![]() U-234 surrenders to USS Sutton, 1945 | |
Class overview | |
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Builders | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
Operators | |
Preceded by | Type IX submarine |
Succeeded by |
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Built | 1939 -1944 |
In commission | 1941 -1945 |
Completed | 8 |
Lost | 6 |
General characteristics [1] | |
Class and type | Submarine minelayer |
Displacement | |
Length |
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Beam |
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Height | 10.20 m (33 ft 6 in) |
Draught | 4.71 m (15 ft 5 in) |
Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range |
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Test depth | Calculated crush depth: 220 m (720 ft) |
Complement | 5 officers, 47 enlisted |
Armament |
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Type X (XB) U-boats were a special type of German submarine (U-boat). Although intended as long-range mine-layers, they were later used as long-range cargo transports, a task they shared with the Type IXD and Italian Romolo-class submarines.
The Type X was originally designed specifically to accommodate the newly developed Schachtmine A (SMA) moored mine. [3] The initial design provided dry storage for the mines, which needed their detonators to be individually adjusted before launch; this submarine was projected to have displaced up to 2,500 tonnes. [4] A further variant, the Type XA was projected, which would have supplemented the main mine chamber with extra mine shafts in the saddle tanks. Neither type entered production. [5]
A total of eight Type XB boats were produced, which replaced the mine chamber of the projected Type XA with six vertical wet storage shafts in the forward section of the hull. [6] Up to 18 mines could be carried in these shafts, with an additional 48 mines in a series of 12 shafts set into the saddle tanks on each side. They only had two torpedo tubes, both at the stern. [1] When used as cargo-carrying submarines they carried freight containers in the mine shafts (or had the freight containers welded on top of the lateral shafts, preventing their use for mines).
The first Type XB was launched in May 1941. [1] At 2,710 tonnes submerged and fully loaded, they were the largest German U-boats ever built, and they had to sacrifice diving speed and agility.
Six of the eight boats built were sunk during the war (four with all hands) but two survived World War II. One survivor was U-234, which surrendered to US Navy ships on 14 May 1945 while en route for Japan with a cargo that included 560 kg uranium oxide, two Me 262 jet fighters, and 10 jet engines.
The other type XB to survive was U-219 which reached Batavia (present-day Jakarta) in December 1944 with a cargo including dismantled V-2 rockets for Japan. Following Germany's surrender, U-219 was seized by the Japanese at Batavia on 8 May 1945 and on 15 July 1945 was placed into service with the Imperial Japanese Navy as I-505.
There were eight Type X submarines commissioned.
Six Type XBs were lost to various causes.
The Type IX U-boat was designed by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine in 1935 and 1936 as a large ocean-going submarine for sustained operations far from the home support facilities. Type IX boats were briefly used for patrols off the eastern United States in an attempt to disrupt the stream of troops and supplies bound for Europe. It was derived from the Type IA, and appeared in various sub-types.
The Type XIV U-boat was designed to resupply other U-boats, being the only submarine tenders built which were not surface ships. It was nicknamed in German the "Milchkuh/Milchkühe (pl.)".
German Type XXIII submarines were the first so-called elektroboote to become operational. They were small coastal submarines designed to operate in the shallow waters of the North Sea, Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea, where larger Type XXI electric boats were at risk in World War II. They were so small they could carry only two torpedoes, which had to be loaded externally. As with their far larger sisters—the Type XXI—they were able to remain submerged almost all of the time and were faster than conventional U-boats, due to the improved streamlining of their shape, batteries with larger capacity and the snorkel, which allowed the diesel engines to be used while submerged. The Type XXI and XXIII U-boats revolutionized post-war submarine design. Nearly a thousand Type XXIII boats were projected towards the close of World War II, but most of these were either cancelled, scrapped incomplete, or only projected.
The Type I U-boat was the first post–World War I attempt to produce an oceangoing submarine for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. The type was based on the Spanish Type E-1 and Finnish CV707, which were both designed by Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw. Only two Type IAs were built. They were not a successful design : due to its single rudder they had a large turning circle and were not very manoeuvrable. The gravity center of the U-boat was too forward so on the surface the type I had its propellers exposed when she was pitching. Whilst submerged there were problems with depth keeping and stability as air bubbles in the fuel tanks wobbled back and forth. Diving was very slow: at full speed and with six tons of negative buoyancy it took forty seconds to reach ten metres depth. As a result, the type was discontinued and a new type IX class oceangoing U-boats was designed.
German submarine U-234 was a Type XB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II, she was commanded by Kapitänleutnant Johann-Heinrich Fehler. Her first and only mission into enemy or contested territory consisted of the attempted delivery of uranium oxide and German advanced weapons technology to the Empire of Japan. After receiving Admiral Dönitz' order to surface and surrender and of Germany's unconditional surrender, the submarine's crew surrendered to the United States on 14 May 1945.
German submarine U-219 was a Type XB submarine of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The U-boat was laid down on 31 May 1941 at the Germaniawerft yard at Kiel as yard number 625, launched on 6 October 1942, and commissioned on 12 December 1942 under the command of Korvettenkapitän Walter Burghagen.
German submarine U-843 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 21 April 1942 at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser yard in Bremen, launched on 15 December 1942, and commissioned on 24 March 1943 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Oskar Herwartz. After training with 4th U-boat Flotilla in the Baltic Sea, U-843 was transferred to 2nd U-boat Flotilla on 1 November 1943 for front-line service, and was transferred to 33rd U-boat Flotilla on 1 October 1944. She carried out three war patrols, sinking one ship, and was sunk by a British aircraft on 9 April 1945.
German submarine U-1059 was a Type VIIF transport submarine of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
German submarine U-1062 was one of a series of four Type VIIF submarine of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
German submarine U-759 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 15 November 1940 at the Kriegsmarinewerft yard at Wilhelmshaven, launched on 30 May 1942, and commissioned on 15 August 1942 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Rudolf Friedrich.
Type U 151 U-boats were a class of large, long-range submarines initially constructed during World War I to be merchant submarines and later used by the Kaiserliche Marine.
The Gruppe Monsun or Monsoon Group was a force of German U-boats (submarines) that operated in the Pacific and Indian Oceans during World War II. Although similar naming conventions were used for temporary groupings of submarines in the Atlantic, the longer duration of Indian Ocean patrols caused the name to be permanently associated with the relatively small number of U-boats operating out of Penang. After 1944, the U-boats of the Monsun Gruppe were operationally placed under the authority of the Southeast Asia U-boat Region.
German submarine U-233 was a Type XB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down on 15 August 1941, launched on 8 May 1943 and commissioned on 22 September of the same year. U-233 was commanded throughout her career by Oberleutnant zur See Hans Steen.
German submarine U-117 was a Type XB minelaying U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
The German submarine U-241 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. Four days into her first patrol, she shot down an attacking flying boat but was sunk with all hands the next day.
German submarine U-225 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
German submarine U-118 was a Type XB minelaying U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
German submarine U-220 was a Type XB submarine of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
German submarine U-243 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
German submarine U-544 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.