sub fires

[Wave Skipper]

It appears from my reading that US subs had a lot of fires on board compared to German U-boats. I know the old truism that German machines tended to be better built with tighter specs. But after reading many accounts of US subs in WWII I kept running into accounts of how sea water pouring down the hatches cuased fires in the control room and batteries below. When the Tang was dead on the bottom of 180 feet of water a battery fire was causing the paint to peel off the walls in the torpedo room as the men were trying to escape to the surface. I have read several books about U-boats and never recall reading much about fires causes by salt water. I do recall how we in the US brought many German rocket scientists to the states to build our early rocket force, and I do recall that our electronics was of so low quality that most of our rockets exploded or fell over on the pads (and that was with German scientists trying to walk us through the development).

Was the equipment on German U-boats better sealed or water-proofed than American electronics? And did the German U-boats have many battery fires?

[codmander]

hmm fire mod instead of leaky pipe? :up:

[von Zelda]

Don't know about battery fires but deadly chlorine gas was formed when salt water got to the batteries.

[Wave Skipper]

Yes, SH2 had U-boat fires I seem to recall. I was just wondering if German equipment was better sealed. I never heard of German U-boat fires caused by storms and waves. I do know that American military equipment did not get really tight in specs until the rocket-pad-launch disasters in the 1950s. But Germany was always known for tight specs.

[Finback]

Well, I'm not sure the Tang's story is a great representation of poor electronics... After all, she had just been sunk by her own torpedo so a few other problems were to be expected ;) .

That said--The reason Germans didn't smoke when submerged was mainly due to concerns with chlorine gas, a problem for all diesel/electrics. One reason the U-boats may have had less problems in the control room is they usually kept the hatch shut in heavy seas whereas US crews would slam the hatch if they saw a wave coming.

Not saying you're wrong. Just that I've been reading sub history since I was 8 (which about 110 years ago) and I've never seen a reference to this subject regarding what nationality had more electical issues.

Good Subject.

:hmm:

[johan_d]

"In our eyes, the German boy of the future must be slim and slender, as fast as a greyhound, tough as leather and hard as Krupp steel"

Thats summon its all up.. lol

[firepower41]

Even today, American submarines have fires all the time. I can't name any names, but I know for a fact that on certain attack submarines fires have gotten so bad the boat has had to surface on tour (a big uh-uh in nuclear submarines). German Uboots had fire problems for sure, and fire problems in any submarine are an embarrassment to the navy to which it happens. Thus I suspect the lack of proof of Uboot fires has far more to do with German classification and document destruction for propaganda purposes than magical German anti-fire engineering.

The two greatest enemies of submariners have always been fire and water. If either is in the compartments, the ship is only so far from becoming a casket.

[Sheerin]

Even today, American submarines have fires all the time. I can't name any names, but I know for a fact that on certain attack submarines fires have gotten so bad the boat has had to surface on tour (a big uh-uh in nuclear submarines). German Uboots had fire problems for sure, and fire problems in any submarine are an embarrassment to the navy to which it happens. Thus I suspect the lack of proof of Uboot fires has far more to do with German classification and document destruction for propaganda purposes than magical German anti-fire engineering.

The two greatest enemies of submariners have always been fire and water. If either is in the compartments, the ship is only so far from becoming a casket.

Sadly we Canadians have recent experience with deadly fires caused by waves. Its been what? 36 months since the HMCS Chicoutimi incident...