Type VII submarines. German submarines of World War II: photos and specifications

During the Second World War, fights and duels were fought not only on land and in the air, but also at sea. And what is remarkable - the participants in the duels were also submarines. Although the bulk of the German Navy was involved in the battles in the Atlantic, a significant proportion of fights between submarines took place on the Soviet-German front - in the Baltic, Barents and Kara Seas ...

The Third Reich entered the Second World War with not the largest submarine fleet in the world - only 57 submarines. Much more submarines were in service with Soviet Union(211 units), USA (92 units), France (77 units). The biggest naval battles of the Second World War, in which the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) took part, took place in the Atlantic Ocean, where the main enemy of the German troops was the most powerful naval grouping of the Western allies of the USSR. Nevertheless, a fierce confrontation also took place between the Soviet and German fleets - in the Baltic, in the Black and North Seas. Submarines took an active part in these battles. Both Soviet and German submariners showed tremendous skill in destroying enemy transport and combat ships. The effectiveness of the use of the submarine fleet was quickly appreciated by the leaders of the Third Reich. In 1939–1945 German shipyards managed to launch 1,100 new submarines - this is more than any country participating in the conflict could launch during the war years - and, by the way, all the states that were part of the Anti-Hitler coalition.

Baltic occupied special place in the military-political plans of the Third Reich. First of all, it was a vital channel for the supply of raw materials to Germany from Sweden (iron, various ores) and Finland (timber, agricultural products). Sweden alone met 75% of the needs of the German industry in ore. In the water area Baltic Sea The Kriegsmarine had many naval bases, and the skerry region of the Gulf of Finland had a great abundance of convenient anchorages and deep-water fairways. This created excellent conditions for the German submarine fleet for active combat operations in the Baltic. Soviet submariners began to carry out combat missions in the summer of 1941. Until the end of 1941, they managed to send 18 German transport ships to the bottom. But the submariners also paid a huge price - in 1941 the Baltic Navy lost 27 submarines.

In the book of an expert on the history of the Navy Gennady Drozhzhin “Aces and propaganda. Myths of submarine warfare” has interesting data. According to the historian, of all nine German submarines operating on all seas and sunk by Allied submarines, four were sunk by Soviet submariners. At the same time, German submarine aces were able to destroy 26 enemy submarines (including three Soviet ones). Data from Drozhzhin's book indicates that duels between submarines took place during the Second World War. Fights between the submarines of the USSR and Germany ended with a score of 4:3 in favor of the Soviet sailors. According to Drozhzhin, only Soviet M-type vehicles, the Malyutka, took part in the duels with German submarines.

"Malyutka" is a small submarine with a length of 45 m (width - 3.5 m) and an underwater displacement of 258 tons. The crew of the submarine consisted of 36 people. "Baby" could dive to a limiting depth of 60 meters and be at sea without replenishment of drinking and technical water, provisions and consumables for 7-10 days. The armament of the "M" type submarine included two bow torpedo tubes and a 45-mm gun in the wheelhouse fence. The boats had fast sinking systems. With skillful use, the "Baby", despite its small size, could destroy any submarine of the Third Reich.

Scheme of a submarine type "M" XII series

The first victory in the duels between the submarines of the USSR and Germany was won by the military personnel of the Kriegsmarine. It happened on June 23, 1941, when the German submarine U-144 under the command of Lieutenant Friedrich von Hippel was able to send the Soviet submarine M-78 (under the command of Senior Lieutenant Dmitry Shevchenko) to the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Already on July 11, U-144 discovered and tried to destroy another Soviet submarine, the M-97. This attempt ended in failure. U-144, like Malyutka, belonged to small submarines and was launched on January 10, 1940. The German submarine was heavier than the Soviet counterpart (underwater displacement of 364 tons) and could dive to a depth of more than 120 meters.

Submarine type "M" XII series M-104 "Yaroslavsky Komsomolets", Northern Fleet

In this duel of representatives of the “light weight”, the German submarine won. But U-144 failed to increase its combat list. On August 10, 1941, a German ship was discovered by the Soviet medium diesel submarine Shch-307 "Pike" (under the command of Lieutenant Commander N. Petrov) in the area of ​​\u200b\u200babout. Dago in the Soelosund Strait (Baltic). The Pike had much more powerful torpedo armament (10 533 mm torpedoes and 6 torpedo tubes - four at the bow and two at the stern) than her German opponent. "Pike" fired a two-torpedo volley. Both torpedoes accurately hit the target, and U-144, along with the entire crew (28 people), was destroyed. Drozhzhin claims that the Soviet submarine M-94 under the command of Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Dyakov destroyed the German submarine. But in fact, Dyakov's boat became a victim of another German submarine - U-140. It happened on the night of July 21, 1941 near Ute Island. M-94, along with another M-98 submarine, patrolled off the island. At first, the submarines were escorted by three minesweeper boats. But later, at 03:00, the escort left the submarines, and they continued on their own: the M-94, trying to charge the batteries faster, went to great depths, and the M-98 headed under the coast. At the Kõpu lighthouse, the M-94 submarine was hit in the stern. It was a torpedo fired from the German submarine U-140 (Commander J. Hellrigel). The torpedoed Soviet submarine rested on the ground, the bow and superstructure of the submarine towered above the water.

The location of the Soviet submarine M-94 after being hit by German torpedoes
Source - http://ww2history.ru

The crew of the M-98 submarine decided that the "partner" was blown up by a mine, and started saving the M-94 - they began to launch a rubber boat. At that moment, the periscope of an enemy submarine was noticed from the M-94. The commander of the helmsman's department, S. Kompaniets, began to semaphore on the M-98 with pieces of a vest, warning of an attack by a German submarine. M-98 managed to dodge the torpedo in time. The crew of the U-140 did not re-attack the Soviet submarine, and the German submarine fled. M-94 soon sank. 8 crew members of the Malyutka were killed. The rest were rescued by the M-98 crew. Another "Baby" that died in a collision with German submarines was the M-99 submarine under the command of Senior Lieutenant Popov Boris Mikhailovich. M-99 was destroyed during combat duty near Ute Island by the German submarine U-149 (commander Lieutenant-Commander Horst Höltring), which attacked a Soviet submarine with two torpedoes. It happened on June 27, 1941.

