business
as usual for them— they had already carried out all the
potential operations multiple times, and could perform
their tasks automatically. This allowed them
to achieve great results. This bunk is somewhat
bigger than the rest, obviously. It's where the
captain would sleep. It's unclear if he ever managed
to get a good night's sleep, because even
when he was resting, he was aware of all the events
happening inside and outside the boat. The radio and sonar rooms
are just opposite his cabin. When the situation required his
urgent presence in the control room, the captain only needed to take
a couple of steps to get there. This is the horizontal
rudder control station. The rudders were
driven electrically, but there was a backup
hydraulic system in place. When the order
to submerge was given, the operators would set the
rudders to the necessary position. These valves control the main ballast—
they would be opened gradually as the submarine
reached a certain difference, which was controlled
with the help of this device. Quite often, an unusual trick was
used to speed up the submergence. All the off-duty crew
members at that moment would quickly run into
the bow compartment. All these actions were
perfected during training, so in a battle, a well-prepared
crew could bring their submarine from the surfaced position to a depth
of 10 meters in 25–27 seconds. This was considered the best
result in the world at that time. In the summer of 1939, German leadership
formulated the main strategic objective for the German Navy—the destruction
of British merchant shipping. Torpedo-armed submarines
were the best candidates to do this, and the more numerous they were, the
sooner this objective would be completed. On September 3,
U-30 sank British liner SS Athenia. Thus began World War II at sea. The liner's torpedoing gave a certain
reputation to Type VII submarines, and to the entire
German underwater fleet. The Allies began to arm
civilian ships with artillery to fight against submarines. In response, Germany declared
unrestricted submarine warfare and started the mass
production of submarines. Torpedo launchers on "sevens"
were not very different from their analogues used
by the navies of other countries. However, they had a number
of interesting features. For example, torpedoes were pushed
out with the help of a pneumatic piston, which gave the advantage
of a bubble-free torpedo launch. A torpedo could
also be programmed with the necessary course, speed, and
depth without taking it out of the tube. This was done with the
help of a mechanical system connecting to external
sockets on a torpedo. The required
parameters could be set both here and from
the central control room. Type VII submarines were easy
to control, reliable, cheap to build, and had a good balance of
combat and operational qualities. Although by their design features
these boats weren't meant for prolonged combat use,
their unique characteristics— such as dive speed and
maximum submergence depth— made them
practically invulnerable. So, by the beginning of World War II,
the German Navy had at their disposal arguably the best weapon
to wage underwater war, as well as
perfectly trained crews, and only one person knew how to
use them to achieve maximum results. Karl Dönitz was an experienced
submarine commander. During World War I, he carried out many successful
operations in the Mediterranean. From the very beginning, in 1935,
he made a significant impact on the development of the
German underwater fleet. He developed the tactics that
would later be used by submarines, including the
so-called "wolfpack" tactic. Each submarine was assigned
a position, and the entire group formed a line that crossed
the expected route of a convoy. The width of this "curtain" and
the distance between submarines resulted in a high probability of
the discovery of a passing convoy by at least one boat. The data on the location
and course of a convoy could also be obtained by
radio reconnaissance or aviation. All the information was gathered
by an operations center on the shore, which coordinated
the actions of the group and sent all nearby
submarines to attack a convoy. Once a submarine discovered a convoy,
she would send its position to the center and continue tracking the target,
staying at a safe distance from it. In the night, she would make
a dash towards the convoy, surface,
and deliver a torpedo strike. During this, she remained invisible—
the visibility is very poor at night, so you would need to search
for her, need to discover her. Unlike destroyers, after an attack
she didn't need to retreat, she just dived, and that's it,
you couldn't see her. She then moved to another
position to deliver another strike, and, as there would be many
submarines and they all attacked almost simultaneously, it caused the
convoy's escort ships to spread out. So, they would attack one
submarine, and another appeared. Chasing the second submarine,
a third one would emerge. Like this, subs got closer
and closer to the convoy, which remained
virtually defenseless, and this all resulted in
a very serious loss of tonnage. It meant that you could quickly
and efficiently destroy convoys. On October 17, 1940, U-boat
U-38 discovered the SC-7 convoy. The sub sent the convoy's coordinates
to Dönitz's headquarters in Lorient. They were immediately forwarded to
all the submarines patrolling that area. Throughout the following day, gathering submarines attacked
three ships from the convoy. At the same time, the only escort
ship—British HMS Scarborough— was reinforced with sloops
HMS Fowey and HMS Leith, and corvettes HMS Bluebell
and HMS Heartsease. By the end of the day, seven
submarines shadowed the convoy. The night of October 18–19 was
ideal for underwater predators, with a full moon and calm sea. Around 21:00, U-46 fired four torpedoes
at cargo ships Convallaria and Beatus. HMS Leith rushed
to find the attacking submarine. Driving the boat off, the ship sailed
several miles away from the convoy. At this moment, U-101
torpedoed transport Creekirk. The vessel, loaded
with iron ore, quickly sank. Closer to 22:00, U-99
commanded by Otto Kretschmer, fired her first torpedo salvo. SS Empire Miniver steamed at
full speed, but it didn't save her. One of Kretschmer's torpedoes
struck her engine room, and the vessel lost propulsion
and started to sink quickly. Escort ships rushed about
among the spreading cargo ships trying to get them together. Meanwhile, U-99 made its
way to the formation's center and struck the convoy's ships at
point blank range without even aiming. Here's how Kretschmer described
those events in his battle log. “22:30. Firing from the forward launcher
at a heavily loaded transport. The torpedo misses but hits another,
even larger, ship of about 7,000 tons. The vessel sinks bow first. 23:55. Launching a torpedo
at a large dry-cargo ship. A hit. Her bow section
is destroyed up to her bridge. 00:15. I'm constantly hearing
the explosions of torpedoes launched by our submarines.
