German Type VIIB submarine

U-995 Type VIIC/41 at the Laboe Naval Memorial near Kiel
Class overview
Name:	Type VII
Builders:	Neptun Werft, Deschimag, Bremen Germaniawerft, Kiel Flender Werke, Lübeck Danziger Werft, Danzig Blohm & Voss, Hamburg Kriegsmarinewerft, Wilhelmshaven Nordseewerke, Emden Schichau-Werke, Danzig, Howaldtswerke AG, Kiel
Operators:	Kriegsmarine  Soviet Navy  Royal Norwegian Navy  Royal Navy  French Navy  Spanish Navy
Cost:	4,189,000 Reichmarks
In commission:	1936 – 1970 (G-7)
Completed:	703
General characteristics (Type VIIC)
Displacement:	769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged
Length:	67.10 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull
Beam:	6.20 m (20 ft 4 in) (o/a) 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) (pressure hull)
Height:	9.60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draft:	4.74 m (15 ft 7 in)
Propulsion:	2 × supercharged 6-cylinder 4-stroke diesel engines totalling 2,800–3,200 PS (2,100–2,400 kW; 2,800–3,200 shp). Max rpm: 470–490
Speed:	17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) surfaced 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) submerged
Range:	8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth:	230 m (750 ft) Calculated crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft)
Complement:	44-52 officers & ratings
Armament:	5 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 1 stern) 14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA or 39 TMB mines 1 × 8.8 cm SK C/35 naval gun with 220 rounds Various antiaircraft weaponry

Type VII U-boats were the most common type of German World War II U-boat. U-boat stands for Unterseeboot, which means submarine in German.

The Type VII was based on earlier German submarine designs going back to the World War I Type UB III and especially the cancelled Type UG, designed through the Dutch dummy company Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw Den Haag (I.v.S) which was set up by Germany after World War I in order to maintain and develop German submarine technology and to circumvent the limitations set by the Treaty of Versailles, and was built by shipyards around the world. The Finnish Vetehinen class and Spanish Type E-1 also provided some of the basis for the Type VII design. These designs led to the Type VII along with Type I, the latter being built in AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, Germany. The production of Type I was cut down only after two boats; the reasons for this are not certain and range from political decisions to faults of the type. The design of the Type I was further used in the development of the Type VII and Type IX. Type VII submarines were the most widely used U-boats of the war and were the most produced submarine class in history, with 703 built. The type had several modifications.

The Type VII was the most numerous U-boat type to be involved in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Type VIIA U-boats were designed in 1933–34 as the first series of a new generation of attack U-boats. Most Type VIIA U-boats were constructed at Deschimag AG Weser in Bremen with the exception of U-33 through U-36, which were built at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel. Despite the highly cramped living quarters, type VIIA U-boats were generally popular with their crews because of their fast crash dive speed, which was thought to give them more protection from enemy attacks than bigger, more sluggish types. Also, the smaller boat's lower endurance meant patrols were shorter. They were much more powerful than the smaller Type II U-boats they replaced, with four bow and one external stern torpedo tubes. Usually carrying 11 torpedoes on board, they were very agile on the surface and mounted the 8.8 centimetres (3.5 in) quick-firing deck gun with about 220 rounds.