In addition to the Baltic submariners, they fiercely fought with German troops and their colleagues from the Northern Fleet. The first submarine of the Northern Fleet that did not return from the military campaign of the Great Patriotic War was the M-175 submarine under the command of Lieutenant Commander Mamont Lukich Melkadze. M-175 became a victim of the German ship U-584 (commander Lieutenant Commander Joachim Decke). It happened on January 10, 1942 in the area north of the Rybachy Peninsula. The acoustics of a German ship from a distance of 1000 meters detected the noise of diesel engines of a Soviet submarine. The German submarine began pursuing the Melkadze submarine. M-175 followed a zigzag on the surface, charging batteries. The German car was moving under water. U-584 overtook the Soviet ship and attacked it, firing 4 torpedoes, two of which hit the target. M-175 sank, taking 21 crew members with her into the depths of the sea. It is noteworthy that the M-175 has already once become a target for a German submarine. On August 7, 1941, near the Rybachy Peninsula, the M-175 was torpedoed by the German submarine U-81 (commander Lieutenant Commander Friedrich Guggenberger). A German torpedo hit the side of the Soviet ship, but the fuse did not work on the torpedo. As it turned out later, a German submarine fired four torpedoes at the enemy from a distance of 500 meters: two of them did not hit the target, the fuse did not work on the third, and the fourth exploded on limit distance move.

German submarine U-81

Successful for Soviet submariners was the attack of the Soviet medium submarine S-101 of the German submarine U-639, carried out on August 28, 1943 in the Kara Sea. S-101 under the command of Lieutenant Commander E. Trofimov was a fairly powerful combat vehicle. The submarine had a length of 77.7 m, an underwater displacement of 1090 tons and could be in autonomous navigation for 30 days. The submarine carried powerful weapons - 6 torpedo tubes (12-533 mm torpedoes) and two guns - 100 mm and 45 mm caliber. The German submarine U-639, Lieutenant Wichmann, carried a combat mission - laying mines in the Gulf of Ob. The German submarine was moving on the surface. Trofimov ordered to attack the enemy ship. C-101 fired three torpedoes and U-639 sank instantly. 47 German submariners were killed in this attack.

Fights between German and Soviet submarines were not numerous, one might even say isolated, and took place, as a rule, in those zones where the Baltic and Northern Navy of the USSR operated. "Babies" became victims of German submariners. Duels between German and Soviet submariners did not affect the overall picture of the confrontation between the naval forces of Germany and the Soviet Union. In a duel between submarines, the winner was the one who quickly calculated the location of the enemy and was able to deliver accurate torpedo strikes.

Submarines dictate the rules in naval warfare and force everyone to meekly follow the established order.

Those stubborn ones who dare to neglect the rules of the game will face a quick and painful death in cold water, among floating debris and oil slicks. Boats, regardless of the flag, remain the most dangerous fighting vehicles capable of crushing any enemy.

I bring to your attention a short story about the seven most successful submarine projects of the war years.

Boats type T (Triton-class), UK
The number of submarines built is 53.
Surface displacement - 1290 tons; underwater - 1560 tons.
Crew - 59 ... 61 people.
Operating immersion depth - 90 m (riveted hull), 106 m (welded hull).
Full speed on the surface - 15.5 knots; in the underwater - 9 knots.
A fuel reserve of 131 tons ensured a surface cruising range of 8,000 miles.
Armament:
- 11 torpedo tubes of caliber 533 mm (on boats of sub-series II and III), ammunition load - 17 torpedoes;
- 1 x 102 mm universal gun, 1 x 20 mm anti-aircraft "Oerlikon".

HMS Traveler

The notorious British conservatism is a thing of the past - the British were among the first to equip their boats with ASDIC sonar. Alas, despite their powerful weapons and modern means of detection, boats high seas Type "T" did not become the most effective among the British submarines of World War II. Nevertheless, they went through an exciting battle path and achieved a number of remarkable victories. "Tritons" were actively used in the Atlantic, in the Mediterranean Sea, smashed Japanese communications on pacific ocean, several times noted in the cold waters of the Arctic.

In August 1941, the Taigris and Trident submarines arrived in Murmansk. British submariners demonstrated a master class to their Soviet colleagues: 4 enemy ships were sunk in two campaigns, incl. "Baia Laura" and "Donau II" with thousands of soldiers of the 6th Mountain Division. Thus, the sailors prevented the third German attack on Murmansk.

Other famous trophies of T-type boats include german easy the cruiser Karlsruhe and the Japanese heavy cruiser Ashigara. The samurai were “lucky” to get acquainted with the full 8-torpedo salvo of the Trenchent submarine - having received 4 torpedoes on board (+ one more from the stern TA), the cruiser quickly capsized and sank.

After the war, the powerful and perfect Tritons were in service with the Royal Navy for another quarter of a century.
It is noteworthy that Israel acquired three boats of this type in the late 1960s - one of them, INS Dakar (formerly HMS Totem), died in 1968 in the Mediterranean Sea under unclear circumstances.

Boats of the "Cruising" type of the XIV series, the Soviet Union
The number of submarines built is 11.
Surface displacement - 1500 tons; underwater - 2100 tons.
Crew - 62 ... 65 people.

Full speed on the surface - 22.5 knots; in the underwater - 10 knots.
Surface cruising range 16,500 miles (9 knots)
Submerged cruising range - 175 miles (3 knots)
Armament:

- 2 x 100 mm universal guns, 2 x 45 mm anti-aircraft semi-automatic;
- up to 20 minutes of barriers.

