Germany's Super Sub, the Type XXI U-Boat | Sails and Salvos

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Today we look at the Type XXI (21) U-Boat. This submarine was built by the Germans during the latter stages of WW2 with a host of new features making it a true super sub of its time. Stay tuned to learn all about this influential design.
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Script by Baron Von Teapot
Sources:
Jones, M.O. (2014). Innovation for its own sake: The Type XXI U-Boat. Naval War College Review, 67(2). (digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi...)
Williamson, G. (2005). Wolfpack: The story of the U-Boat in World War II. (archive.org/details/wolfpacks...)
Stokes, P.R. (1998). Hydrogen Peroxide for Power and Propulsion. Science Museum, London.
(hydrogen-peroxide.us/history-...)
www.hisutton.com/Type-XXI-U-Bo...
web.archive.org/web/200709270...
www.uboataces.com/uboat-type-x...
uboat.net/types/xxiii.htm
naval-encyclopedia.com/ww2/us...
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#sailsandsalvos #history #ww2 #uboat

[@ConeOfArc]

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[@Irobert1115HD]

erm the forward hydrophones where the massive thingy under the bow. the retracting thing where the forward deth rudders.

[@HunterSteel29]

@@Irobert1115HD The retractable depth elevators are better known (and officially) as Diveplanes

[@Irobert1115HD]

@@HunterSteel29 couldnt find the name of the blopody thing on wikipeter. im actually german and that can cause problems in communications.

[@HunterSteel29]

@@Irobert1115HD It can happen. Often times some language terms don't translate well into English lol

[@joelbell9082]

Unfortunately after the 30 day I'll have to start paying for it so I'm not really interested right now

[@lordcaptainteapot6143]

Had a great time writing this one, so much stuff packed into this one submarine! Keep your eyes out for the equally interesting XXIII and some other neat stuff coming later!

[@zacksmith413]

Could you do an operation tiger episode from ww2?

[@MadnerKami]

Thank you! These boats get waaay too few attention, whenever the submarine-warfare of World War 2 is spoken about.

[@20chocsaday]

Little Brother is on the way.

[@Doofing_Cookies]

I’m subscribing just because of ur username

[@davidelliott5843]

Germany’s dimpled rubber tile hull coating system made their boats almost undetectable by the sonar of the time. The Royal Navy destroyed one by tricking it into a newly laid minefield. They could not find it for any sort of normal attack.

[@lonelypotato3001]

I think it's interesting that unlike with other 'Wunderwaffen' they actually considered how to optimize mass production in the design itself

[@Irobert1115HD]

this is one of the few things considered as wunderwaffe that actually deserves the title.

[@coolenick0]

that's because the Kriegsmarine wasn't entirely sucked up by Hitler's megalomaniac tendrils and still knew how to fight a war, but just like the Luftwaffe they'd fall into neglect later on into the war

[@Irobert1115HD]

@@coolenick0 nah likely more because hitler ignored the kriegfsmarine.

[@kommandantgalileo]

@@Irobert1115HD so they weren't suck in by Hitler

[@Irobert1115HD]

@@kommandantgalileo not as hard as the other branches. the kriegsmarine was actually underfunded in comparison to the other branches.

[@enoughothis]

The Type XXI deserves far more attention than it gets. It is the forefather of all modern submarines, both in tactics and in it's sleek hydrodynamic design. There were even plans to mount rocket pods on it to attack surface vessels.

[@20chocsaday]

Some diagrams had banks of torpedoes inside the sub pointing 30° outwards and to the rear. I wish the cat had not made these little books unusable. Soggy and smelly.

[@Neil-yg5gm]

I read somewhere that the Germans were working on dragging missiles in the water behind submarines.

[@allangibson8494]

@@20chocsaday The British E-Class had broadside torpedo tubes before WW1…

[@chaz8758]

The type XXI had many flaws, some very bad and sub par - fresh water system, low power engine so taking a long time to recharge (days), diving controls, torpedo retaining systems - which meant few ideas were used - the US and UK stuck to their own designs (read the US reports post war testing, the type XXI did not come out well in any aspect - unlike the Type VII C).

[@williamzk9083]

@@20chocsaday Torpedoes pointing outward at about 30 degrees is what modern submarines use. This is so that the nose can be dedicated to the sonar array.

[@Franky46Boy]

The schnorkel (snorkel) was already used on Dutch submarines before the war and when the Netherlands were occupied in 1940, the Germans got hold of this technology.

[@jwenting]

it may even have reached Germany before that, as the technology had been installed on a number of submarines sold by the Dutch to Poland, some of which likely fell into German hands when Poland fell (though some escaped to England).

[@herrakaarme]

Between the wars, German submarine development happened in the Netherlands, in dummy companies, and prototypes were built here and there in Europe, for example in Finland. This was to avoid the Treaty of Versailles restrictions placed upon Germany. So, in a lawyer manner of speech much of the German submarine technology was Dutch, on paper, before Germany eventually ignored the limitations entirely.

[@jwenting]

@@herrakaarme And a lot of German surface ship development was done for what were technically export projects, among others for the Dutch navy. These usually produced real products that were actually delivered, but they also kept German naval shipyards operational and staff well trained.

[@williamzk9083]

The Germans refined them highly. They went from a simple open intake snorkel or mechanical float type shut of valve to to a pneumatically operated valve that rapidly activated when salt water bridged two electrical contacts.

[@Franky46Boy]

@@williamzk9083 Now that is interesting!

[@ShoalsSkipper]

Well done! The picture you show is U-3008 surrendering in Portsmouth (NH) harbor, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, May 1945. I'm privileged to know a chief torpedoman who served on this boat after it gave up. Yes, he's just over 95 today, and was assigned to this boat after she came to Portsmouth. The Navy retained essential German crew on board to train the US crew. Bill and crew (...and Bill said they were always trying to sabotage the boat) were sent to Key West to work with our destroyer fleet for search and detection exercises. Bill told me the sub was so good at outmaneuvering surface craft, our navy never did come up with a 'search & destroy' strategy against the Type XXI. Sadly, the boat was later subjected to a firing exercise, and lies on the bottom near Fort Jefferson, off Key West.

[@brendonbewersdorf986]

I hope the brief mention of the Walter turbine means we will get a video on those submarines to! They are a really fascinating design!

[@mandernachluca3774]

Yes fucking please. :D The Walter turbine had some very interesting characteristics.

[@20chocsaday]

A firm I worked for used to buy 130volumes H2O2 with a minimum allowable purchase of 5 tons.

[@advorak8529]

@@20chocsaday … at what concentration?

[@macroglossumstellatarum5932]

The main problem with the Walther Turbine and why it wasn't used for submarines was that hydrogenperoxide is a really nasty chemical. It had a tendency to evaporate out of the engine and spontaneously combust. This didn't damage the engine in any way, but still at to dealbreaker in an enclosed space. The Wilhelm Bauer museum ship has a really awesome book containing almost everything you'd want to know on submarines in general and the Typ 21 and 23 in particular. If you can read German, anyways. Also, a funny detail, Wilhelm Bauer was never officially part of the West German navy, as they weren't allowed to have subs that size. So they removed the torpedo tubes and AA guns and it was allowed to be a civilian experimental sub. The German Navy started with two Typ 23s coastal subs, U Hecht and U Hai. That's pike and shark, respectively. Both were raised after being scuttled, though they would unfortunately both sink later.