Destroyers rush about and fire star shells explode from
time to time, but to no purpose. 01:38. Firing from the forward launcher.
A hit. The vessel sinks… 01:55. Firing. A hit.
The ship sinks in 40 seconds.” Around midnight, cargo ship Assyrian,
with the convoy's commodore on board, spotted a German submarine directly
in front of them, some 90 meters away. In an attempt to ram the enemy boat,
the steamer engaged full speed ahead, but soon found herself far from
the convoy and without any defenses. At 01:22 the vessel
was torpedoed by U-101. At around 05:00 in the morning,
U-123 used her artillery to finish off transport Clintonia,
which has been abandoned by her crew. The gunners got so excited that
they almost fired at Kretschmer's U-99 that happened to be nearby. At sunrise, the submarines left, having
sunk 20 and damaged 6 of 30 cargo ships. The following night, convoy HX-79
sailed through that same area. It consisted of 49 transports
and 12 escort ships. Despite quite strong defenses,
five German submarines managed to sink 12 vessels from the
caravan in the course of several hours. As a result, in three days, the
Germans had routed two Allied convoys without losing
a single submarine. In historical literature dedicated
to the operations of German U-boats, the period from summer of 1940
through the end of spring of 1942 is often called "Happy Times." Then, "Dönitz's lions", as the German
propaganda called submariners, were the only
masters of the Atlantic. 1942 was the year of the
greatest triumph for the "sevens"— German submarines
managed to sink more than 2 million tons
of Allied shipping that year. At that time, the Kriegsmarine
had 330 Type VII U-boats, while it had entered
the war with only 57 of them. German shipbuilders launched
a new "seven" every two days. Nevertheless, in 1943,
the Allies began to gradually press "Dönitz's lions"
at sea, bringing their defeat closer. A special anti-submarine
command for the Atlantic Ocean was created
under Admiral King. It dealt only with anti-submarine
warfare, without any distractions. That was the organizational side.
There was a technical side as well. Allied fleets started to receive large
numbers of anti-submarine ships. They were armed
with compact sonar, anti-submarine mortars,
and hydroacoustic stations. All these allowed each individual
ship to discover submarines, chase them down on
the basis of their own data, and deliver strikes quicker
and with more precision, so that the German submarines simply
didn't have time to evade them. Defeat in the underwater
war wasn't a sudden event, but rather
a gradual development. However, it all happened in
quite a short period of time. All these measures
bore great results. In May 1943, the Allies sank more
German submarines in one day than the transports they
had managed to torpedo. Between 1935 and 1945,
709 Type VII submarines were built. 546 of them were lost
in combat operations, and 65 were scuttled by their
own crews at the end of the war. The fate of the
surviving submarines was decided by the Allies
at the Potsdam Conference. From November 1945 through
January 1946, near Scotland, Operation Deadlight
was carried out. In its course, more than 100
German submarines were destroyed, either with explosive charges or by artillery fire from destroyers
HMS Onslow and BĹ‚yskawica. 83 of them
were Type VII U-boats. Several surviving ships entered the fleets of the
victorious countries and their allies. U 995 served in the Kriegsmarine
a little more than six months and was in the Northern Sea
when the war ended. In May 1945, the sub
surrendered to Norway and served in the Norwegian
Navy for the following 15 years. With the commissioning
of new submarine types, U 995 lost its value as a combat
unit and the Norwegians transferred the "seven" to Germany
to become a museum ship. The Type VII program was one of the most successful
German submarine building programs. Especially, when you
think of their quantity. It's arguably one of the most
numerous ship types in the world by the number of units built. I believe that even the Liberty-
class ships were less numerous. Type VII submarines
are quite controversial. Some say that they were
the best ships of their type; others simply call
the "seven" a "steel coffin." Undoubtedly, these
submarines were very effective, but as history proved, the
development of anti-submarine warfare didn't leave them
a single chance of winning. The "sevens" can be
compared to a sword— it was a threatening and
effective weapon in skillful hands until the
introduction of gunpowder.