... On December 3, 1941, German hunters UJ-1708, UJ-1416 and UJ-1403 bombarded a Soviet boat that tried to attack a convoy near Bustad Sund.

Hans, do you hear that creature?
- Nine. After a series of explosions, the Russians sank to the bottom - I detected three hits on the ground ...
- Can you tell where they are now?
- Donnerwetter! They are blown. Surely they decided to surface and surrender.

The German sailors were wrong. From sea ​​depths MONSTER rose to the surface - a cruising submarine K-3 of the XIV series, which unleashed a barrage of artillery fire on the enemy. From the fifth salvo, the Soviet sailors managed to sink U-1708. The second hunter, having received two direct hits, smoked and turned aside - his 20 mm anti-aircraft guns could not compete with the “hundreds” of a secular submarine cruiser. Having scattered the Germans like puppies, K-3 quickly disappeared over the horizon at 20 knots.

The Soviet Katyusha was a phenomenal boat for its time. Welded hull, powerful artillery and mine-torpedo weapons, powerful diesel engines (2 x 4200 hp!), high surface speed of 22-23 knots. Huge autonomy in terms of fuel reserves. Remote control ballast tank valves. A radio station capable of transmitting signals from the Baltic to Far East. Exceptional level of comfort: shower cabins, refrigerated tanks, two seawater desalters, an electric galley… Two boats (K-3 and K-22) were equipped with Lend-Lease ASDIC sonar.

But, oddly enough, neither the high performance nor the most powerful weapons made the Katyusha effective - in addition to the dark story with the K-21 attack on the Tirpitz, during the war years, boats of the XIV series accounted for only 5 successful torpedo attacks and 27 thousand br . reg. tons of sunk tonnage. Most of the victories were won with the help of exposed mines. Moreover, their own losses amounted to five cruiser boats.

K-21, Severomorsk, today

It's a pity. These boats were counting on more.

"Baby", Soviet Union
Series VI and VI bis - 50 built.
Series XII - 46 built.
Series XV - 57 built (4 took part in the fighting).

TTX boat type M series XII:
Surface displacement - 206 tons; underwater - 258 tons.
Autonomy - 10 days.
Working depth of immersion - 50 m, limit - 60 m.
Full speed on the surface - 14 knots; in the underwater - 8 knots.
Cruising range on the surface - 3380 miles (8.6 knots).
Submerged cruising range - 108 miles (3 knots).
Armament:
- 2 torpedo tubes of caliber 533 mm, ammunition - 2 torpedoes;
- 1 x 45 mm anti-aircraft semi-automatic.

Baby!

In pursuit of compactness, many had to be sacrificed - service on the "Baby" turned into a grueling and dangerous event. Heavy living conditions, strong "chatter" - the waves ruthlessly threw a 200-ton "float", risking breaking it into pieces. Shallow diving depth and weak weapons. But the main concern of the sailors was the reliability of the submarine - one shaft, one diesel engine, one electric motor - the tiny "Baby" left no chance for the careless crew, the slightest malfunction on board threatened the submarine with death.

The kids evolved quickly - the performance characteristics of each new series differed several times from the previous project: contours improved, electrical equipment and detection tools were updated, diving time decreased, autonomy increased. The "babies" of the XV series no longer resembled their predecessors of the VI and XII series: one and a half hull design - the ballast tanks were moved outside the pressure hull; The power plant received a standard twin-shaft layout with two diesel engines and electric motors for underwater travel. The number of torpedo tubes increased to four. Alas, the XV series appeared too late - the brunt of the war was borne by the "Babies" of the VI and XII series.

Despite their modest size and only 2 torpedoes on board, the tiny fish were simply terrifying "gluttony": in just the years of World War II, Soviet M-type submarines sank 61 enemy ships with a total tonnage of 135.5 thousand gross tons, destroyed 10 warships, and also damaged 8 transports.

The little ones, originally intended only for operations in the coastal zone, have learned to fight effectively in open sea areas. They, along with larger boats, cut enemy communications, patrolled at the exits of enemy bases and fjords, deftly overcame anti-submarine barriers and undermined transports right at the piers inside protected enemy harbors. It's just amazing how the Red Navy could fight on these flimsy boats! But they fought. And they won!

Boats of the "Medium" type of the IX-bis series, the Soviet Union
The number of submarines built is 41.
Surface displacement - 840 tons; underwater - 1070 tons.
Crew - 36 ... 46 people.
Working depth of immersion - 80 m, limit - 100 m.
Full speed on the surface - 19.5 knots; submerged - 8.8 knots.
Surface cruising range 8,000 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 148 miles (3 knots).

“Six torpedo tubes and the same number of spare torpedoes on racks convenient for reloading. Two cannons with a large ammunition load, machine guns, explosive equipment ... In a word, there is something to fight. And 20-knot surface speed! It allows you to overtake almost any convoy and attack it again. Technique is good…”
- opinion of the S-56 commander, Hero of the Soviet Union G.I. Shchedrin

The problems of the combat use of boats of the "Middle" type, in general, were similar to the cruising boats of the K type - locked in mine-infested shallow water, they could not realize their high combat qualities. Things were much better in the Northern Fleet - during the war years, the S-56 boat under the command of G.I. Shchedrina made the transition across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, moving from Vladivostok to the Polar, subsequently becoming the most productive boat of the Soviet Navy.

An equally fantastic story is connected with the S-101 "bomb catcher" - during the war years, over 1000 depth charges were dropped on the boat by the Germans and the Allies, but each time the S-101 returned safely to Polyarny.

Finally, it was on the S-13 that Alexander Marinesko achieved his famous victories.