[@allangibson8494]

Peroxide doesn’t combust. It causes other things to combust by off gassing oxygen.

[@williamzk9083]

There are ways of handling it safely. Use either stainless steal, rubber, glass. No brass, that causes decomposition.

[@allangibson8494]

@@williamzk9083 Platinum and nickel doesn’t play well either… The lower lobe of the pressure hull was supposed to be the lead lined peroxide tank.

[@xxi7511]

There was also the issue of the storage - peroxide and the catalyst required a lot of space if they were to be used as the main mean of propulsion underwater.

[@advorak8529]

@@xxi7511 They were never meant to be the main propulsion. HTP was meant to be the high speed juice, giving speeds beyond what ASDIC could be used at, allowing fast (if not silent) repositioning and evasion. Don’t quote me on that, but my memory says something like 168 nm on HTP.

[@warmstrong5612]

Just imagine if Germany had these at the start of the war in significant numbers. Great Britain would've likely been starved into submission and the USSR not long after. The Type XXI was probably the most potentially devastating wonder weapon Germany had at the time.

[@RockinRobbins13]

Imagine if the British had the hunter-killer aircraft carrier centered groups whose job was not to protect convoys, but the actively hunt and kill U-boats. The greater range and speed of the Type XXI would only have resulted in drawing a larger circle around the last sighting. Snorkels were great radar beacons and did nothing to hide submarines from aircraft. The result would only be that the Type XXI would run a bit further before being killed. With decent ASW techniques by your adversary, control of the ocean surface and the air above has to be established before diesel-electric submarines could be effective or even useful. The fact is, the very moment Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare, it lost the war. Submarines were not an appropriate weapon for Germany to use and their very use, sinking the ships of all other nations of the world, ensured that the entire world would join together against them. Declaring unrestricted submarine warfare was a suicidal act guaranteeing Germany would lose World War II.

[@Lord.Kiltridge]

I would really like to see that torpedo loading process animated.

[@bubbamarkland1992]

Dude I’ve been obsessed with the construction and engineering of early submarines. There’s not a lot of info out there on the differences and timeline of submarine upgrades and construction. This is a great video

[@stephenlightfoot9627]

I remember reading somewhere that they also had a rubberised coating to absorb sonar, making them less detectable.

[@williamzk9083]

Albrecht

[@alphabravodelta42]

Problem was that there was high frequency flow noise at high speed making it very detectable.

[@timoadler6356]

@@williamzk9083 Its name is Alberich, like the king of the dwarfs with his stealth-cap in Germanic mythology.

[@garys2327]

Not too sure it was ever used on a XXI. They did have problems adhering it to a hull and that was with the slower boats.

[@williamzk9083]

@@garys2327 They tested it in 1942 and found problems with the the coating peeling off after some time due to the glue. It was a system of steel mesh plates with holes punched in and filled with rubber. The system was improved and u-boat refereed to as the "Black Panther" used it successfully in 1944 during the Normandy landings but it hit a mine field.

[@bubbamarkland1992]

🙏🙏🙏 thank you so much for this video. This is exactly the kind of video I’ve been waiting for years! You can’t find a lot of info on the designs and difference between them. Hell most submarine videos don’t go over this type of information. Thank you so much man

[@davidholman1258]

Excellent video. I’m building the Revell XX1 with the cutaway interior and the video was a very useful accompaniment especially that actual footage of the interior compartments. A real inspiration- thank you.

[@steveblottenberger1097]

Excellent job I can understand you and the footage is unreal especially the old footage of submarines

[@williamromine5715]

Thank you for your detail on the sub. I am 82, and over the years, I would see a reference about the sub, but there wouldn't be any details given. Finally, at last, you described how advanced it was. It's a good thing the Germans didn't have such subs at the start of the war. The British might have been out of the war by the time of Pearl Harbor.

[@Kpar512]

An outstanding video! I am very familiar with the Type IXC submarine, as I live near Chicago and visited the U-505 (shown a number of times in this video- probably as it was being delivered to the Museum of Science and Industry in that city). I have read on the Type XXI, but this video has given me much more information- particularly about the Walther engine, of which I was for years unable to find on the internet. FWIW, I visited the USS Drum, on display at the USS Alabama Memorial Park in Mobile, AL. The Drum is a Gato class US Fleet submarine, designed for operations in the Pacific, which required a MUCH LARGER vessel, for the long distances involved (much like the Japanese "I-Boats). The Kreigsmarine was much more interested in operations in the Atlantic (obviously) so they concentrated on smaller, shorter range U-boats like the Type VII as described in the video. I was SHOCKED at the disparity between the U-505 and the USS Drum- US subs were MUCH larger inside, much more comfortable (if one can use that term on a "pig-boat"). Those German sailors were tough. brave, and smart, and almost 75% of them were lost in combat. The crew of the U-505 was probably the luckiest U-boat crew, ever. They spent the rest of the war in US POW camps, and many became American citizens after the war.

[@RemusKingOfRome]

Another excellent video, the details are superb.

[@attilavs2]

I actually visited the prototype in germany, is really close to modern designs in the idea and even in functionality relative to the tech of the time.

[@alphabravodelta42]

Functional? Torpedo reload system that was removed from later produced units because it didn't work. Diesel engines that were under powered meaning that battery recharge time would never reach design specs and severely impact patrol range. Any damage would affect tubing on the outside of the pressure hull resulting in leaks and would be unrepairable at sea. It says alot about the design when the Soviets never put a single XXI together from all the sections they had.

[@attilavs2]

@@alphabravodelta42 if it worked, like all german ww2 tech

[@cosmoray9750]

Look up " Exclusive: NYPD officer accused of spying for China speaks out " on yT. His life was turned upside down......

[@brianswan3559]

​​@@alphabravodelta42All modern submarines have external hydraulics and the type XXI was the first modern submarine, non penetrating masts, planes, retracting antenna, RADAR hydraulic motors, and hull openings ect. If you have external hydraulics then you must have external hydraulic lines. The type XXI was intended to have a surface speed of 18kts however due to excessive exhaust temperatures the superchargers were removed lowering the surface speed to 15kts. This was not an issue as the type XXI was a true submarine and designed to operate submerged for the whole of its combat patrol and would charge its batteries whilst snorkelling, the type XXI could only snorkel at a maximum speed of 11kts in a moderate sea anyway, a full charging cycle lasted 5 hours and would have taken place at night, probably every 48 hours whilst in transit.

[@alphabravodelta42]

@@brianswan3559 kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJXcmGefnM-kpMUsi=nuBYRrzYag-cM2uV who do I believe? Some rando on the Internet or an actual academic who has done the research into primary wartime German sources

[@davidlang4442]

They were the first subs to use C02 scrubbers.. allowing longer times underwater.

[@Balmung60]

The funny thing is Japan pretty much independently had many of the same ideas with the I-201 class, which also eventually served as the basis of Japan's first post-war submarines. Also, Britain experimented with many of the concepts that would later be seen in Type XXI and I-201 with the R-Class.

