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The German U-Boat
In the Gulf of Mexico, the Germans deployed two main
classes of U-boats, the Type VII and the Type IX. There were several
sub-classes within each type (VIIB, VIIC, etc.), but operationally the
differences between these were insignificant.
The Type VII was specifically designed to operate in the North Atlantic and
around the British Isles, and was dubbed the Atlantik boat. The Type
VII was the most common class of submarine ever produced, with 568 examples
of the VIIC variant alone going into service by the war's end in 1945.
The Type IX U-boat was developed in the late 1930s
when it became apparent to the Kriegsmarine that the next war would be
fought on a wide front, and that the German Navy would have to extend its
operations well beyond European waters. The Type IX was designed to have the
range to operate successfully in areas far beyond the North Atlantic. When
war finally came, the type proved to be very effective in attacking Allied
shipping on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, in the Gulf of
Mexico, the Caribbean and the South Atlantic. A few Type IXs even patrolled
as far as the Indian Ocean.
The Type VII and Type IX U-boats were similar in
construction, interior arrangement and operational capabilities, but the
Type IX had one huge advantage over its smaller stable mate: with a 45%
larger displacement, the Type IX could carry far more fuel, provisions and
ammunition than the smaller Atlantik boat. For this reason, the
majority of U-boats operating in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean in 1942-43
were Type IXs. A brief comparison of the types:
| |
Category |
Type VIIC |
Type IXC |
|
| |
Length: |
67.1m (220
ft.) |
76.8m (252 ft.) |
|
| |
Beam (width): |
6.2m (20.3
ft.) |
6.76m (22.2 ft.) |
|
| |
Surfaced
Displacement (weight): |
769 tons |
1,120 tons |
|
| |
Torpedo Tubes: |
4 forward, 1
aft |
4 forward, 2 aft |
|
| |
Total
Torpedoes Carried: |
14 |
22 |
|
| |
Main Deck Gun: |
8.8cm |
10.5cm |
|
| |
Range: |
8,500 miles at 10 knots |
13,450 miles at 10 knots |
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| |
Total Crew: |
44-52 men |
48-56 men |
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The primary weapon employed by U-boats in the Gulf of Mexico was the Type
G7a torpedo (below). The G7a was a fast and generally reliable weapon. It
achieved speeds of up to 44 knots (82km/hour) by a "wet heater" engine that
generated high-pressure steam that powered a small turbine geared to the
two, four-blade propellers at the stern. At its highest speed it had a range
of up to 6,000m (just over three nautical miles), although it was almost
always fired at much closer range -- sometimes less than 1,000m. The G7a was
just over 7m (23 feet) long, with a warhead of 280kg (620 lbs.) of high
explosive. The one serious drawback of the G7a was that it left a telltale
track of bubbles in its wake, which pointed directly back toward the
submarine that fired it. A somewhat slower electric version, the G7e, left
no bubble trail behind, but most U-boats carried only a few of these, which
were usually reserved for daylight attacks in the presence of escorts that
might use the steam torpedo's bubble trail to make a counterattack on the
submarine.
The German G7a torpedo.
Sources:
U-boat.net; The U-Boat: The Evolution and Technical History of German
Submarines by Eberhard Rössler. |