Torpedo compartment S-56

“The brutal alterations that the ship got into, bombing and explosions, depths far exceeding the official limit. The boat protected us from everything ... "

Boats like Gato, USA
The number of submarines built is 77.
Surface displacement - 1525 tons; underwater - 2420 tons.
Crew - 60 people.
Working depth of immersion - 90 m.
Full speed on the surface - 21 knots; in a submerged position - 9 knots.
Surface cruising range 11,000 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 96 miles (2 knots).
Armament:
- 10 torpedo tubes of caliber 533 mm, ammunition - 24 torpedoes;
- 1 x 76 mm universal gun, 1 x 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun, 1 x 20 mm Oerlikon;
- one of the boats - USS Barb was equipped with a jet system salvo fire to shell the coast.

The Getow-class ocean-going submarines appeared at the height of the Pacific War and became one of the most effective tools of the US Navy. They tightly blocked all strategic straits and approaches to the atolls, cut off all supply lines, leaving the Japanese garrisons without reinforcements, and Japanese industry without raw materials and oil. In the skirmishes with the Gatow, the Imperial Navy lost two heavy aircraft carriers, lost four cruisers and a damn dozen destroyers.

High travel speed, lethal torpedo weapon, the most modern radio equipment for detecting the enemy - radar, direction finder, sonar. The cruising range that provides combat patrols off the coast of Japan when operating from a base in Hawaii. Increased comfort on board. But the main thing is the excellent training of the crews and the weakness of Japanese anti-submarine weapons. As a result, the Gatow ruthlessly destroyed everything in a row - it was they who brought victory in the Pacific Ocean from the blue depths of the sea.

... One of the main achievements of the Getow boats, which changed the whole world, is the event of September 2, 1944. On that day, the Finback submarine detected a distress signal from a falling plane and, after many hours of searching, found a frightened pilot in the ocean, and there was already a desperate pilot . The one who was saved was George Herbert Bush.

The cabin of the submarine "Flasher", a memorial in the city of Groton.

Type XXI electric robots, Germany

By April 1945, the Germans managed to launch 118 submarines of the XXI series. However, only two of them were able to achieve operational readiness and go to sea in the last days of the war.

Surface displacement - 1620 tons; underwater - 1820 tons.
Crew - 57 people.
Working depth of immersion - 135 m, maximum - 200+ meters.
Full speed on the surface - 15.6 knots, in the submerged position - 17 knots.
Surface cruising range 15,500 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 340 miles (5 knots).
Armament:
- 6 torpedo tubes of caliber 533 mm, ammunition - 17 torpedoes;
- 2 anti-aircraft guns "Flak" caliber 20 mm.

U-2540 "Wilhelm Bauer" at the eternal parking lot in Bremerhaven, today

The Germans were the first to guess: everything that shipbuilders of other countries are proud of - a large ammunition load, powerful artillery, high surface speed of 20+ knots - is of little importance. Key parameters that determine combat effectiveness submarines - its speed and power reserve in a submerged position.

Unlike its peers, "Eletrobot" was focused on being constantly under water: the most streamlined body without heavy artillery, fences and platforms - all for the sake of minimizing underwater resistance. Snorkel, six groups of batteries (3 times more than on conventional boats!), powerful el. full speed engines, quiet and economical el. creep engines.

Aft part of U-2511, flooded at a depth of 68 meters

The Allies were not ready to face such a threat - as post-war tests showed, the Electrobots were several times superior in terms of mutual sonar detection range to the American and British destroyers guarding the convoys.

Type VII boats, Germany
The number of submarines built is 703.
Surface displacement - 769 tons; underwater - 871 tons.
Crew - 45 people.
Working depth of immersion - 100 m, limit - 220 meters
Full speed on the surface - 17.7 knots; in a submerged position - 7.6 knots.
Surface cruising range 8,500 miles (10 knots).
Submerged cruising range 80 miles (4 knots).
Armament:
- 5 torpedo tubes of caliber 533 mm, ammunition - 14 torpedoes;
- 1 x 88 mm universal gun (until 1942), eight options for add-ons with 20 and 37 mm anti-aircraft guns.

* the given performance characteristics correspond to boats of the VIIC sub-series

The most effective warships ever to sail the world's oceans.
A relatively simple, cheap, massive, but at the same time well-armed and deadly means for total underwater terror.

703 submarines. 10 MILLION tons of sunk tonnage! Battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, destroyers, enemy corvettes and submarines, oil tankers, transports with aircraft, tanks, cars, rubber, ore, machine tools, ammunition, uniforms and food ... The damage from the actions of German submariners exceeded all reasonable limits - if not the inexhaustible industrial potential of the United States, capable of compensating for any losses of the allies, the German U-bots had every chance to “strangle” Great Britain and change the course of world history.

U-995. Graceful underwater killer

The alignment was simple: at the beginning of the war, when there was one Allied anti-submarine ship for every German boat, the “sevens” felt like invulnerable masters of the Atlantic. It was then that the legendary aces appeared, sinking 40 enemy ships each. The Germans already had victory in their hands when the allies suddenly deployed 10 anti-submarine ships and 10 aircraft for every active Kriegsmarine boat!

Beginning in the spring of 1943, the Yankees and the British began methodically bombarding the Kriegsmarine with anti-submarine warfare and soon achieved an excellent loss ratio of 1:1. So they fought until the end of the war. The Germans ran out of ships faster than their opponents.

The whole history of the German "sevens" is a formidable warning from the past: what kind of threat does the submarine pose and how big are the costs of creating an effective system to counter the underwater threat.

Funky American poster of those years. "Hit the pain points! Come serve in the submarine fleet - we account for 77% of the sunk tonnage!" Comments, as they say, are unnecessary

The article uses materials from the book "Soviet submarine shipbuilding", V. I. Dmitriev, Military Publishing, 1990.