[@williamzk9083]

I think the R class was an small coastal sub designed to hunt other subs by ramming and lacked range. It was flawed due to lack of hydroplanes and an engine so undersized it was difficult to recharge at sea. Obviously it showed what could be done.

[@williamzk9083]

What distinguished the u-boats from the Japanese subs in particular and allied subs in general was diving depth and which was vastly higher in the u-boats which could this escape as well as take a depth charging. Skin thickness was almost twice as much.

[@karlheinzvonkroemann2217]

The Japanese didn't mainly target merchant ships but targeted warships instead. They hada very large submarine force.

[@williamzk9083]

@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 The Japanese submarines were 'fleet subs' designed to be fast enough on the surface to keep up with a fleet. A few u-boats stationed in Malaya sank more merchant ships than the entire Japanese sub fleet.

[@tomtrenter3208]

@@williamzk9083 The R class and all WW1 subs lacked an effective means to detect other subs.

[@tombombadil9123]

4:40 quite often they even attacked from the surface in the early stages of the war. for example, when engaging a solitary unarmed merchant ship, the U-boat captains would order the crew from the target ship to get into lifeboats and row to a safe distance, before destroying the ship, all while surfaced, sometimes even using the deck-gun to save torpedoes

[@karlheinzvonkroemann2217]

The Allies were responsible for that practice being stopped.

[@ODST6262]

@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 British Q ships which were armed merchantmen disguised as standard unarmed merchantmen. These would ambush any U-boat attempting to use their deck guns to get a ship to surrender. Happened in WWI as well. I note that the German U-boats continued to successfully attack convoys on the surface at night. The Germans used type VII and Type IX submarines. Not sure where the type XI mentioned came from in the video. Also it was the development of airborne radar, especially the centimeter radar, and effective triangulation of U-boat radio transmissions along with escort carriers, long range aircraft, and enough anti-submarine elements to put together hunter killer anti-submarine groups by the allies in 1943 that halted the good days for U-boats. This meant there was no gap in air coverage, U-boats reporting by radio for centralized control (Wolf Pack tactics) were located, and any U-boat located could be attacked by an ASW group regardless of its location. It also became difficult near ports in France and especially Germany to transit due to aircraft with radar and searchlights attacking the submarines on the surface at night and in daylight.

[@ukusagent]

Errors Planes Had Radar and SonoBuoys , Not Sonar ( First used in July 1942), The Pressure Hull was Aluminimiumed Steel Alloy , noy an Aluminium Alloy ( They didnt have the welding Tech to join Aluminium very well back in 1944) They had retractable Hydroplanes not Hydrophones

[@EllieMaes-Grandad]

Sonar is a US term; the UK called it Asdic, used it from the war's beginning.

[@majorbloodnok6659]

Have a look at the British R-class of WW1. The first submarines designed to have a higher underwater speed than surfaced speed; they were the progenitors of the modern attack submarine.

[@Pippippipvk]

Weren't that the same folk who designed the K-Class Steam-Powered Subs.............

[@majorbloodnok6659]

@@Pippippipvk Both classes were build by a range of builders for the Royal Navy. The K-class were a dead end but the R-class showed the way ahead but they never had a real chance to demonstrate their abilities before the war ended.

[@Pippippipvk]

@@majorbloodnok6659 I would like to disagree to some extent. I agree that the choice to design the ship with hydrodynamics in mind was ahead of it's time. As well is the tactic of countering submersed subs. But from what I've read on the R-Class, they were awefull, and I strongly disagree that they had any potential as a weapon of war. They were as a matter of fact still ships that were able to dive, instead of true subs. It's true that they were faster belowe the surface, but that does not matter if your battery capacity is spent after 30 min under normal load. Their seaworthyness awefull cause they were designed to go belowe the water, were they could only go fast, sincer maneuverability was bad aswel. The R-Class had potential in the way that they had a good idea on which following classes could have been developed, but Britian never decided to go that way. As a matter of fact british subs keept beeing mediocre at best until they got their hands on the type XXI, to further develope the tech. I don't want to be disrespectful or anything but the R-Class was a bad sub with some good ideas packed into it. That is at least my opinion and you a free to have your own. :)

[@majorbloodnok6659]

@@Pippippipvk Hi, thanks for your thoughtful reply which I think justly sums up the class. It is one of the things I find so fascinating about WW1, a conflict where so many ideas arise ahead of their time but the technology and/or materials just aren't in place to make them work. I just like to give these people just credit for their ideas. 🙂

[@SR951159753357]

6:00 The Typ XXI was made out of St52-KM Steel

[@spyran5839]

2:50 I know you said arguably, but I’d still like to bring up the German auxiliary cruiser fleet, which sank a ridiculous amount of tonnage for the amount of resources they got, all while establishing a reputation for gallantry and a having high regard for human life. Maybe it would be worth researching for a Video.

[@garys2327]

First time I had ever heard that an XXI had aluminum alloy used in construction. Germany was short on aluminum that's why they tried wood in aircraft- Ta154,Me163,He163. Cannot imagine how much aluminum would be consumed in a boat

[@ThatZenoGuy]

The XXI did not use aluminum for obvious reasons. ConeofArc is just lying in that regard.

[@karlmiller7500]

I thought the same thing , I think it is incorrect that aluminum was used in the pressure Hull, all the sub assembles had to be welded together, aluminum welding is a very tricky process. I could be wrong but I don't think I am

[@brianswan3559]

I think the author is confusing the type XXI with an S-boat (torpedo boat).

[@mbryson2899]

I toured U-505 (a type IXC) U-boat at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry) many time between ages 8 to 15. Impressive, and impressively cramped, especially compared to U.S.S. Pampanito (a _Balao_ class) in San Francisco. I can't imagine serving in such a boat. Thanks for the video. I learned some things, such as the torpedo autoloader.

[@dakohli]

@@sjb3460 Not quite, although living conditions were sub-optimal, they were called pig boats because of how they looked like piglets suckling up to their mother, when a group of boats were alongside their tender.

[@jesusbauer8861]

If you think the Type IX is cramped, you should visit the Type VII museum boat in Laboe, Germany. ;-)

[@advorak8529]

@@jesusbauer8861 … or think about a Type II. They were called “Einbaum” (dugout canoe) for a reason. 6 of them were partially disassembled and transported by barge, railroad and truck to serve in the Black Sea. The type XXIII had to add oxygen to the air after being submerged for just four hours, even though they had a rather tiny crew in comparison, because they were that cramped.

[@philmann3476]

4:38 looks like a shot of the U505 in Lake Michigan after being towed to Chicago for installation at the museum.

[@mbryson2899]

@@philmann3476 Sharp eye, I believe you are right!

[@wackofish7435]

Really love this series

[@patagualianmostly7437]

Most impressive presentation. Thank you.

[@ThePadi94]

Nice that you picked up my suggestion!

[@TERoss-jk9ny]

That snorkel destroys mane an ear drum.

