The Type XXI was equipped with six bow torpedo tubes (instead of the more common four in German submarines) and carried 23 torpedoes. The Type XXI was also equipped with a creep motor for occasions when silent running was necessary. This often revealed a boat's location, especially after aircraft became available for convoy escort. Older boats had to surface to sprint into position. It also provided a 'sprint ability' when positioning itself for an attack. The ability to outrun many surface ships while submerged, combined with improved dive times (also a product of the new hull form), made the Type XXI much more difficult to pursue and destroy. The new, streamlined hull design allowed submerged speed of 17.2 kn (19.8 mph 31.9 km/h), versus 7.6 kn (8.7 mph 14.1 km/h) for the Type VIIC. The Type XXI was also much quieter than the VIIC, making it more difficult to detect when submerged and the design eliminated protruding components that created drag with earlier models. Being designed primarily for submerged use, the Type XXI's maximum surface speed (15.6 knots) was slightly lower than that of the Type IX (18.2 knots) but its submerged speed was twice that of the Type IX's (15.2 knots versus 7.7 knots), thanks to new turbo-supercharged diesel engines and the more hydrodynamically streamlined hull. They could travel submerged at about 5 knots (9.3 km/h 5.8 mph) for about 75 hours before recharging batteries, which took less than five hours using the snorkel. This gave these boats great underwater range and dramatically reduced the time spent on or near the surface. The main features of the Type XXI were the hydrodynamically streamlined hull and conning tower and the large number of battery cells, roughly triple that of the German Type VII submarine. These include the Soviet Whiskey, American Tang, British Porpoise, and Swedish Hajen III classes, all based on the Type XXI design to some extent. The Type XXI submarines were also rushed into production before design work was complete, and the inexperienced facilities which constructed the boats were unable to meet necessary quality standards.Īfter the war, several navies obtained Type XXIs and operated them for decades in various roles, while large navies introduced new submarine designs based on them. However, the design was also flawed in many ways, with the submarines being mechanically unreliable and vulnerable to combat damage. The design included many general improvements as well: much greater underwater speed by an improved hull design, greatly improved diving times, power-assisted torpedo reloading and greatly improved crew accommodations. They incorporated many batteries to increase the time they could spend submerged, to as much as several days, and they only needed to surface to periscope depth for recharging via a snorkel. They were the first submarines designed to operate primarily submerged, rather than spending most of their time as surface ships that could submerge for brief periods as a means of escaping detection. During the war only two were put into active service and went on patrols, but these were not used in combat. One hundred and eighteen were completed, with four being combat-ready. Type XXI submarines were a class of German diesel–electric Elektroboot (German: "electric boat") submarines designed during the Second World War.
2 x twin 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft guns.23 G7 torpedoes (or 17 torpedoes and 12 mines).2 × SSW GV232/28 "creep motors", 226 PS (223 shp 166 kW) for silent running, and to keep the boat moving while the batteries are being recharged.2× MAN M6V40/46KBB geared supercharged 6-cylinder diesel engines, 4,000 PS (3,900 shp 2,900 kW), driving:.Geared Diesel/Geared battery-electric/CODABEL/Diesel-electric beltdrive/Low-noise electric beltdrive.Type XXIII (parallel coastal submarine project)
Type XVIII (cancelled oceanic AIP project).It is the only floating example of a Type XXI U-boat. U-2540 in wartime configuration and exhibited at the Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven.
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