Nearly 70 years have passed since the Second World War died down, but even today not everything is known to us about some episodes of its final stage. That is why, again and again, in the press and literature, old stories about the mysterious submarines of the Third Reich that surfaced off the coast of Latin America come to life. Argentina was especially attractive to them.

GET FROM THE BOTTOM!

There were reasons for such stories, real or fictional. Everyone knows the role of German submarines in the war at sea: 1,162 submarines left the stocks of Germany during the Second World War. But not only this record number of boats could rightfully be proud of the German Navy.

German submarines of that time were distinguished by the highest technical characteristics - speed, immersion depth, unsurpassed cruising range. It is no coincidence that the most massive Soviet submarines of the pre-war period (series C) were built under a German license.

And when in July 1944 the German boat U-250 was sunk in the Vyborg Bay at a shallow depth, the Soviet command demanded that the fleet raise it at any cost and deliver it to Kronstadt, which was done, despite the stubborn opposition of the enemy. And although the boats of the VII series, to which the U-250 belonged, in 1944 were no longer considered last word German technology, but for Soviet designers there were many novelties in its design.

Suffice it to say that after its capture, a special order was issued by Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Kuznetsov to suspend the work begun on the project of a new submarine until a detailed study of the U-250. In the future, many elements of the "German" went into soviet boats project 608, and later project 613, of which more than a hundred were built in the post-war years. The boats of the XXI series had especially high performance, one after another leaving for the ocean since 1943.

Dubious Neutrality

Argentina, having chosen neutrality in the world war, nevertheless took a clearly pro-German position. Numerous German diaspora was very influential in this southern country and rendered all possible assistance to their warring compatriots. The Germans owned many industrial enterprises in Argentina, vast lands, and fishing boats.

German submarines operating in the Atlantic regularly approached the coast of Argentina, where they were supplied with food, medicine and spare parts. Nazi submariners were received as heroes by the owners of German estates, in in large numbers scattered along the Argentine coast. Eyewitnesses said that real feasts were arranged for bearded men in marine uniforms - lambs and pigs were roasted, the best wines and kegs of beer were exhibited.

But there were no reports of this in the local press. No wonder that it was in this country that after the defeat of the Third Reich, many prominent Nazis and their henchmen, such as Eichmann, Pribke, the sadistic doctor Mengele, the fascist dictator of Croatia Pavelic and others, found refuge and escaped from retribution.

There were rumors that they all got to South America aboard submarines, a special squadron of which, consisting of 35 submarines (the so-called "Fuhrer's Convoy"), had a base in the Canaries. To this day, dubious versions have not been refuted that Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun and Bormann found salvation in the same way, as well as about the secret German colony of New Swabia allegedly created with the help of a submarine fleet in Antarctica.

In August 1942, Brazil joined the warring countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, taking part in the battles on land, in the air and at sea. She suffered the greatest loss when the war in Europe had already ended, and in the Pacific Ocean she was burning out. July 4, 1945, 900 miles from their native shores, the Brazilian cruiser Bahia exploded and almost instantly went to the bottom. Most experts believe that his death (together with 330 crew members) was the work of German submariners.

SWASTIKA ON THE COTTAGE?

Waiting out Time of Troubles, having made good money on supplies to both warring coalitions, at the very end of the war, when its end was clear to everyone, on March 27, 1945, Argentina declared war on Germany. But after that the flow German boats seems to have just grown. Dozens of residents of coastal villages, as well as fishermen at sea, according to them, more than once observed submarines on the surface, moving south almost in wake formation.

The most open-eyed eyewitnesses even saw a swastika on their deckhouses, which, by the way, the Germans never put on the deckhouses of their boats. The coastal waters and coast of Argentina were now patrolled by the army and navy. An episode is known when, in June 1945, in the vicinity of the city of Mardel Plata, a patrol stumbled upon a cave in which various products were in sealed packaging. To whom they were intended remains unclear. It is also difficult to understand where this endless stream of submarines allegedly observed by the population after May 1945 came from.

After all, on April 30, the Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, ordered the operation "Rainbow", during which all the remaining Reich submarines (several hundred) were subject to flooding. It is quite real that some of these ships, which were in the ocean or in the ports of different countries, did not reach the directive of the commander-in-chief, and some crews simply refused to comply with it.

Historians agree that in most cases, various ships dangling on the waves, including fishing boats, were mistaken for submarines observed in the ocean, or eyewitness reports were simply a figment of their imagination against the backdrop of general hysteria in anticipation of a German retaliatory strike.

CAPTAIN CINZANO

But still, at least two German submarines turned out to be not phantoms, but quite real ships with live crews on board. These were U-530 and U-977, which entered the port of Mardel Plata in the summer of 1945 and surrendered to the Argentine authorities. When an Argentine officer boarded U-530 in the early morning of July 10, he saw the crew lined up on the deck and its commander, a very young Oberleutnant, who introduced himself as Otto Wermuth (later Argentine sailors called him Captain Cinzano) and stated that U- 530 and her crew of 54 surrender to the mercy of the Argentine authorities.

After that, the submarine's flag was lowered and handed over to the Argentine authorities, along with a list of the crew.

A group of officers from the naval base of Mardel Plata, who inspected U-530, noted that the submarine did not have a deck gun and two anti-aircraft machine guns (they were thrown into the sea before being captured), as well as not a single torpedo. All ship's documentation has been destroyed, as has the cipher machine. The absence of an inflatable rescue boat on the submarine was especially noted, which led to the idea that it was not used to land some Nazi figures (possibly Hitler himself) ashore.

During interrogations, Otto Wermuth said that U-530 left Kiel in February, hid in the Norwegian fjords for 10 days, after which it cruised along the US coast, and on April 24 moved south. Otto Wermuth could not give any intelligible explanations for the absence of the bot. Searches for the missing bot were organized with the involvement of ships, aircraft and marines but they did not give any results. On July 21, the ships participating in this operation were ordered to return to their bases. From that moment on, no one was looking for German submarines in the waters of Argentina.

