On 14 Oct 2003 09:48:30 -0700, (robert arndt) wrote:

U-2511 and U-3008 both went out on patrols with U-2511 passing
undetected under a HMS Suffolk and carrying out a mock attack (under
strict orders not to engage). He returned to base where 12 other Type
XXIs were fully ready for operation, with another 30 boats in the
stages of trial and training.

Yep thats 2 count em 2 war patrols.

And both were undetected, carrying out mock attacks on a cruiser and
British convoys.


After WW2, the USN heavily tested the Type XXI boat (as did the
British, French, and Russians) and found the design quite stealthy.
The Type XXI also was fitted with a silent V-belt drive system in
addition to the Alberich covering.

But all adopted different designs and none selected a v-belt drive.

All the major foreign navies tested the Type XXI completely from 1945
into the '50s. A summary:

U-2513 US, tested and scrapped in 1956
U-2518 France, served as Roland Millirot
U-2529 British N27 until 1947, handed over to Russia
U-2540 Germany, scuttled, raised in 1957, recommissioned as Wilhelm
Bauer, restoed at Maritime Museum at Bremerhaven
U-3008 US, tested until 1955
U-3017 British N41, scrapped 1950
U-3035 British N28 until 1948, handed over to Russia
U-3041 British N29 until 1948, handed over to Russia
U-3525 British N30 until 1948, handed over to Russia

The problem with Alberich was not the covering itself but the adhesive
used to attach it to the boats. Early Alberich trials resulted in
seperated sheets of the material coming loose. This was later remedied
by the time the coating was applied to the Type XIII, U-4709 being the
first to recieve the new adhesive.

U-4709 was bombed while being built

No, it was scrapped on May 4, 1945.

Had these boats been produced in number and launched a year earlier
the Allies would have had a tough time countering them.


Over a 100 type XXI's HAD been launched, the Germans couldnt
make em work. Boats that dont work and adhesive that doesnt
stick arent war winning weapons.

Keith

Not true. The Type XXIs were revolutionary for their time and had the
normal teething troubles. Prefabrication and transportation
difficulties added to the problem. Alberich was not a problem, the
adhesive was and that (as already explained) had been corrected by Feb
1945. No Type XXI was destroyed due to Alberich failure and even those
without the covering were still stealthy with the V-belt drive as
PROVEN by postwar Allied tests.
The Type XXI was a truly remarkable machine for the time, better than
anything the Allies had.

Rob

If it was so wonderful, why did none of the countries that received
Type XIIIs copy them? Because they were death traps that offered no
better performance or protection than contemporary US Boats! If the
"v-belt drive" was so superior, where are the Russian, British and US
boats that use the design?

Germany lost, get over it.

Al Minyard