Type XXI U-Boat (Elektroboot)

The Story of the World's First True Submarine 

Capable of Operating Primarily Submerged 

: PART ONE

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T A B L E    O F    C O N T E N T S

                                                                   

1. Shortcomings of the Type VII Unterseeboot

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Prien enters Scapa Flow in U-47 a Type VII – low submerged speed and endurance of lead acid batteries –Prien sinks Royal Oak – HUF/DUF and miniaturized aircraft mounted centimetric radar add to the Type VII’s woes - G7 torpedoes Tiefenapparat or depth keeping mechanism and ‘Pi1’ (MZ) and (AZ) detonators unreliable – TI and TVA fails to test torpedoes before deployment on ocean going Unterseeboote –torpedo failures mount – Capture of British submarine HMS Seal with Mk.8 torpedoes intact - recap of incident - Germany redesigns MZ triggers based on British torpedoes – weakness of the Type VII hull during depth charge attacks – lack of amenities - Prien's successful attack celebrated in Germany – revenge for the sinking of the German fleet in 1919 says Goebbels – recap of incident – British Home Fleet shifted to new anchorage!.

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    2. Antagonists and Strategists – Erich Raeder and Karl Donitz

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Konteradmiral Donitz shares a quiet meal with Großadmiral Raeder – Donitz unhappy with Raeder’s insistence on priority for Panzerschiffe construction – loss of Admiral Graf Spee in faraway Uruguay – recap of incident – Hitler blames Raeder for loss – Donitz expounds virtues of superior training of Unterseeboote crews and how they would have emerged victorious in similar circumstances – Admiral Boehm, Flottenchef fired after the incident -  U-47 arrives in Wilhelmshaven to a hero’s welcome – German tabloids articulate the raid – an inebriated NASDAP Blockleiter celebrates Prien’s success in a unique manner – Donitz’s debriefs Prien at OkM, Berlin on Scapa Flow raid on conclusion of Berlin felicitations - Prien's private thoughts on lack of technical innovation in the Unterseebootwaffe, unlike state of the art Luftwaffe equipment - – G7a torpedo failures comes up – more importantly discussion veers to faster submerged speed and more endurance –Donitz frets over these vexing question of faster submerged speeds – Contemplates a radical solution, with the aid of inventor Hellmuth Walter!

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    3. Inventor Hellmuth Walter and the Closed Cycle Engine

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Hellmuth Walter self-made learner - employment as a trainee engineer at AG Vulcan and Germania Werft – moots ideas of decomposing chemical fuels with own oxidizer elements – quest leads him to High Test Peroxide [HTP] or Perhydrol [H2O2]– Patents idea of turbine driven by expanding steam from decomposing H2O2 through catalyst reaction of calcium based alkaline permanganate– also gains expertise in design and testing hulls in wind tunnels– deduces value of streamlined hull – launches own firm ‘Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft’ or Walter Werke – The Second London Naval Treaty of 1936 hobbles Unterseeboote development – Raeder advocates more Panzerschiffe, in lieu of U-Boats - Walters [HTP] engine proposal for Unterseeboote gathers dust at OkM –Walter contacts Donitz on his appointment as Fuhrer der Unterseeboote (FdU) – Donitz skeptical yet agrees to fund quest for an Air Independent Propulsion [AIP] –Disturbing reports of torpedo failures– Operation Weserubung and the Torpedo Crisis.

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   4. The V-80 Prototype, Fall of France and the French Atlantic Ports

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Path breaking trail of the Versuchs-U-Boot V-80 at Danzig bay – anatomy of the V-80 - Walter operates the [HTP] during first surface run –the [AIP] drive attains a record 28 knots submerged – Germany invades the Low countries –invasion of France follows – acquisition of French Atlantic ports - Donitz unaware of V-80 trails readies to move to France - promoted to Vizeadmiral - Hitler at a captured weapons exposition in France – in a dilemma about his next conquest – Visits the French channel coast - Plans for Sea Lion issued – Taranto raid – Raeder frets similar fate of his Panzerschiffe – Second successful trails of the V-80 with Großadmiral Erich Raeder and Vizeadmiral Werner Fuchs in full attendance – realization that new Unterseeboote designs will foreshadow Panzerschiffe!

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     5. Operation Barborossa and the Walter V-300 Unterseeboot 

 

Security blanket descends over Germany – Tirpitz commissioned at Wilhelmshaven - Führer expresses interest in the V-300 prototype plus, the 290 tonne, Type XVII design – Raeder experiences challenges to Navy budget – Walter faces hurdles in production of bigger V-300 and seeks significant design help from OkM Office of Warship Construction, for finalising design of XVII, to no avail – Dönitz unaware, due to security protocols –Dönitz loses three top commanders in a single month – Panzerschiffe Bismarck torpedoed – Hitler busy with preparations for invasion of Russia – Operation Barborossa– Hitler dreams of easy victory - first Allied convoys reach Murmansk and Archangel – Germany declares war on the USA – More Allied ships reach Russia!

 

 

    6. Delays in development of Walter Type XVII and XVIII design  

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Tirpitz moves to Trondheim – Hedgehogs enter Royal Navy service – ‘Operation Paukenschlag’ launched –Walter realises no headway in development of the V-300 prototype plus, the 290 tonne, Type XVII U-Boat –  seeks permission to contact Dönitz – Unveiling of Wunderwaffen expo in Berlin – Dönitz as invitee learns of V-80 and the bigger V-300 and the Type XVII – pleased yet sceptical- the Unterseebootwaffe chief independently  called for plans – is appalled by the range of the XVII and asks for a bigger 1,600 tonne design the Type XVIII - Broking and Schurer examine the proposal and recommend lead acid batteries in place of Walter [HTP] engine – Singapore surrenders – ‘Operation Paukenschlag’ success, Dönitz promoted to Admiral – Heavy fighting at Stalingrad – Hitler distracted –Operation Torch, allies land in Italy – Paris Conference organised - Dönitz debates mass production techniques for the Type XVII - Russians encircle Stalingrad – Operation Winter storm to relieve 6th Army launched by the Wehrmacht!