U-995 Type VIIC/41 at the Laboe Naval Memorial near Kiel
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Class overview | |
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Name: | Type VII |
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Operators: | |
Cost: | 4,189,000 Reichmarks |
In commission: | 1936 – 1970 (G-7) |
Completed: | 703 |
General characteristics (Type VIIC) | |
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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 |
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Complement: | 44-52 officers & ratings |
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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.