LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Type Vii U-Boat
built 305 days ago
The long awaited reprint of this definitive anatomy of the Type VII U-Boat. The quality of the early edition has not left much room for improvement and inevitably the cover price has increased. Interestingly, the price is lower in real terms and Conway have done very well to achieve this without compromise of a definitive work. This edition is very slightly thinner suggesting that some savings have been made by using a lighter weight paper and/or binding, but it is hard to see any difference close up. The interesting innovation has been to adopt the publishing standard evolved during the life of the Anatomy of the Ship series. This has resulted in a hardback binding that has a fully illustrated skin that exactly copies the dust jacket images where the original edition had a plain grey fabric skin.
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The first Type II was launched in 1935 as U 1. These were designated as Coastal Boats and were known as "Einbaume" or dugout canoes. Developments and improvements followed rapidly and types were known as IIA IIB IIC IID with increased endurance and reduced diving times. Speed was 13kts on the surface and 7 kts submerged. They carried three torpedo tubes forward and one 20mm gun. A total of fifty boats of this class were built.
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The design of the ‘Type VII’ was developed from the UB III boats of WWI and the Finish ‘Vetehinen’ class built between 1926 and 1932. The design sought to build a boat of high strength, good sea-keeping, surface and underwater handling, good surface speed and large torpedo capacity. Construction had to be straightforward and maintenance had to be fairly simple, all this resulted in a boat 218ft long displacing just under 915 tons.
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The first of a total of 91 type VII C/41 submarines went into service in the summer of 1943. At that time the operating conditions for the submarine crews had totally changed. The tactic of "hunting in packs" used in 1941-42 only rarely led to the successful tracking of convoys and the sinking of individual ships. Modern escort protection forces were successful in shielded the ships and special sub-chaser fighter planes widely patrolled the sea areas where there were submarines. In order to be better able to defend themselves on the surface against surprise attacks from the air, the VII C/41s received an enlarged fin superstructure known as the "large glasshouse". The so-called fin IV had aft on its upper platform two 20 mm twin anti-aircraft guns and on a lower platform one 37 mm M42U anti-aircraft cannon. Another feature of these submarines was a snorkel mast that could be brought up from the deck when surfaced to take in fresh air and let out the waste air.
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Le Type VII U-Boat fut le cheval de bataille sous-marin des Allemands durant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. Cet ouvrage en propose une description complète, tant du point de vue historique que technique avec plus de 130 plans de détails et un plan général.
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The Type VIIC retained the same characteristics of the VIIB except that it was equipped with new active sonar device. Additional space was needed for this device and to accommodate for this, the hull was further lengthened by two feet immediately fore and aft of the periscope. Other minor mechanical improvements were made, such as a new oil-filter system, air compressor and updated electrical control system.
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Type Vii U-Boat