"THE TYPE 7 U-BOOT REALLY WASN'T A U-BOOT" - Interview with Gerhard Thäter captain of U-466 & U-3506

Episode 180

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U BOOT TYPES

VIIA

These boats, designed in 1933-1934, were the first of a new generation of German attack U-boats known, as Type VII, they were popular with their crews and very agile on the surface. They also had a much more powerful striking power than the smaller Type II's. They had 5 torpedo tubes (4 at the bow) and would carry 11 torpedoes onboard or 22 TMA (=33 TMB) mines. They also had the effective 88mm fast-firing deck gun with about 160 rounds of ammunition.

VIIB

Type VIIB was an improvement on this design with substantially increased range.

Soon it was discovered that the only real drawback of the VIIA was the small fuel storage for the role intended. This was mostly fixed in the VIIB which had additional 33 tons of fuel in external saddle tanks which gave them additional range of about 2500nm at 10 knots. They were also considerably more powerful and slightly faster than the VIIA was. These boats (and all following the design) had two rudders instead of the one found on the VIIA. This gave them even more agility.

These boats had the same armament as the VIIA, 4 bow torpedo tubes and one tube at the stern. U-83 was the only type VIIB without the stern torpedo tube. The only major armament difference was that 3 additional torpedoes could be stored for a total of 14. The next development of these series was the mass produced type VIIC with several improvements.

Type VIIB included many of the most famous U-boats during World War 2, including Kretschmer's U-99, U-48 which was the most successful U-boat, Prien's U-47 and Schepke's U-100.

VIIC (The work horse)

Type VIIC was a slightly modified version of the successful type VIIB boats. They had basically the same engine layout and power, but were slightly larger and heavier which made them not quite as fast as the VIIB. 5 torpedo tubes (4 at the bow and one at the stern) were installed in all but the following boats; only two bow tubes (U-72, U-78, U-80, U-554 and U-555) and no stern tube (U-203, U-331, U-351, U-401, U-431 and U-651).

The VIIC was the workhorse of the German U-boat force in World War Two from 1941 onwards and boats of this type were being built throughout the war. The first VIIC boat being commissioned was the U-69 in 1940. The VIIC was an effective fighting machine and was seen in almost all areas where the U-boat force operated although their range was not as great as the one of the larger IX types.

The VIIC came into service as the "Happy Days" were almost over and it was this boat that faced the final defeat to the Allied anti-submarine campaign in late 1943 and 1944.

Perhaps the most famous VIIC boat was the U-96 which is featured in the movie Das Boot, other noticeable boats were the U-flak boats. Many of these boats were fitted with the Schnorkel in 1944-1945. This design saw one more improvement in the type VIIC/41 boat.

The larger mine-laying type VIID was a direct variant of the VIIC.

VIC/41

Type VIIC/41 was a slightly modified version of the successful VIIC and had basically the same engine layout and power. Armament was the same with 5 torpedo tubes (4 at the bow and one at the stern). The biggest difference was that these boats had a stronger pressure hull giving them more depth to evade attack under (operational 120m and crush depth at 250m against VIIC's 100/200). They also had lighter machinery to compensate for the added steel in the hull making them actually slightly lighter than the VIIC. All the type VIIC/41 boats from U-1271 onwards had the mine fittings deleted.

This design saw one further change in the much improved type VIIC/42 but none of those was ever completed, being phased out for the even more formidable XXI Elektro boat in late 1943.

Today one type VIIC/41 still exists in the form of U-995 which is now on display at Laboe (north of Kiel) in Germany. She is also the only surviving type VII in the world.

VIIC/42

The VIIC/42 was designed 1942-1943 and was intended to replace the then retreating VIIC, she had a much stronger pressure hull (with plating thickness up to 28mm) and a bit better offensive punch (16 torpedoes against VIIC's 14). Her diving depth was designed to be 200 meters with 400 meters as crushing depth (VIIC figures: 100/200 meters).

These boats would have been very similar in external appearance to the VIIC/41 but with two periscopes in the tower as type IX.

All contracts for the VIIC/42 U-boats were cancelled on 30 September 1943 in favor of the new Elektro Boat XXI.