Small-arms inventory of standard operational u-boat 1942/43

[Vulcan64]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum and hope I can learn a lot here.

To kick things off I've got a pretty esoteric question: Can anyone tell me what the small-arms inventory of the standard operational u-boat was in 1942/43 in say a Type VII boat operating in the North Atlantic? This inventory would exclude the usual AA armament of 20mm cannon in single or multiple mounts or the less prevalent 13mm guns used on some boats, but would include pistols, rifles, submachine-guns, and light/multipurpose 7.92mm machine-guns (Mg 34 or Mg 42) presumably stored in the boat's armoury.

The usual u-boat sites that I've checked don't seem to have this topic covered (unless I've missed it); however, I would be grateful for any suggestions.

Cheers, V64

[PPoS]

Can anyone tell me what the small-arms inventory of the standard operational u-boat was in 1942/43 in say a Type VII boat operating in the North Atlantic?

Yes I think I can, and have done already on this forum. I can collect the information again for you or you could just make a search on the forum. The latter will be the fastes option.

[Vulcan64]

If the subject entry below is the one you mean, the posts for this entry do not tell me very much.

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... uboat+arms

[PPoS]

Yes I spotted it too, my bad.

The Small Arms Equipment of a U-Boot Typ VII
The weapons where stored in a locker and the captain held the key.

3 x Machine Guns (Probably MG-34) with 6000 rds each
5 x Sub-Machine Guns (Probably MP-40) with 384 rds each
5 x Mauser Pistols (Most likely Mauser C34 or HSc) with 56 rds each
5 x Mauser Rifles + Bayonets with 90 rds each

[Vulcan64]

Many thanks, PPoS. Very comprehensive and informative. V64

[Pax Melmacia]

I'm just guessing here, mind you, but given a) the limited space on a U-Boat, and b) the decreased possibility of using small arms as the war progressed, maybe as time passed many of those weapons were moved ashore and the space used for storing more important stuff like food and medicine.

[PPoS]

I'm just guessing here, mind you, but given a) the limited space on a U-Boat, and b) the decreased possibility of using small arms as the war progressed, maybe as time passed many of those weapons were moved ashore and the space used for storing more important stuff like food and medicine.

Yes, you are probably right about that. I don't think that the submariners found themselves in situations where small arms were needed very often.
On the other hand, I don't think that the limited space on the submarine was any problem for one or two weapon lockers.