[@4stringmanagmaildcom]

My uncle Bob served on type 21 U-2513. This is what my dad said about his service history, "After the close of World War II, he was transferred to a German U-boat, the U-2513, a prize of the German Navy, at Key West, Florida. This ship was virtually new and the best the German technology could produce. The object of this assignment was to test it to destruction to determine what the strength and weakness was of that design, for the benefit of the U. S.

[@randolphstead2988]

I enjoyed the video, but wish to address one small point: subs have a pressure hull, not a pressurized hull.

[@richardpatton2502]

Very good. Most forget to mention how influential these subs were All the best to everyone

[@christianklippert1469]

The submarine bunker in which the submarine type XXI was mainly to be assembled is located in Bremen Farge and is called Valentin. If the delivery of the segments had started on time, the plan was to complete a submarine every 26 hours. In the bunker was a diving pool in which a diving depth of 30m could be simulated with pressure. This ensured that the segments were properly welded. The bunker is 420m long and 100m wide. The concrete ceiling has a thickness of 7m and was therefore absolutely bombproof. The production line is almost 2 kilometers long. After completion, the submarine could be submerged in the river Weser, which leads to the North Sea.

[@mikedx2706]

Were the workers all concentration camp inmates?

[@christianklippert1469]

@@mikedx2706 Yes, many inmates of a concentration camp were used during the construction of the bunker and that is why the bunker is now a memorial with a large memorial stone so that something like this will never happen again. Counter question: what happened to the 6-7 million Indians who lived in North America and owned the land? That's right, almost all of them were killed and the miserable remainder herded together on reservations. It's also a pity that the USA apparently hasn't learned anything from World War II and has waged 44 wars of aggression in the last 75 years. Whoever is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. Jesus in John chapter 8 verse 7

[@mikedx2706]

@@christianklippert1469 The quality control problems with the subs probably resulted from using slave labor to build them. There was likely a lot of sabotage going on. With regard to your valid observations about the North American Indians, their demise was the direct result of the program of mass genocide instigated by all the European nations who established colonies in, conquered, the New World beginning in 1492. However, the North American Indians are now have the last laugh because they are getting rich off the descendants of the colonizing European immigrants by fleecing them in the Indian gaming casinos!

[@pasanaator9874]

Submarines didn't use sonar when identifing and obtaining necessary information as it would give away their position. They usually used the hydrophone abd periscope to first approcimate target relative heading and then calculate relevant tdc data from the periscope

[@brianswan3559]

The type XXI U-boat had SU(R) apparatus fitted to most of the 119 boats commissioned during WW2, this is the bulge on the front of the tower. The intension was that the boat would never need to approach the surface (above 30m depth) in a combat zone, the idea was to use no more than two pings to gain all the information required for an attack and would be sent directly to the torpedo, though a great idea the success of the SU(R) apparatus was modest. It is probably not an easy task to aim unguided torpedoes using active SONAR even in the modern era.

[@KibuFox]

After the war, a type XXI continued in service with the West German Navy. This sub, the Wilhelm Bauer, had been scuttled intact by the Kriegsmarine at the end of the war. The Bauer was raised from the bottom, reconditioned, and continued in service in various roles unti 1983.

[@theonlymadmac4771]

Actually not. Wilhelm Bauer didn’t belong to the Bundesmarine (West german navy) but was an experimental boat to test components of the postwar submarines with a civilian crew. Hence the name. German navy uboats traditionally have just U numbers

[@Sturminfantrist]

@@theonlymadmac4771 yes Type XXI was a experimental boat BUt the BUNDESMARINE had 2 Type XXIII in service named U-Hecht and U-Hai both raised from Seabed in late 50s and refurbished/repaired they were the first federal german Navy boats in service, one of them sunk in early 60s (?) only the smut survived and was raised 2nd time from seabed, both Boats were scrapped later

[@rainbowseeker5930]

@@Sturminfantrist - Tha Hai sunk in the English Channel during a violent storm in 1966. The Bauer was in the beginning an experimental sub but later was handed over to the Bundesmarine to be used as school-boat until 1983 when she was decomissioned and became a museum ship.

[@Sturminfantrist]

@@rainbowseeker5930 thx, you sure about the storm, saw Fotos of the Hai after she was raised again , the back side of the sail was damaged looked like collisondamage but a violent storm can do same damage, read something about the snorkel, "weakspot?" dont remember well. Didnt now the Type XXI was later used as a Schoolboat until 83, i was Navy/Marine 76er late 70s early 80s , so the WW2 Boat served during my service time (lol) but we also had a few (1 or 2) Z-Klasse (Fletcher class) in service at the time i joined the Navy.

[@A.G.798]

Die Wilhelm Bauer, liegt in Bremerhaven, als Musseumsschiff, und kann von Touristen besichtigt werden,und ist nach dem Ausscheiden aus der Bundesmarine auf den Stand von 1944/45 Restauriert worden, für diese Zeit ein Hypermodernes U-Boot, daß zum ersten mal auch Rücksicht auf die Besatzung und ihre Bedürfnisse nahm.

[@davidholmgren659]

Excellent presentation.

[@roykliffen9674]

Fun Fact: The first submarines used by the Kriegsmarine that were equipped with snorkels were the captured Dutch submarines O-25 and O-26. However, the Germans did not quite understand the system which they interpreted as being "crew-comfort" systems only meant to provide the crew with fresh air when submerged. The Germans were not entirely wrong as the Diesel engines drew their air from within the submarine and the snorkel replenishing the stale air drawn out by the engines with fresh outside air which likely improved the crew comfort inside the hull. They did not recognise the system as a means to allow the diesels to be run while submerged and considered the resulting fresh air supply as an unnecessary luxury which added cast and complexity. Consequently before the Dutch subs were integrated into the Kriegsmarine, they were "upgraded" to German standards, which also meant removing the snorkels. Only later in the war the snorkels were re-introduced on all German subs when they started to recognise the importance of the system where it came to being less detectable. Off course one can ridicule the Germans for not recognising the value of the snorkel-system, were it not that the remaining Dutch submarines integrated into larger allied navies like the Australian or British navies had to remove the snorkels too.

[@tamerlane7]

The allies learnt and benefited a lot from the advance German technology after the war.

[@Ob1sdarkside]

Love submarines, nice work!

[@everrettesnotherly4168]

You neglect to mention the Harder, Darter, Trigger (SS564) Trout ;a class of US submarines closely copied from the German Type XXI. I qualified on the Trigger in 1963. Advances included the ability to snorkel at standard speed on 3 Fairbanks-Morse diesels. This allowed a submerged speed of about 12 to 15 knots. It was very quiet on the battery.

[@tomtrenter3208]

There's no way a post war US diesel boat could snorkel at a standard bell on 3 FM's. #1. the snorkel couldn't provide enough fresh air for 3 diesels at the same time, #2. same with the exhaust. A lot of the opinions expressed here are not based on reality. A question to all you video game commandos here..... How effective do you think a subs sonar is when snorkeling?

