U-boat Snorkels - #15

[@jackstreit7832]

Thank you for the informative presentation. Great to find a channel where presentations are backed by research and references. The link for the U.S. Naval Institute has an extra "w"

[@SubmarineHistory]

I'm glad you enjoyed the briefing, thank you for the comment it means alot.

[@Bingo551]

They did not break the code..The truth is they got an Enigma machine and the code books.. And who couldn't realize that point after may is beyond me..? Old Uncle Carl should have figured that out..Smh.. we're glad he didn't..lol

[@Eduard_Kolesnikov]

Thank you for the information- it's much more detailed then what i have used to know about it

[@Bingo551]

The snorkels at that point where not really that big of a help. Between the new radar and the Lee light.

[@ziggle314]

Great presentation! Like the "Lili Marleen" intro. I have read that the pressure changes caused when the schnorchel went underwater made things very uncomfortable for the crews. Wikipedia has a pretty good description of the AN nomenclature (MIL-STD-196): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Electronics_Type_Designation_System. The "decoder ring" for the radars: AN/APS-15: Airborne Search and Detection Radars AN/ASG: Airborne Special/Combination Fire-Control Equipment

[@SubmarineHistory]

Thank you very much for clearing that up on the issue of the radars! And yeah what could happen with the intake ball valve you could start drawing a vacuum inside the boat if the ball valve was shut too long which would damage ear drums and then if it went much longer people could asphyxiate. Eventually you'd just starve the diesels. The Germans actually worked on an auto trim system to stabilize the boatl, which would help alot with maintaining a proper height for the snorkel.

[@weldermartins2715]

well, boring intro!!!!!!!!!!

[@brianswan3559]

Very interesting.

[@jeanlucdiscard]

Karl Donuts 🍩

[@jayschafer1760]

I was happily surprised to see that Hamilton's "Total Undersea War" book is available as a Kindle e-book for $2.99 , as far too often "niche" nonfiction books are only available as physical books for $30+, if they can be found for sale at all.

[@SubmarineHistory]

It's a really good I highly recommend it!

[@marcusfranconium3392]

Some notes of the dutch submarines with snorckels they where O18 to 027 . The brits had the snorckels removed in 1942 after the fall of the east indies. And these snorckels where build for atlantic and pacific ocean conditions . Also these subamerines where years ahead of the germans . When the invasion began a new type was already close to finishing it was 87% complete. several of the designers of these submarines escaped to britian and even developed a 3 cilinder design as cargo submarine to relief malta . this disign was later reworked and was build as the first new dutch designed build submarines Planned in 1947 do to finances and priorities of rebuilding the nation these where only layed dowen in the late 50s early 60s . of the Dolfijn class. One of wich is a museum . after 30 years of service .

[@SubmarineHistory]

Thank you for that. The USS Cod (Gato class) rescued the crew of the O-19 when it grounded on a reef I'm the Pacific. USS Cod is a museum ship now in my hometown.

[@Eli1234gordon]

Great videos! Have you covered U boat orders and commands during for example, a crash dive or silent running?

[@SubmarineHistory]

Over at www.uboatarchive.net they have translated a manual called "Diving Regulations for U-boats" dated 1943. In that manual they do discuss the various orders and commands related to that procedure. I did plan on covering the topic in the future, it would be a companion to Briefing #6 "U-boat Manueverability".

[@Eli1234gordon]

@@SubmarineHistory Hey thanks for the material! I was literally watching another one of your videos at the moment. I’ll look into the manual.

[@SubmarineHistory]

Let me know what you think of it!

[@McFraggn]

Thanks alot for the great video! I would have one question a bit off-topic: You mentioned that the snorkels limited the maximum speed, is a similar restriction technically applied when moving with an extended periscope? Or could they easily be used and extended on periscope depth when moving 10 - 11 knots?

[@SubmarineHistory]

Yeah it's an issue with periscopes as well. They tend to vibrate as the boat moves faster. You can compensate for this by using bigger diameter tubing (structural rigidity) in the construction of the periscope, but then it becomes easier for radar to see. I can't remember what the preferred speed was when using the periscope, but the Germans did use shrouds around the periscopes and snorkels to reduce drag and move a little faster underwater. American author Norman Friedman devotes an entire chapter to the design and implementation of periscopes in his United States Submarines through 1945 book. I'll do a briefing on this at some point.

[@kleddit6400]

The more I learn about the uboat, the more I shudder to think about serving on one😭😂

[@SubmarineHistory]

You could say that for any submarine, but U-boat crews in WW2 for sure would have had more reason to shudder, considering the technology they were up against.

[@johnbeauvais3159]

Was the snorkel less efficient for engine air delivery than the main induction valve? I imagine the intake size was smaller and longer piping would have make the engines work harder for their air I would think. Otherwise wouldn’t it make sense to run with the snorkel up while the deck was awash?

