General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Re-assigned to Safety?
Posted by:
kurt
()
Date: March 12, 2001 05:44PM
<HTML>Many boats were retied from active combat and used as school boats. The major reason this was done was because of obsolete or inadequate design.
Specifically, the Type VIIA and many foreign boats - boats built for foriegn navies but confiscated by the Kriegsmarine (such as the U-A) were retired to school status. Many of the foreign boats were simply not up to the harsh warfare in the North Atlantic (the U-A lacked in diving depth and underwater manueverability). They Type VIIA had several design shortcomings, including an engine exhaust valve that was prone to leak at depth or from battle damage.
There comes a time when refit is not worth the trouble, or the limitations of the original hull and design or too much, and it is better to retire a boat to school use than try upgrade it.
Also, there were occasions when battle damage was so bad that a boat could not be made fully combat serviceable again. Maybe enough to putter about and submerge a little, but not to handle the stresses of depth charging and emergency deep dives. Many boats would be retired to school status after severe battle damage made it uneconomical to fix them to combat status again...
Also, remember that as the U-boat arm dramatically expanded in the later war years there was a serious need for school boats. What would you do? Keep obsolete types in battle while spending your resources building new training boats? No, obviously you\'d do what Doenitz did: retire the old war boats to school status while concentrating new construction on the latest combat types.
The same thing happened in the US sub fleet, with the obsolete S classes being quickly phased out of combat to school use. The clumsy \'cruiser\' boats, the Nautilus and Arganout, also were consigned to safer \'special mission\' (smuggling in spies and commandos). </HTML>
Specifically, the Type VIIA and many foreign boats - boats built for foriegn navies but confiscated by the Kriegsmarine (such as the U-A) were retired to school status. Many of the foreign boats were simply not up to the harsh warfare in the North Atlantic (the U-A lacked in diving depth and underwater manueverability). They Type VIIA had several design shortcomings, including an engine exhaust valve that was prone to leak at depth or from battle damage.
There comes a time when refit is not worth the trouble, or the limitations of the original hull and design or too much, and it is better to retire a boat to school use than try upgrade it.
Also, there were occasions when battle damage was so bad that a boat could not be made fully combat serviceable again. Maybe enough to putter about and submerge a little, but not to handle the stresses of depth charging and emergency deep dives. Many boats would be retired to school status after severe battle damage made it uneconomical to fix them to combat status again...
Also, remember that as the U-boat arm dramatically expanded in the later war years there was a serious need for school boats. What would you do? Keep obsolete types in battle while spending your resources building new training boats? No, obviously you\'d do what Doenitz did: retire the old war boats to school status while concentrating new construction on the latest combat types.
The same thing happened in the US sub fleet, with the obsolete S classes being quickly phased out of combat to school use. The clumsy \'cruiser\' boats, the Nautilus and Arganout, also were consigned to safer \'special mission\' (smuggling in spies and commandos). </HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Re-assigned to Safety?
|
Jay | 03/12/2001 01:02AM |
|
RE: Re-assigned to Safety?
|
Donnie | 03/12/2001 02:11PM |
|
RE: Re-assigned to Safety?
|
kurt | 03/12/2001 05:44PM |
|
RE: Re-assigned to Safety?
|
David W | 03/13/2001 02:20AM |