[@Pippippipvk]

I do appreciate the work you've put into this, but there were some mistakes here and there. For example afaik the Walther-Turbine was never planned to be used on the Type XXI, since it was not ready for deployment. The planned Hull to use the Walther-Turbine was the Type XXVI (5 of which had started construction but were never finished) Another thing that bothers me is that you keept on compareing the Type VII with the Gatos. The problem with that is that the Type VII is a sub that was used in the open oceans eventhough it was just an upscaled coastal sub. The Gatos were true ocean going subs which had double the displacement of the Type VII (1526t vs. 761t). The correct sub to compare to a Gato/Balao would be the Type IX D2/C40, which were true ocean going sub used by the Kriegsmarine. (Mabey do a Video about german subs in general including the Type VII & IX). It's really ashame I didn't knew you were making this Video because I live just 30 min out of Bremerhaven and I've visited the 'Wilhelm Bauer Museum' 2 years ago. I still have plenty of pictures I would have glady given you to use in the Video, including the engine room, torpedo room and Sonar Station :/ If you would like them anyway I'd love to share them with you on Discord. -> (Andvarus on your Sever) And if you need any help doing another Video about german Subs I'd love to help out since I am German and I understand all of the primary sources ^^

[@horusfalcon]

Very well done!

[@gil7459]

Great video! This summer, I went to the Wilhelm Bauer! It is fascinating! The front of the boat was so heavily modified for research that they couldn't recreate the WW2 configuration, but you can see the forward battery bank!

[@perpetualgrin5804]

I'm envious as I love Europe in winter but it's closed. Greeting from Australia.

[@mirrorblue100]

Good thing those damn Krauts couldn't get them into service until the very end of the war.

[@tedthesailor172]

The old computer game "Silent Enemy II" featured this submarine and its operation was so far ahead of the Type 7 & 9 as to render them antiques (which in truth, they were). It's submerged speed of 17 knots gave only a hint of its true performance, because it could also accelerate and decelerate even quicker than using diesel engines, and a huge rudder enabled a tighter turning circle than most pursuing escorts. Added to this, its automated carousel torpedo loading system providing a tube refill every 5 minutes (as compared to 20 mins), and you had a frighteningly inescapable hunter. It's kinda ironic that the Germans never thought to devise a special vessel like this at the outset to address the Battle of the Atlantic, instead of simply upgrading and enlarging what were little more that their WW1 designs. None of the allied counter-measures such as radar, Asdic, hedgehog etc would've been effective against this ship, because even if it could be detected, it couldn't be caught...

[@tomtrenter3208]

Can you explain how a type XXI could outrun an American hunter killer group with aircraft using sonobuoys and Mk 24 torpedoes? The allies weren't the dummies that a lot of folks think.

[@tedthesailor172]

@@tomtrenter3208 I don't suggest for one second that the allies were "dummies", after all, they won the battle of the Atlantic. How well the Type 21 would've performed is academic because it came too late in the war to enter combat. So far as I'm aware, the only one that went head-to-head with allied (British) naval forces did so after they'd been ordered to raise the black flag. and so was obliged to surface and surrender. Therefore the tactics by which it might have engaged an enemy remained untested. My own opinion is that this vessel was so potent an adversary that it wouldn't need to "outrun" an enemy taskforce. It would itself be a hunter-killer rather than an ambush predator, and by virtue of its exceptional underwater speed and manouvrability added to the rapidity with which it could fire and reload, would place almost any surface vessels in jeopardy...

[@tomtrenter3208]

@@tedthesailor172 I learned many, many years ago in sonar school the results of US and British testing captured type XXI. Let's just say the performance isn't what most folks think it is.

[@RockinRobbins13]

@@tedthesailor172 The Type XXI would only have meant that Admiral Gallery would have plotted a larger circle for increased maximum underwater range. The circle would have been blanketed by aircraft and when the sub reappeared, BOOM. Snorkels were great radar reflectors so many German subs were bombed and killed with their crews never knowing what had happened. The fact is the Allies had total control of the ocean surface and the water's surface. In light of that, there is no way the Type XXI had a prayer. It, as well as the entire German submarine fleet, was a complete waste of every kilo of metal and fuel, but most tragically, the finest, most highly trained men in the German military.

[@tedthesailor172]

@@RockinRobbins13 The allies simply didn't have enough aircraft to "blanket" thousands of square miles of ocean. Coastal Command were constantly having to beg, borrow or steal aircraft from the other branches of the armed forces to provide the bare minimal cover. The situation with escort vessels was hardly any better. Although the Type 21 was equipped with a schnorkel, it was also equipped with radar that could detect aircraft, and therefore it might remain at `deckwash' depth to recharge it's batteries without risking a surprise ambush. Furthermore, its submerged endurance exceeded that of any aircraft of the day. Your other paragraph is simply fanciful. The allies certainly did not "control the ocean surface". During the first stages of the Battle of The Atlantic, German U-boats roamed the seas with impunity, enjoying what they called "The Happy Times". Later, as allied tactics improved, the war was taken to the unguarded coasts of the USA and once again German submariners had a field day, with their Second Happy Time. Even then, the "mid-Atlantic gap" was beyond the range of land based US and British aircraft for much of the conflict. The Battle of The Atlantic was the longest battle of WW2 and arguably the most costly in resources. Some 3,500 allied merchant vessels and 175 warships, were lost at the cost of 783 U-boats. At the height of the conflict hundreds of thousands of tons of ships and cargo were being lost each month, peaking at over 350,000 tons in October 1940. To describe that as "a complete waste of metal, fuel and men" is frankly arrant nonsense. It was truly a close run thing. Even Winston Churchill afterwards confessed that the U-boat threat was the only thing that really scared him. And all of this entailed the Types 7 & 9. If the Type 21 had been available instead, the battle would surely have been lost. Ultimately, it might be argued that the biggest single contributing factor to victory was not aircraft, or escorts, but the work of "Ultra" intercepting and decoding the encrypted German communications. Submarines almost brought the UK to its knees in both WW1 and WW2. It is also questionable as to whether or not the war in the Pacific could've been won without the US submarine fleet. Even today, submarines remain the ultimate stealth and destruction vessels...

[@becksvideoproductions]

Hey - Great video. Whats your source of the video of the XXI?

[@jonny-b4954]

8:54 I never understood... how do you work on the port and starboard sides of the engines? Or are the built so everything is accessible on the inner sides of the engine?

[@BleedingUranium]

The Dreadnought/Fubuki of submarines, such an incredibly cool design.

[@alexbowman7582]

Centimetric RADAR on British airplanes ended the effectiveness of German submarines.

[@RockinRobbins13]

Including possible use of the Type XXI. They were artificial reefs even before they were launched.

[@brianswan3559]

Centimetric RADAR does not work against a submerged target and is practically useless against snorkels and periscopes. Had that not been the case then no-one would have built a submarine in the immediate post war era.

[@brianswan3559]

Centrimetric RADAR doesn't work against a submerged submarine and is virtually useless against snorkels and periscopes. The type XXI U-boat was intended to remain submerged for the entirety of its patrol.

[@alysonbarros7275]

Great video, do you think we could eventually see a video on the I-201 Class Subs from the Japanese navy?

[@eflaaten]

Regarding the Walter turbine, read about the propulsion system of Ictineo II from 1859. Way ahead of its time!

