Germany (1936-45) 194 produced (290 ordered) Type IX, the long-range U-Boat: During world war two, two main types of u-boats roamed the sea: The Type VII, basically a mid-range oceanic type, able to take position in the middle of the Atlantic without refuelling, and the Type IX, the cruiser type, able to reach the American … Read more
Germany (1933), About 700 subs A Massive Improvement of U-Boat designs: If German tanks, aircraft and small arms from the German manufacturing complex had won a considerable and fearsome reputation in WW2, German submarines truly reached the world stage as the epitome of the genre, with just the perfect balance of engineering, simplicity, and ease … Read more
Type Ia, the oceanic type Germany (1936) U25, U26 The Unterseebooten Typ I, were in direct line inspired by the Spanish E1 and various other international orders (Turkey, Finland, Holland…) made at The Hague. They were oceanic types, therefore openly violating clauses of the Versailles treaty. By their general configuration, they announced the famous class … Read more
Seeteufel (1944) Germany (1944) Genesis of a tracked submarine The Seeteufel “Monkfish” was an evolution of the concept of human torpedoes and midget submarines that could be thrown out on the coastal areas when U-boats failed to achieve their objectives and survive to the allied total mastery of the skies and sea at that point. … Read more
German mini-subs and human torpedoes Germany (1944-45) Introduction: K-verband projects: Not a part of the series of famous “V-weapons”, these ultra-modern miracle weapons supposed to reverse the fate of the Reich, these very light units of the Kriegsmarine appeared late, as a last-ditch naval bulwark to the enormous means deployed by the allies. With the … Read more
Type II U-Boats (1935) Germany (1935), 50 Submarines Types IIa, IIb, IIc, IId The Type II U-Boats were the first mass-produced submersibles of the Kriegsmarine. They were derived from the CV 707 design, better known as the Vesikko, Finnish submarine designed by IvS, the famous covert submarine design bureau of the Hague, Netherlands, in operation … Read more
