Submarines

German U-Boats: Type XXI and Type XXIII

Kriegsmarine · Elektroboot · Late-War Advanced Submarines

Type XXI U-boat

Type XXI U-boats, also known as the "Elektroboots," were the first submarines designed to operate entirely submerged, rather than as surface ships that could submerge as a temporary, awkward mode of operation.

Type XXIs had much better facilities than previous classes, with a freezer for foodstuffs and minor conveniences for the crew such as a shower and wash basin. They were much quieter, and enjoyed a hydraulic torpedo reload system that allowed all six torpedo tubes to be reloaded faster than a Type VIIC could reload a single tube. Improvements in battery design yielded a storage capacity roughly three times that of a Type VIIC, giving these boats enormous underwater range. They could travel submerged at about five knots for two or three days before recharging the batteries, which took less than five hours on the snorkel.

Between 1943 and 1945, 118 boats of this type were built by Blohm and Voss of Hamburg, AG Weser of Bremen, and F.Schichau of Danzig.

U-2501 - U-2502 - U-2503 - U-2504 - U-2505 - U-2506 - U-2507 - U-2508 - U-2509 - U-2510 - U-2511 - U-2512 - U-2513 - U-2514 - U-2515 - U-2516 - U-2517 - U-2518 - U-2519 - U-2520 - U-2521 - U-2522 - U-2523 - U-2524 - U-2525 - U-2526 - U-2527 - U-2528 - U-2529 - U-2530 - U-2531 - U-2533 - U-2534 - U-2535 - U-2536 - U-2538 - U-2539 - U-2540 - U-2541 - U-2542 - U-2543 - U-2544 - U-2545 - U-2546 - U-2548 - U-2551 - U-2552 - U-3001 - U-3002 - U-3003 - U-3004 - U-3005 - U-3006 - U-3007 - U-3008 - U-3009 - U-3010 - U-3011 - U-3012 - U-3013 - U-3014 - U-3015 - U-3016 - U-3017 - U-3018 - U-3019 - U-3020 - U-3021 - U-3022 - U-3023 - U-3024 - U-3025 - U-3026 - U-3027 - U-3028 - U-3029 - U-3030 - U-3031 - U-3032 - U-3033 - U-3034 - U-3035 - U-3037 - U-3038 - U-3039 - U-3040 - U-3041 - U-3044 - U-3501 - U-3502 - U-3503 - U-3504 - U-3505 - U-3506 - U-3507 - U-3508 - U-3509 - U-3510 - U-3511 - U-3512 - U-3513 - U-3514 - U-3515 - U-3516 - U-3517 - U-3518 - U-3519 - U-3520 - U-3521 - U-3522 - U-3523 - U-3524 - U-3525 - U-3526 - U-3527 - U-3528 - U-3529 - U-3530

General Characteristics

  • Displacement: surfaced 1621 tons, submerged 1819 tons, total 2100 tons
  • Length: overall 76.7 meters, pressure hull 60.5 meters
  • Beam: overall 8 meters, pressure hull 5.3 meters
  • Draft: 6.3 meters
  • Height: 11.3 meters
  • Power: surfaced 4000 horsepower, submerged 4400 horsepower
  • Speed: surfaced 15.6 knots, submerged 17.2 knots
  • Range: surfaced 25,000km (15,500 miles) at 10 knots, submerged 550km (340 miles) at 5 knots
  • Torpedoes: 23 (6 bow, no stern) and12 TMC mines
  • Deck gun: none
  • Crew: 57-60 men
  • Max depth: 280 meters (920 feet)

Type XXIII U-boat

The Type XXIII U-boat was designed to operated in the shallow littorals of the North Sea, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, where the larger Type XXI Elektro boats would be at risk. They were so small that they could carry only two torpedoes, which had to be loaded externally.

The first Type XXIII, U-2321, was launched from Deutsche Werft in Hamburg on April 17, 1944. She was one of six XXIIIs that went on operational patrol around the British Isles in early 1945. Forty-eight others followed from Deutsche Werft and thirteen from Germaniawerft of Kiel. U-4712 was the last one launched, on April 19, 1945.

The first patrol by a Type XXIII began when U-2324 put to sea on January 29, 1945. U-2336 under the command of Kapit?nleutnant Klusmeier sank the last ships lost in World War II on May 7 when he torpedoed two British freighters inside the Firth of Forth.

None of the six operational Type XXIIIs -- U-2321, U-2322, U-2324, U-2326, U-2329, and U-2336 -- was sunk by the Allies during World War II. These boats sank or damaged five ships for a total of 14,601 tons.

Seven Type XXIIIs were lost to various causes.

  • U-2323 was sunk by a naval mine on July 26, 1944.
  • U-2331 was lost in a training accident on October 10, 1944.
  • U-2338 was the only XXIII to be sunk by the enemy. British Beaufighter aircraft killed 12 crewmen and sank the boat east-northeast of Frederika on May 4, 1945, before she ever went on combat patrol.
  • U-2342 was sunk by a naval mine on December 26, 1944.
  • U-2344 was rammed and sunk by U-2336 on February 18, 1945.
  • U-2351 was paid off in April 1945 after bomb damages.
  • U-2367 was rammed and sunk by an unidentified U-boat on May 5, 1945.

In early May 1945, 31 XXIIIs were scuttled by their crews. Twenty surrendered to the Allies and were sunk in Operation Deadlight. Only three -- U-2326 (later British submarine N-35), U-2353 (later British submarine N-37), and U-4706 (later Norwegian submarine Knerten) -- survived the war.

U-2321 - U-2322 - U-2323 - U-2324 - U-2325 - U-2326 - U-2327 - U-2328 - U-2329 - U-2330 - U-2331 - U-2332 - U-2333 - U-2334 - U-2335 - U-2336 - U-2337 - U-2338 - U-2339 - U-2340 - U-2341 - U-2342 - U-2343 - U-2344 - U-2345 - U-2346 - U-2347 - U-2348 - U-2349 - U-2350 - U-2351 - U-2352 - U-2353 - U-2354 - U-2355 - U-2356 - U-2357 - U-2358 - U-2359 - U-2360 - U-2361 - U-2362 - U-2363 - U-2364 - U-2365 - U-2366 - U-2367 - U-2368 - U-2369 - U-2371 - U-4701 - U-4702 - U-4703 - U-4704 - U-4705 - U-4706 - U-4707 - U-4709 - U-4710 - U-4711 - U-4712

General Characteristics

  • Displacement: 234 tons surfaced, 258 submerged, 275 total
  • Length: 34.7 meters overall, 26 meters pressure hull
  • Beam: 3 meters
  • Draught: 3.67 meters
  • Height: 7.7 meters
  • Power: 630 horsepower surfaced, 580 horsepower submerged
  • Speed: 9.7 knots surfaced, 12.5 knots submerged
  • Range: 2600 nautical miles at 8 knots surfaced, 194 miles at 4 knots

submerged

  • Torpedoes: two bow tubes
  • Complement: 14-18 men
  • Maximum depth: 180 meters