[@SubmarineHistory]

That is a great question! There is a US evaluation of the Type IXC submarine over at uboatarchive.net - uboatarchive.net/Design/DesignStudiesTypeIXC.htm and in that technical evaluation they indicate that each diesel had a 20 Inch diameter induction pipe. From reading that report they describe the snorkel intake/exhaust pipes being inside a teardrop shaped shroud 13 inches x 27 inches. I'm going to assume that means the snorkel intake/exhaust pipes were each close to 13 inches in diameter. From an area standpoint that's alot smaller. Two things, 1) in general you are running your diesels at less rpms since you can only make about 7 kts while snorkeling so you don't need as much air. 2) from a fluid mechanics standpoint you can draw more air through a smaller diameter pipe as long as the snorkel piping itself is not that long, your head loss (pressure loss) could be manageable.

[@WildBillCox13]

Great topic. Off topic, I listen to Lili Marlene performed by Marlene Dietrich-in both German and English. A great contrast between the means with which the song is carried.

[@SubmarineHistory]

Yes absolutely!

[@someguyontheinternet7628]

Can't thumbs up enough for the great content friend.

[@SubmarineHistory]

Thank you!

[@jimransom9801]

Nice job on the presentation. I had always considered the implementation of the snorkel was overwhelmingly for defensive purposes. Yet you indicate there was an offensive purpose for it as well. Makes sense, since the submarine is an offensive weapon. But still, a boat running around at 5-7 knots with 4 foot of periscope exposed does not have a significant patrol area coverage. Do you think Doenitz thought he was getting some offensive bang for his buck? Keep up the great work!

[@SubmarineHistory]

Thank you very much for the feedback. The other part of the situation in May 1943 is that the decision is made to stop production of Type VII and Type IX boats in favor of the " Electro boats" or Type XXI and XXIII. Those boats as designed would be capable of speeds in the 15-19 knot range submerged. A handful of those boats do make war patrols but not enough to even look at data or statistics concerning effectiveness. Didn't a swedish diesel electric "sink" the Ronald Reagan back in 2005?

[@jimransom9801]

@@SubmarineHistory Sure, HMS Gotland. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. :)

[@SubmarineHistory]

@@jimransom9801 That was probably a pretty quiet dinner in the wardroom of the Ronald Reagan that night 😉

[@jimransom9801]

@@SubmarineHistory Hey, I always root for the submarine! Bird farm's are nothing but bigger targets.

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

@@SubmarineHistory You are not going to know what really happened because they are not going to tell you. They could have known exactly where it was the entire time but didn't want anyone to know they knew that - or - the submarine may have completely defeated their efforts to stop it. The problem with all this - is that you do not know how these systems are going to function until people start using them for real on a mass scale in an actual conflict. Here - the idea that it "sank" the carrier is unproven. This would likely be based on a supposition that the sub - might - have scored hits on the carrier. This would not automatically translate into the carrier being "sunk" unless they were using nuclear tipped weapons. Another thing here - is that ASW in the American Navy has had a lot less attention paid to it since the end of the Cold War - so - whatever success this sub had might well not have been in spite of a thorough going ASW environment - but because one no longer existed. As always - the Bean Counters and Budget Bois reign supreme and it's only after a lot of blood is spent making up for the money they saved that things change. Given the threats from Russia and China that have come to fore in the last year - it would be prudent to begin changing a lot of things that were allowed to lapse in the post Cold War era. .

[@f_xr_k]

May I ask what exact version of Lili Marlene you used for the intro sequence?

[@SubmarineHistory]

I'm sorry it's inconsistent that I get notifications from YT about comments. I bought a license from www.tomahawkfilms.com/music-archive.html for a library of German music related to WW2. That version of Lili Marlene is part of that library I bought.

[@niume7468]

Great video

[@SubmarineHistory]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@niume7468]

Your channel is a gold mine for the uboat content. Perhaps interesting topic would be about crew supplies. Like what kind of food would crew get and how different were the rations compared to surface ships. What were the requirments for nutrition vitamins, what about alcohol, wine, cigarettes? And would be interesting to hear about drinkable water. I have heard that they had water distillers, but how well did they worked? I have heard that about crews really showered because of shortage of drinkable water. I presume that the water distillers didn't worked that well.

[@SubmarineHistory]

@@niume7468 I am planning on doing a briefing that would be "quality of life and cooking" on U-boats. It's actually a very interesting subject!

[@pc1512]

Why is the sound so bad in all these war videos. Are the makers using wartime recording techniques ?

[@SubmarineHistory]

Are you referring to war videos on KZbin in general or the videos on this channel? If you're referring to this channel, yeah some of the audio blows, and it was especially bad with #15 Snorkels. I started using a Blue Yeti microphone starting with the WoWs 127K damage Salmon video and the audio has been much better since then.