THE TALE OF THE PIRATE

Concluding the story about the adventures of German submarines in the southern seas, one cannot fail to mention a certain corvette captain Paul von Rettel, who became widely known as the commander of U-2670 thanks to journalists. He, allegedly being in the Atlantic in May 1945, refused to sink his submarine or surrender and simply began to piracy off the coast of Africa and Southeast Asia. The newly-minted filibuster seemed to have made a huge fortune for himself. Fuel for his diesel engines, water and food, he replenished at the expense of his victims.

He practically did not use weapons, because few people dared to resist his formidable submarine. How this story ended, journalists do not know. But it is known for certain that the submarine number U-2670 was not included in the German fleet, and von Rettel himself was not on the list of commanders. So, to the disappointment of fans of sea romance, his story turned out to be a newspaper duck.

Konstantin RISHES

German submarine "Bieber" " (translated from the German "Beaver") is a series of 325 midget gasoline-powered submarines built in Germany in 1944.

German submarine "Bieber" beaver

On November 21, 1943, four midget English submarines of the Wellman class, on the orders of the commander of the British Navy in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, Admiral L. Wells, attacked the German floating dock and ships in the Norwegian port of Bergen (Operation Barbara). The operation ended in failure. Two boats were lost, and two went to the Germans as a trophy.

The English midget submarine Welman served as the starting point for the creation of the German Bieber Beaver class submarine.

Taking the ultra-small Wellman as a basis, the German designer corvette captain Heinrich Bartels in February 1944 began work on the creation of a German midget submarine commissioned by the Entwurf Flenderwerke shipyard in Lübeck. On February 23, 1944, G. Bartels prepared the working documentation, and by March 15, a prototype submarine was already ready, which received the designation "Adam" ("Adam").

Making a midget submarine, "Adam" (Adam), for factory workers it was "Bunte-Boot", the Bunta boat was nicknamed after the plant manager, Mr. Bunt

On March 29, it was demonstrated to the commander of the German Navy, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz. "Adam" differed from subsequent serial submarines of the "Bieber" class: it had a displacement of only 3 tons, a maximum length of 7 m, a hull width and a draft of 0.96 m, the duration of navigation on the surface was 13 hours (at a boat speed of 7 knots ), and in a submerged position - 2.5 hours (at a speed of 6 knots). The depth of submersion of the submarine reached 25 m.

The desire to ensure the possibility of transporting boats on trucks and launching them from an unequipped shore led to the fact that the displacement of the serial "Beaver" was limited to 7 tons, and the crew - to one person. Due to a shortage diesel engines submarines were equipped with gasoline. Each serial Bieber-class boat cost the Nazi Navy 29,000 Reichsmarks.
Nicknamed an assault weapon in the Nazi Reich, they were armed with two 533-mm torpedoes (or mines) and were controlled by one person. The smallest Kriegsmarine submarines could only operate in coastal waters.

The ultra-small Bieber-class submarine was officially referred to as a “single-seat submersible assault vehicle” and was intended to operate against enemy ships in the English Channel near the French and Dutch coasts.

In total, eight divisions were formed from the Biebers (from 261st to 268th). But their combat use was extremely unsuccessful. They suffered from ventilation problems. A running gasoline engine (which could not be completely isolated from the cockpit) poisoned the air inside the submarine and often led to the death of the submarine driver.

The total losses of midget submarines of the Bieber class for the period from August 1944 to April 1945 amounted to 113 units. After analyzing the situation, Flenderwerke engineers began developing more modern modifications of the Beaver: Bieber II and Bieber III. But they no longer had to take part in the Second World War.

DESIGN
The hull of the submarine was made of ship steel 3 mm thick and had a streamlined shape. In the middle of the hull there was a small cabin (made of aluminum alloy) only 52 cm high with portholes and an entrance hatch. The rectangular portholes were made of armored glass (one at the bow, one at the stern, and two portholes on each side). A periscope 150 cm long and a snorkel extended from the wheelhouse. Behind the cabin was the engine exhaust pipe.
Four bulkheads divided the hull into five compartments. The first contained a ballast tank; in the second - the control post and the driver of the submarine; in the third compartment they placed a 6-cylinder gasoline engine of the Otto model (taken from an Opel Blitz light truck) with a volume of 2.5 liters and a power of 32 liters. e.; in the fourth electric motor power 13l.s. (powered by batteries) and shafting; in the fifth - aft ballast tank.
For the movement of the Beaver, a propeller with a diameter of 47 cm was used. The submarine was controlled by one person - the driver. She could move on the surface at a speed of 6.5 knots (the cruising range at the same time was up to 130 miles), or - under water - at a speed of 5.3 knots.

When diving, the driver could only breathe freely for 45 minutes (so the boat could only go 8.6 miles under water at a speed of 5 knots). The air during a long swim under water was supersaturated carbon dioxide, and this led to the poisoning of the crew. In order to somehow remedy the situation, the boat driver was equipped with an autonomous breathing apparatus with three cartridges with a carbon dioxide absorber, which should have been enough for 20 hours of being under water. In addition, due to the poor balance of the boat, underwater movement under the periscope was extremely difficult, which is why ships were often attacked from the surface.

electric torpedoes Till type G7e, or naval mines

The beaver was armed with two 533-mm modified electric torpedoes of the G7e type, which were suspended using two yokes on rail guides along the sides of the submarine.

TTX SUPER SMALL SUBMARINES OF THE BIEBER CLASS

• Displacement, t: surface: 6.5
• Dimensions, m: length: 9.04 width: 1.57 draft: 1.37
• GEM: Gasoline engine with a capacity of 32 liters. e., an electric motor with a capacity of 13 liters. With.
• Speed, knots: surface: 6.5 underwater: 5.3
• Maximum immersion depth, m: 20
• Armament: 2 x 533 mm electric Till torpedoes (type G7e) or naval mines
• Crew, people: 1

Combat use German submarine "Bieber" beaver .
Each serial Bieber-class boat cost the Nazi Navy 29,000 Reichsmarks.