[@gustaveliasson5395]

5:45 Correction: the hydrophones were fixed in place, as on previous U-boats.

[@thhseeking]

He means hydroplanes.

[@manfredgrieshaber8693]

As the allies were able to break into all kinds of german cypher's they became aware of this new type of u-boat soon after the first prototypes were available. Churchill was mostly frightened of the new system of ship-building, the production of segments by different companies at different locations. So he asked the bomber command to start a bombing campaign against canals and their locks only as the huge u-boat segments could only by hauled with inland water vessels.

[@LmgWarThunder]

love the new intro!

[@fabovondestory]

I was in the one in Bremerhaven but it was quite a few years ago and I wasnt aware of what it truly is

[@stefanrichter9162]

One of the features for the crew was the space . The Typ XXI was the first submarine with a sleeping place for every individual. Up to this moment a bed was always shared by two crew members on different duty times. Only exception on former U-boats was the captains cabin.

[@billyhouse1943]

Thank you

[@Walkercolt1]

Question: I thought the Walther U-Boats were the Type XXII and I don't see the float or trunk for the schnorkel (at the rear of the conning tower) in the photo either. Hull Number is 306x (?), so it should be a very late War boat. Thanks.

[@57Fastjeff]

It is said that President Truman took a ride on a Type XXI, the first U S President to do so.

[@donaldoehl7690]

Tonnage sunk around the British Isles actually increased during the last month of the WWII. It wasn't over until it was over. Scary to contemplate.

[@paint4r]

A quick wikipedia search shows that total tonnage sunk was only barely greater in April '45 than in March by 7362 tons (obviously May can be discounted due to being an incomplete month). There were also a huge 53 U-Boats lost, up from 33, but this includes those scuttled or captured in port. In any case the tonnage sunk was nowhere near where it was at its peak, where U-boats were scoring over 500, 600 or even 700 thousand tons per month. There was only one month in all of '44 and '45 where they scored over 100000 (March '44). Of course the fighting continued just as fiercely but the Battle of the Atlantic was effectively won in "Black May" 1943, during which the second greatest loss of U-boats in a month was suffered at 41, and the Kriegsmarine had to change tactics.

[@crankychris2]

After studying a Type 21, our Navy modified many Baleo asnd Tench class subs with smaller conning towers, better and more batteries, snorkels, a clean superstructure and removing 2 of the Morse deisels, they achieved similar results. The progrsm was named GUPPY [Greater Underwater Propulsive Power]. Speeds underwater of 18 knots were achieved. Wiki has a good article sbout this progrsm.

[@myparceltape1169]

I wonder if you can make any guesses about the two submarines in the harbour at Cartagena, Spain some years ago. They were at the Naval area more than two years running. From the side they looked like Type 21s in black or very dark blue. Certainly it was a matt finish.

[@tomtrenter3208]

The US Navy only removed 1 diesel from some of their diesel boats after WW2.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

Great video...👍

[@THECAKEISTALKING]

was wondering when we'd get a video on this thing

[@gathel8574]

The latest sub incident KRI Nanggala for Indonesian Navy was sunk. It was Germany sub

[@scootergeorge7089]

The Type XXI could have had an impact on the Battle of the Atlantic if it were available in early 1943. This was before the Allied bombing campaign was impairing German war production and quality would have been better. But in using the obsolete type VII and IX, by mid summer of 1943, the Kriegsmarine had effectively lost the war at sea.

[@RockinRobbins13]

The Kriegsmarine couldn't win the battle of the Atlantic without controlling the surface and the air above. Submarines were a losing proposition and waste of resources that would have been decisively used elsewhere. Every submarine produced was aid to the Allied war effort.

[@annpeerkat2020]

7:20 "before the adoption of snorkels there was no way of letting the exhaust out of the boat" Golly Gosh you've got that arse about!! A clue is that after adoption of the snorkel, if the top of the snorkel wasn't high enough above water at all times, the crew was at risk of having their eardrums sucked out of their heads. There are a huge number of motorboats that discharge their exhaust underwater... at the depth that a snorkel was being used, there is no engineering difficulty creating a mechanism to exhaust underwater. (obviously with engineering safeguards to withstand hull pressures deeper underwater than snorkel level, when the engine would not be operating) The purpose of the snorkel was to allow air to enter the engine when the sub was slightly underwater, allowing the diesel engine to run. If you can't get air or oxygen into a diesel engine, it won't run. If you run a diesel in an airtight compartment (with air piped in) and suddenly stop the external air supply, the diesel will create a huge low pressure area. In this case, if the snorkle can't "breath", the "vacuum" will break either the inlet manifold or the tubing to the snorkel, extending that vacuum (area of low pressure) throughout the airtight compartment (in this case submarine) with instant effect on the crew.

[@thecommunistdoggo1008]

Brits: Build big ships with massive guns to rule the waves Germans: Haha sub go brrr

[@dahen7517]

Brits a few years later: Haha Depth Charge go boom

[@The_Modeling_Underdog]

Brits: Oi, mate! Bring the Flowers. We have a sinker!

[@geoff-lukebihler6157]

​@@The_Modeling_Underdog and a sudden t5 falke torpedo for you sir

[@The_Modeling_Underdog]

@@geoff-lukebihler6157 Thanks, mate. Already have a Foxer for it, mind you.. Cheers.

[@edwardcnnell2853]

The type XXI did indeed influence submarine design for many years. In the US of course was the Tang class submarine. You will see the basic lines of the type XXI in the first nuclear submarine the Nautilus. The type XXI had a second second deck for the Walther turbine's fuel which was instead used for batteries. This two deck design is also seen in the Nautilus with a larger lower deck. There was a race between the US and the Soviets to build a nuclear powered sub and both poured a lot of money into designing and building one. While a lot of money was allocated for this it was not unlimited and some budget concerns affected the outcome. A nuclear sub would spend most of it's time underwater meaning a new optimized hull design was preferable. The US used the lessons learned from the type XXI and Tang to produce the hull of the Nautilus. This allowed more money to be allocated to designing and building the nuclear reactor and its systems. The Soviets chose to design a new hull and the reactor at the same time. They of course used the torpedo shaped hull being more suited to full underwater service. This resulted in a rector and systems design that would bee plagued by fires and failures for years to come.

[@tomtrenter3208]

The ruskies built crap that was noisy and poisoned their crews. Not much has changed either.

[@brianrajala7671]

Very interesting!👍

[@mariebcfhs9491]

MAN, I love those engines

[@jakobnuernberger94]

The Wilhelm Bauer is a real great experience to visit. During my time in basic training for the German Navy, i was stationed just a few blocks away and visited almost every weekend, going inside only once though.

[@InternetStudiesGuy]

Common misconception from video games since "Aces of the Deep" making this mistake: It did not take 10+ minutes to reload a torpedo on the Type VII or XI. It took less than 2 minutes, 90 seconds for a well trained crew. But afterwards, the torpedo - whether it be electric drive or gas driven - the torpedo had to be heated to operating temperature to provide the rated performance, by a system of heaters inside the torpedo tubes, and this process would take 10-15 minutes. But your typical Type VII would be able to fire its 4 bow torpedos, reload all of them in 6-8 minutes, and then fire them again immediately, taking into account that the unheated torpedos would be slower, which often didn't matter against slow merchants or ships in anchor. An example of this being done can be seen in Günther Priens account on his raid on Scapa Flow. All of those mechanics wouldn't change on the XXI, it could famously reload all 6 torpedo tubes in the time it would take a type VII to reload one, but afterwards the torpedos would still have to be heated for 10+ minutes to reach the rated speed/range.

