U-boat Type XXI

U-Boot-Typ XXI

History

Type XXI was designed as a submersible and had seven watertight compartments. Armament consisted of six torpedo tubes at the bow, four 2 cm Flak 30 were fitted, no deck gun was installed.

Type XXI U-boats also known as Elektroboat (Elektroboote) were the first U-boats designed to operate entirely submerged, The main advance of Type XXI was increased battery capacity, approximately three times that of the Type VII. This gave these Elektroboat (Elektroboote) tremendous underwater range, and dramatically reduced the time spent near the surface. They could travel submerged at about five knots for two or three days before recharging the batteries, which took approximately five hours using the snorkel. The Type XXI was also much quieter than the Type VII, making it more difficult to detect when submerged.

The Type XXI U-boat had an extremely streamlined hull design which allowed for very high underwater speed, which gave this class of U-boat the ability to outrun many surface ships while underwater, combined with much improved dive times, made it a good deal harder chase and destroy.

The Type XXI had much better facilities than earlier U-boats, including a freezer for groceries. Amenities for the crew included a shower and a hand basin. The Type XXI had a hydraulic torpedo reloading arrangement that permitted all six torpedo tubes, situated in the bow, to be reloaded much more quickly than a Type VII could reload a single tube. The Type XXI could fire 18 torpedoes in under 20 minutes, if required to do so. The Type XXI U-boat also had an advanced sonar system which allowed aiming torpedoes without using the periscope.

The Type XXI U-boat were all constructed from eight prefabricated sections and final fabrication taking place at shipyards, sections 1, stern 65 tons, 2, electric motor room 130 tons, 3, diesel engine room 140 tons, 4, crew quarters 70 tons, 5, Central command room 140 tons, 6, forward quarters 165 tons, 7, reload torpedo stowage 92 tons, 8, bow 110 tons. Thirty two steelworks were involved in the production of all the separate sections, which were then assembled at various shipyards. Construction of these U-boats was expected to take approximately 6 months. Production of sections 56 days, fitting out of sections 50 days, transportation, 9 days, assembly 50 days, fitting out 6 days, shipyard trials, 5 days.

Bremer Vulkan, Vegesack, sections 3, 5, 6
Kriegsmarinewerft, Wilhelmshaven, section 2
Howaldtswerke AG, Kiel, section 1
Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel, section 8
Flender Werke AG, Lübeck, section 4
Seebeck, Wesermünde section 7
Howaldtswerke Hamburg AG, Hamburg, section 5
Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg, section 3, 6
Danziger Werft AG, Danzig, section 1, 2, 3, 8
F Schichau GmbH, Danzig, section 4, 5
Deutsche Werft AG, Gotenhafen, section 6, 7

Type XXI one hundred and eighteen of this class were built between 1943 and 1945. Forty seven were constructed by Blohm & Voss, of Hamburg, U-2501, U-2502, U-2503, U-2504, U-2505, U-2506, U-2507, U-2508, U-2509, U-2510, U-2511, U-2512, U-2513, U-2514, U-2515, U-2516, U-2517, U-2518, U-2519, U-2520, U-2521, U-2522, U-2523, U-2524, U-2525, U-2526, U-2527, U-2528, U-2529, U-2530, U-2531, U-2533, U-2534, U-2535, U-2536, U-2538, U-2539, U-2540, U-2541, U-2542, U-2543, U-2544, U-2545, U-2546, U-2548, U-2551, and U-2552.

Forty one were constructed by AG Weser, of Bremen, U-3001, U-3002, U-3003, U-3004, U-3005, U-3006, U-3007, U-3008, U-3009, U-3010, U-3011, U-3012, U-3013, U-3014, U-3015, U-3016, U-3017, U-3018, U-3019, U-3020, U-3021, U-3022, U-3023, U-3024, U-3025, U-3026, U-3027, U-3028, U-3029, U-3030, U-3031, U-3032, U-3033, U-3034, U-3035, U-3037, U-3038, U-3039, U-3040, U-3041, and U-3044.

Thirty were constructed by F Schichau GmbH, of Danzig, U-3501, U-3502, U-3503, U-3504, U-3505, U-3506, U-3507, U-3508, U-3509, U-3510, U-3511, U-3512, U-3513, U-3514, U-3515, U-3516, U-3517, U-3518, U-3519, U-3520, U-3521, U-3522, U-3523, U-3524, U-3525, U-3526, U-3527, U-3528, U-3529, and U-3530.

Gallery

Sources

German Warships, 1815-1945: U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels.
ISBN-10: 155750301X

German U-boat Commanders of World War II.
ISBN-10: 1853673668

German U-boat Losses during World War II.
ISBN-10: 1557506418

For a complete list of sources