• On August 30, 1944, during the first military campaign, only 14 of the 22 assigned Beavers were able to go to sea, of which only two reached the calculated position, and not one of them hit a single target. On December 22-23, 1944, 18 submarines entered the combat position from the port of Rotterdam, but only one boat returned.
• On December 23, at 16:25, five miles from Vlissingen, the Beaver, driven by the driver Schulze, finally won the first (and only) victory. He sank the cargo ship Alan A. Dale (MV Alan A. Dale) with a displacement of 4702 gross tons, sailing from New York to Antwerp with a cargo of equipment and ammunition, going to the convoy. But on the way back, the compass on the boat failed, and she ran aground in the territory occupied by the enemy. The driver of the boat was taken prisoner.
• On December 24-25, 1944, 14 more submarines went on a combat mission, and not one of them returned.

The Bieber was intended to operate against enemy ships in the English Channel on the French and Dutch coasts, photo at the Imperial War Museum London

• On December 27, 1944, tragedy struck. Two torpedoes spontaneously launched, which left the guides of one mini-boat and hit a nearby minesweeper and a lock. As a result of the explosions, 11 Beavers, a minesweeper and a tugboat sank. Six people were killed and three are missing.
• March 6, 1945 - another tragedy.

The total loss of ultra-small submarines of the Bieber class for the period from August 1944 to April 1945 amounted to 113 units

In the harbor of Rotterdam, where the Beavers were based, a spontaneous torpedo launch again occurred. The result was the sinking of 14 submarines, and another nine boats were damaged. On the same day, 11 submarines went on a mission, none of which returned to base ...

Armament

• 5 × 355 mm torpedo tubes
• 1 × 88 mm SK C/35 gun
• 1 × 20 mm C30 anti-aircraft gun
• 26 TMA or 39 TMB mines

Ships of the same type

24 Type VIIB submarines:
U-45 - U-55
U-73 - U-76
U-83 - U-87
U-99 - U-102

The German Type VIIB submarine U-48 is the most successful Kriegsmarine submarine in World War II. Manufactured at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel in 1939, she made 12 military campaigns, sinking 55 Allied ships with a total displacement of 321,000 tons. In 1941, U-48 was transferred to a training flotilla, where she served until the end of the war. She was scuttled by her crew on 3 May 1945 near Neustadt.

History of creation

Prerequisites for creation

The results of the First World War showed the offensive power of the submarine fleet, which practically “strangled” Great Britain with a naval blockade. Due to attacks by German submarines, the Entente lost 12 million tons of its fleet, not counting 153 warships. Therefore, the development and construction of submarines in Germany were prohibited by the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty. This circumstance forced the Reichsmarine to look for workarounds to revive its submarine fleet. German shipbuilding companies began to create foreign design bureaus, which developed projects for new submarines. To implement the developed ideas, orders were needed, for the sake of which the bureaus went to establish more attractive prices than those of competitors. The losses were offset by the finances of the Reichsmarine. One of the most valuable orders was from Finland, for which they built the small boat Vesikko and the medium Vetehinen, which became the prototype for the II and VII series submarines.

Design

Design description

Frame

The submarine U-48, like all boats of the VII series, was one and a half hull (the light hull was not located along the entire contour of the strong hull). The strong hull was a cylinder with a diameter of 4.7 m in the area of ​​​​the central post, tapering towards the bow and stern. Also, from the center to the ends, the thickness of the sheet of the strong hull also changed (18.5 and 16.0 mm, respectively). The design was designed for working immersion up to 100-120 m, while it should be borne in mind that the margin of safety adopted for submarines in the German fleet was a factor of 2.3. In practice, boats of the VII series sank to a depth of 250 m.

The following were welded to the strong hull: bow and stern ends, side boules, leveling tanks, as well as a deck superstructure with a cutting fence. The space between the strong and light hulls was freely floodable. A ventilation system pipeline was laid under the deck superstructure, storage facilities for the first shots for the deck gun and anti-aircraft gun, a lifeboat, spare torpedoes for bow tubes, as well as cylinders with compressed air.

The interior of the boat was divided into six compartments, which had different purposes. The compartments were separated from each other by light bulkheads, designed for the surface position of the submarine in case of an accident. The exception was the central post, which served simultaneously as a rescue compartment. Its bulkheads were made concave and designed for a pressure of 10 atmospheres. The compartments were numbered from stern to bow in order to unambiguously determine the location of various mechanisms and equipment relative to the sides of the ship.

Directly on the bridge were the periscope guides and the stand of the optical fire control device (UZO), used in the attack from the surface, the main compass binnacle and a hatch leading down to the conning tower. On the wall of the cabin on the starboard side there was a slot for a retractable radio direction finder antenna. The rear part of the bridge was open and led to the aft platform, which had a fence in the form of handrails.

Power plant and driving performance

The U-48 power plant consisted of two types of engines: diesel engines for surface navigation and electric motors for submerged navigation.

Two six-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines of the F46 brand from Germaniawerft developed a power of 2800 hp, which made it possible to go on the surface with a maximum speed of 17.9 knots. When pursuing a convoy, both diesels and electric motors were often used simultaneously, which gave an additional 0.5 knots of speed. The maximum fuel supply was 113.5 tons and provided a 10-knot cruising range of up to 9700 miles. For combustion of fuel, air was supplied to diesel engines through a pipeline laid to the cutting fence between a strong and light body, and for exhaust gases, each diesel engine was equipped with exhaust pipes.

