Snorkel on Sub's

[Madsen]

when did the german subs start to get snorkel mounted onboard?
and how commond was that? was it on every model VII, IX etc?
i Have this game about german subs and staring to wander about it.

[Korbius]

If I'm correct, the snorkel was mounted on U-boats during '43, and mainly on the type VIIB and IX also started mounting the snorkel in that period.

[Madsen]

thanks. on my game im commanding a type VIIc boat and its rather hard to charge batteries with destroyers around you 8)

[Korbius]

Lillebror, are you referring to Silent Hunter II? That's a great sub sim game.

[Madsen]

Yepp. Silent hunter II. a great game. i wonder if it was that hard in real sub war?

[Korbius]

Yepp. Silent hunter II. a great game. i wonder if it was that hard in real sub war?

Heheh, the difficulty in real life is unimaginable, being in an iron coffin, not being able to see the destroyer while you are being depth-charged. Fortunately in SH2, u can see the sub in the outside view

[Madsen]

Hey that is cheating that is a great advantage, you can even see destroyers as they are chasing you.
But i try not to use that metod.i try to use the Sonar system instead.
bit harder then 8)
But what a nightmare it must bee for sub sailors to just sit there and listen to their own death and not bee able to see whats happening.

[Xanthro]

To make matters worse on the submariners, when the Americans got involved, they started to simply use a brute force method of destruction.

Because so many depth charges were available, the US simply dropped them in a pattern guarenteed, (as close as you can get it guarenteed anyway) the destruction of the sub. It might takes DAYS to complete, but there was no escape.

Doesn't really sound fair.

Xanthro

[varjag]

And now - Back to The First Question. I don't know. But I've read enough to suggest that first operational employment might have been late-43 = early -44 and with very few units involved. Somewhere I've read a memoir where a U-Boat commander, in June -44, knowing that exciting through Bay of Biscay at that time was suicidal - by 'hook and crook' managed to obtain a schnorkel for his boat - and made it out into the Atlantic.Which indicates how rare, and hard to come by, the schnorkels were at that time.

[Madsen]

Hi Xanthro. that couldnt be in convoys ? as i see escort ships hadn't that many charges onboard. and how was they supposed to do that? It wouls recuire many ships and allot of time on just one sub.