LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Type Vii U-Boat: North Atlantic
built 305 days ago
[L]aunched in 1936, the Type VII U-boat was the mainstay of the German campaign against Allied supply lines during the Battle of the Atlantic. With more than six hundred of the type constructed, it has come to be considered the most successful submarine design of all time. This newly revised edition offers a full description of the submarine, including the many variations and improvements introduced during its long service career, a pictorial section that emphasizes close-up and on-board photographs, and 135 line drawings. The perspective and three-view drawings give every detail of the boat—general arrangements, hull construction, machinery, superstructure, rig, armament, fire controls, and fittings—with in-depth descriptive keys. Such a serious evaluation of the submarine’s design and construction provides ship buffs, historians, and modelmakers with an insight into the technicalities of an important ship type.
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These "Milchkuh" U Boats were intended to refuel support and re-supply the rudeltaktik type VII "wolfpacks" in the Atlantic and elsewhere, at long distances from home. They had a large flat deck for carrying out replenishment at sea (RAS) and carried a doctor, spare fuel food and torpedes. They had facilities for baking bread to resupply U boats. Their effectiveness was severely compromised by radio transmissions and continued reliance on Enigma Code for rendevous locations and most were sunk by aircraft while in resupply mode on the surface. Underwater refuelling was perfected too late in the war be effective. Displacement was 1600 to 2000 tons and speed 14 kts.
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The Type VII U-boat was the backbone of the fighting strength of Nazi Germany's U-boats at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. The first submarine sinking of the war was by a Type VII boat, and some of the most dramatic events of the first year of the war involved a Type VII - the sinking of HMS Courageous by U29 in the Atlantic in September 1939 and the sinking of HMS Royal Oak by U47 in Scapa Flow a few weeks later. The 'Anatomy of the Ship' series aims to provide the finest documentation of individual ships and ship types ever published. What makes the series unique is a complete set of superbly executed line drawings, both the conventional type of plan as well as explanatory views, with fully descriptive keys. These are supported by technical details and a record of the ship's service history.
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At the beginning of the war the German Navy was equipped with the 750-ton Type VII U-boat. These proved too small for Atlantic operations and larger long-range types were later introduced. Between 1940 and 1943 U-boats took a heavy toll of Allied shipping in the Atlantic, Arctic and the Mediterranean.
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There were several reasons which contributed to the selection of the Type VII as the main workhorse of the U-boat force. Technically, the Type VII had the necessary range, sea worthiness, armament, and maneuverability suitable to conduct a trade war in the North Atlantic. In order to build sufficient numbers in a war situation, the Type VII ... had to be relatively cheap and quick to build. The number of sailors required to man the boat also had to be comparatively small. Crew habitability, however, was very low on the priority list.
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Close Encounter or Chase in the Atlantic - Chase in the Atlantic or Close Encounter, either way a Soviet Oscar II cruises on the surface, closely followed by HMS Manchester, a Type 42 Batch III destroyer. This diorama in 1:700 scale is by Fred Poon. The Oscar II is the Kursk, a Tamiya kit and the Manchester is from S-Mars.
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