Movement under water was provided by two electric motors AEG GU 460 / 8-276 with a total power of 750 hp. The engines were powered by a 27-MAK 800W battery, consisting of 124 cells. The maximum speed under water was 8 knots, the submerged range was 90 miles at 4 knots and 130 miles at 2 knots. The battery was charged from working diesel engines, respectively, the boat had to be on the surface.

Immersion U-48 was carried out by filling the ballast tanks with water, ascent - by blowing them with compressed air and diesel exhaust gases. The time for the urgent dive of the boat was 25-27 seconds with the well-coordinated work of the crew.

Crew and Habitability

The crew of U-48 consisted of 44 people: 4 officers, 4 foremen, 36 non-commissioned officers and sailors.

The officers included the commander of the boat, two watch officers and the chief mechanic. The first officer of the watch served as the first mate, replacing the commander in the event of his death or injury. In addition, he was responsible for the operation of all combat systems of the submarine and supervised torpedo firing on the surface. The second watch officer was responsible for the lookouts on the bridge, controlled artillery and anti-aircraft fire. He was also responsible for the work of radio operators. The chief mechanic was responsible for controlling the movement of the submarine, the operation of all its non-combat mechanisms. In addition, he was responsible for the installation of explosive charges when the boat was flooded.

Four foremen performed the functions of navigator, boatswain, diesel operator and control of electric motors.

The personnel of non-commissioned officers and sailors were divided into teams according to various specializations: helmsmen, torpedo pilots, engine crew, radio operators, acoustics, etc.

The habitability on U-48, like all submarines of the VII series, was one of the worst in comparison with submarines of other fleets. The internal arrangement was aimed at maximizing the use of the tonnage of the boat for its combat use. In particular, the number of beds barely exceeded half of the crew, one of the two available latrines was almost always used as a food warehouse, the captain's cabin was a corner fenced off from the passage by an ordinary screen.

It is characteristic that the aft living compartment, where the non-commissioned officers were located, had the nickname "Potsdamer Platz" because of the constant noise from working diesel engines, conversations and commands in the central post, and the running of the crew.

Armament

Mine and torpedo armament

The main weapon of the U-48 was a torpedo. The boat was equipped with 4 bow and 1 stern 533-mm torpedo tubes. The stock of torpedoes was 14 pieces: 5 in vehicles, 6 in the bow torpedo room, 1 in the aft torpedo room and 2 outside the pressure hull in special containers. The shot from the TA was fired not with compressed air, but with the help of a pneumatic piston, which did not unmask the boat when launching torpedoes.

Two types of torpedoes were used on U-48: combined-cycle G7a and electric G7e. Both torpedoes carried the same warhead weighing 280 kg. The fundamental difference was in the engine. The steam-gas torpedo was set in motion by compressed air and left a well-marked bubble trail on the surface. The electric torpedo was driven by a battery and was free from this drawback. In turn, the steam-gas torpedo had the best dynamic characteristics. Her maximum range was 5500, 7500 and 12500 m at 44, 40 and 30 knots, respectively. The range of the G7e model was only 5,000 m at 30 knots.

Torpedo firing was carried out using the Torpedo Vorhalterechner calculating device (PSD) installed in the conning tower. The commander and boatswain entered into the PSA a series of data about the boat and the attacked target, and the device within a few seconds developed settings for a torpedo shot and transmitted them to the compartments. The torpedo pilots entered data into the torpedo, after which the commander fired a shot. In the event of an attack from the surface, the UZO (UberwasserZielOptik) surface sighting optics pedestal mounted on the bridge of the boat was also used.

The design of the torpedo tubes made it possible to use them for minelaying. The boat could take on board non-contact bottom mines of two types: 24 TMC or 36 TMB.

Auxiliary/anti-aircraft artillery

Artillery armament of U-48 consisted of 88 mm SK C35/L45 guns mounted on the deck in front of the wheelhouse fence. Shells of the first supply were stored under the deck flooring, the main ammunition was placed in the forward living compartment. The ammunition load of the gun was 220 rounds.

To protect against aviation, a 20-mm anti-aircraft gun Flak30.

Communications, detection, auxiliary equipment

As a means of observation on the U-48, when the boat was in the surface or positional position, Zeiss binoculars with multiple magnification were used. The watch officer's binoculars were also used as part of the UZO during surface torpedo attacks. In a submerged position, commander's or anti-aircraft periscopes were used.

To communicate with the headquarters and other submarines, radio equipment operating on short, medium and extra-long waves was used. Shortwave communication was considered the main one, which was provided by the E-437-S receiver, two transmitters, as well as a retractable antenna in the left wing of the bridge fence. The medium wave equipment for communication between boats consisted of an E-381-S receiver, a Spez-2113-S transmitter, and a small retractable antenna with a round vibrator in the right wing of the bridge guard. The same antenna played the role of a direction finder.

In addition to optics, the submarine used acoustic equipment and radar to detect the enemy. Noise direction finding was provided by 11 hydrophones installed in the bow of the light hull. Radar reconnaissance was carried out using FuMO 29. The detection range of a large ship was 6-8 km, an aircraft - 15 km, the accuracy of determining the direction - 5 °.

The posts of the acoustics and radio operator were located next to the captain's "cabin", so that the commander could be the first to receive information about the changed situation at any time.

Service History

Doom

commanders

• 22 April 1939 – 20 May 1940 Lieutenant Commander Herbert Schultze (Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves)
• 21 May 1940 – 3 September 1940 Corvette Captain Hans Rudolf Rösing (Knight's Cross)
• 4 September 1940 – 16 December 1940 Lieutenant Commander Heinrich Bleichrodt (Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves)
• 17 December 1940 – 27 July 1941 Lieutenant Commander Herbert Schultze (Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves)
• August 1941 - September 1942 Lieutenant zur See Siegfried Atzinger
• 26 September 1942 - October 1943 Oberleutnant zur see Diether Todenhagen

see also

Awards

Notes

Literature and sources of information

Image gallery

Kriegsmarine