[@zachboyd4749]

Hey Cone, what do you make of the M3 Lee displayed at the Madras Engineer Group center in Ulsoor, India? I tried to include a link, but my comment go removed so I can’t include it. I did a double take when I saw that monstrosity…

[@rettichdergeile9361]

It's fake, he talked about it a while back

[@Ulani101]

So much potential, thankfully never realised. So quiet on the creeper motors that on a post-war US test, the hydrophone operator failed to hear it at a distance of 150 meters. Able to run faster than an ASDIC equipped escort could hunt, and supposedly able to defeat radar with the absorbent coating on the schnorkel head. Imagine these getting at convoys early in 1944?

[@tomtrenter3208]

So how far do you think the type XXI could run before the battery was dead? PS: the published numbers for performance didn't turn out to be true after the US and Britain ran tests on captured XXI's after WW2.

[@Go4Corvette]

They needed this Sub at least two years earlier to work out all the bugs, and make improvements.

[@brianswan3559]

From 1939 to mid 1942 Germany was doing rather well with conventional U-boats and didn't need an advanced submarine and so none was built. It wasn't until losses began to rise in the second half of 1942 that Donitz began to recognise the need for an new U-boat. Necessity is the mother of invention.

[@garethfairclough8715]

Great vid! Though I feel I should bring something up. You mentioned around the 14:10 mark (roughly) that their active sonar meant they could track and engage targets without risk of detection. This isn't true. Any use of active sonar will instantly give away your presence to a target equipped with passive sonar/hydrophones, with your bearing being given away instantly. The range would be more difficult for a foe to estimate, but they could work out roughly how far away you were, based on how clear the sound was. It might not be an instant "OMFG THEY'RE RIGHT THERE!" kind of reaction, but they'd know your direction and that you had probably fired, enabling them to take evasive action and spoil your firing solution.

[@lordcaptainteapot6143]

Sorry about that, I was meaning in terms of detection like you would have if you went up to periscope depth. Should’ve been a bit more specific with how active sonar works, but didn’t even think about it.

[@williamzk9083]

The active sonar on the Type XXI couldn't be detected and certainly not located by the technology of the day though you could do so today. The Active sonar was a Pulse Doppler type and could determine exact bearing, range and speed in a chirp of 3 pulses. The technology of the day was not able to direction find these using the minimum/maximum method. You needed a relatively continuous signal and as the frequency was unknown and the pulse very rapid it was unlikely to be detected. The Type XXI also had a greatly improved "GHG" phased array passive sonar accurate to +/-0.5 degrees that in itself is an error of only +/- 8.7m per km so is good enough to aim in itself.

[@rainbowseeker5930]

If the Type 21 had fired after acquiring her target by active sonar, the enemy ship would have had no chance of counterattacking...it would certainly be sunk at once !

[@tomtrenter3208]

@@williamzk9083 All sonar in WW2 was "pulse doppler", active sonar sent out a short pulse and the operator listened to the return and had to use his experience to determine if the return was the same freq. as the transmitted pulse. . What made life difficult was that all WW2 sonar was what is called "searchlight" sonar. This means that there was no such thing as omni directional arrays like those developed just after WW2. If an operator was to detect an enemy ping his sonar head had to be pointed at the enemy so there was an element of luck.

[@williamzk9083]

You are incorrect. I think you're assuming that 1940s allied sonar had 1970s digital processing technology that was backed up by signal gathering libraries. "Any use of active sonar will instantly give away your presence to a target equipped with passive sonar/hydrophones, with your bearing being given away instantly." - No for two reasons: 1 The minim-maximum direction finding techniques of the day were unable to direction find of a single short millisecond pulse. A sonar operator would not be able to point his hydrophone in time nor hear. 2 single chirped pulse was itself almost impossible to detect. It would appear as noise. It might be a pulse that starts as a certain frequency and either increases or decreases. Single radar and sonar pulse were almost undetectable let alone possible to direction find. It's difficult even today.

[@Joewylie3]

Gremany starting used acoustic homing torpedoes. (often exploding before contact). No need for periscope. (US 2). For stealth they covered the upper 1/3 in rubber and lamp black called "Albrecht". (It could peel off). The hydrogen peroxide we use on cuts is 3% H2O2. The H2O2 they used was industrial strength 80%. Dr. Helmut Walter died in Montclair NJ. (Boredom).

[@williamzk9083]

Albrecht peeled of in 1942 when first trialed but by 1944 the coating had been improved.

[@tomtrenter3208]

The British navy had decoys ready for use almost as soon as the german navy had acoustic torpedoes. Germany didn't get very good results with their acoustic torpedoes.

[@senioravocado1864]

This may be out of topic a bit but, do you or at least anyone know why the sails of modern subs from the US, USSR and late war German U-boats differ so much and it seems to be a country specific thing

[@johnwang9914]

I'm surprised they never used seawater batteries at least as reserve batteries and for water desalination. In an emergency, being able to refresh the elctrolyte might've been a life saver even if the result is the requirement for refurbishing the electrodes at the next port of call.

[@thhseeking]

05:46 - Hydroplanes or diving planes, not hydrophones :P

[@captmcneil]

Great video! I always was a submarine geek, loved books like 'Das Boot' and 'Hunt for Red October', as well as Terence Robertson's reception of Otto Kretschmer, who made the "old" Type VII work by attacking at night, like a torpedo boat, surfaced right between the freighters of the convoy, while the patrol ships panic-search him outside. I played U boat games for hours at a time, especially Aces of the Deep. You could pick the Type XXI there, and it was like playing with cheat codes, it felt that far ahead of its time. Makes you kinda wonder how lucky the world was that Hitler was far too stupid to recognize the potential in his navy, and put this thing into service when it still would have mattered.

[@kuldan5853]

It was basically the same with the ME-262. It was a game changing plane, IF you would have used it correctly. Hitler ordered it to fulfill a role it was atrociously bad at, it got slowed down so much by it that it was now interceptable by british piston planes again... If I remember correctly, the HO229 for example was - even though the claims calling it a stealth plane are vastly overhyped - about 20% stealthier than usual planes of the era. This in theory would have been enough to use them to attack the Chain Home early warning radar in the UK, dropping it out of service, and then the ME-262s could have swept in as air superiority fighters and using their superior speed to shoot down the RAF. If both of those projects would have happened even ~2 years earlier in the war, the result might have been quite different for the UK.

[@Phatman2167]

Great video. Excellent work as usual. Funny looking tank though. 😊 One correction. U-Boats didn't have SONAR. They only had directable hydrophones. SONAR is a sounding device with a directable hydrophone. Slight difference.

[@owlsayssouth]

Cola is cola.

[@majorborngusfluunduch8694]

This is outdated. The use of a hydrophone to listen for sounds is called "Passive Sonar". The use of pinging is called "Active Sonar"

[@williamzk9083]

U-boats at the start of the war had two sets of hydrophones and one active sonar for finding mines. The was the GHG phased array sonar on either side of the hull. This was highly accurate and sensitive. There were conventional hydrophones as well and finally an active sonar for mine hunting. This sonar was deleted. When the type xxi was introduced it had a low probability of intercept active Doppler sonar that was essentially undetectable because it could detect range, direction and speed in 3 chirp like pulses so the sub could aim underwater without using its periscope.

[@tomtrenter3208]

Hydrophones are the device used to convert acoustic energy to electrical energy and electrical energy to acoustical energy. Another name for this is a transducer, hydrophones "transduce" acoustical energy to electrical and back. Using arrays of hydrophones makes them directional both actively and passively. Sonar is the name associated with hydrophone arrays (and their electronic equipment) both passive and active. Why is this simple concept so hard for folks to understand? I learned this in sonar school 50 years ago but this information is open source and available online.

[@manz7860]

Being stuck in a tube underwater with a giant supercharged diesel engine sounds like a terrible time.

[@williamscheuerman1867]

I remember watching this on an episode of nazi mega weapons. It still amazes me how far into the future it was with the techniques it pioneered still in use today. I only wish I could see it in person. Thanks for another fantastic video P.S. I remember you doing a video on hand armaments, but what about other missile programs they had, did they make more than just the v 1 and v 2?

[@jwenting]

the Germans had a comprehensive program of surface to air and several air to air missiles in advanced stages of development (and some may even have seen limited combat).

[@williamzk9083]

The Henschel Hs 117 Schmeterling SAM was ordered into production. Initially with CLOS but also with radar command. The missile could also have optionally MAX-A active radar homing MAX-P passive radar homing to home in on allied night fighters and ground mapping radars and a infrared. Hs 117. All German missiles were designed to use all of the 13 guidance systems.

[@jwenting]

@@williamzk9083 and don't forget the primitive proximity fuse based on a light sensor detecting when the missile entered a bomber's shadow (when approaching from below). This was incorporated in some variants of the Me.163 as well to automatically launch a battery of upward firing rockets carried in the aircraft's fuselage.

[@williamzk9083]

@@jwenting After the failure of the torpedo magnetic proximity fuse during the Norwegian campaign the Germans went back to contact pistol fuses until 1942 when a new fuse that was essentially 2 coil metal detector was introduced. They were also going to use this on bombs on such anti shipping weapons as the BT700 and to use such a sensor to trigger downward firing guns down on tanks. This is actually how NLAW, TOW 2B and BILL missiles work.

[@jwenting]

@@williamzk9083 yeah, they were pretty much ahead of their times. And to think the most advanced guidance system the Americans came up with during WW2 was the pigeon guided bomb, that literally had a trained pigeon in the nose pecking left, right, up, down on a screen to steer the bomb towards a target (trained by getting treats when pecking the right place).

[@markcolyer1989]

Fantastic well done Sir I.oveto visit U B 122 on the River Medway Kent England on my Hovercraft

[@neddyladdy]

Die to the sonar array in the bow as in this diagram. Then the didgram was visible for all of 1/2 a second. Stopping and going back to the diagram, there was nothing to indicate sonar. Only an engineer extremely familiar with that model could possible locate the sonar.

[@alphabravodelta42]

There's a video out there on the internet by an actual academic using primary German navy sources on the real world performance of the XXI vs the wikipedia XXI.

[@alphabravodelta42]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJXcmGefnM-kpMU

[@davidhauton7643]

Problem with the type xxi being built in a modular format sadly meant they all leaked very badly and took ages to make water tight. So few were built they made little difference. If they'd been available say 18 months earlier they'd have made so much difference. Accidents of history and luck mean they all came out too late to really affect the battle in the Atlantic.

[@aangxazor5759]

I swear whenever I research some forgotten weapon of ww2 you make a vid out of it the next day

[@KomradIosif]

Then do more research. NOW!

[@aangxazor5759]

@@KomradIosif on my way

[@majorborngusfluunduch8694]

The Type XII can't be considered a forgotten weapon. Its a unicorn amongst U-Boat enthusiasts and is the grandfather of the modern Attack Submarine, directly influencing every new submarine design after the war.

[@steveclarke6257]

Calling the type VII a WWI design is incorrect, that was the Type 1a which was the copy of the older boats. The Type VII design was a very good 1930's design, with a "modern" diesel engine for it's time gave them a much greater range than Type I and improved electric motors which gave them better battery life over Type 1. Finally the relatively "small" size gave the type VII boats gave them a tighter turning circle than most other submarines of the period. These features were quite advanced in 1940 but lack of investment made than look archaic by 1943.

[@wanderschlosser1857]

And I think the type VII could also dive deeper than most other subs of the time. It was a very tough "little" boat.

[@RockinRobbins13]

@@wanderschlosser1857 Yes, while the Type VII was hiding at 300 meters, hours from the surface, the entire convoy of targets sailed over the horizon never to be seen again. A deeply submerged World War II submarine was as harmless as a kitten.

[@Dave-zu1fv]

Alumni Alloy Hull? Nope ist was Steel, ST52, but they used Alumni to reduce Oxygen in Steel. Oxygene and Al reacting to slag.

[@kimmogensen5390]

it must have taken a huge amount of courage to go to war at sea in a pair of electro boots

[@rainbowseeker5930]

On the contrary...it took balls of steel to sail one of the conventional subs from 1943 till the end of the war. Sailing on a Type 21 must have been like traveling on a luxurious passenger ship for the experienced U-Boat crews !

[@MsJoao101]

The idea of putting hydrogen peroxide in a closed space... That stuff will ignite if you look at it wrong!

[@scottterry1659]

the type xx? I belive it was designed for the med and on;ly had 2 tube external

[@ingaz6565]

Lets just say we are lucky Germany stubbornly decided to build more of the old type than to focus on the new type of Submarines, Those Type XXI where no joke.

[@mathiasbartl9393]

Guess what, we are now a naval shipyard! - some company somwhere in Germany 1944, biw you can see radar absorbant coating on some of the masts

[@carloschristanio4709]

Were there plans to cover the 21 in that special rubber cover that absorbed sonar?

[@williamzk9083]

The sonar stealth coating was called "Albrecht" after the dwarf from German Mythology (And the Wagner Ring Cycle) who had a cloak of invisibility. Yes there were plans to use it. The Germans had experimented with these coatings as early as 1942 (or so). They had trouble with the glue but that seems to have been fixed by 1944. I think there was one type VII in service in 1944 called the black panther or something similar. Albrecht consisted of a perforated mesh with two hole sizes that were at resonant frequencies to absorb the sonar and filled with rubber. The Rubber also damped out sounds from the sub. There was also a radar stealth coating on the mast heads called Schornsteinfehger "Chinely Sweep". It was a Jaumann type absorber.

[@carloschristanio4709]

From what i can remember they sent the sub out it hit a mine.the germans figured that the allies sunk it so stopped using the rubber