writing a book/last days ww2/new uboat/new weapons?

[mallyob]

Hi guys , I have started writing a book,based on a little fact but NOT entirely! , set in the final days of WW2, it centers around a new and very secret Uboat,codenamed "Seascorpion". The boat is based around a type xx1 electroboat. Now...I want to attribute certain characteristics including new weapons to this Uboat, I have only started my research but, are these things sort of viable or do they sound ridiculous!
1) codenamed "vesuvius" an upward firing, slim (20cm),shaped charge, acoustic torpedo,range 600mtres, set internally, much like the polaris missiles of today. They would be used to "discourage" depth charge attacks and make it a very dangerous place to be/around (within 600metres), above a Uboat.
2) Underwater "chaff", much like the aluminium foil strips used to confuse aircraft radar at the time, these would be shot from differing points on the boat, (little missiles), set to detonate at different times, the aim would be to confuse the sonar systems of any hostiles and allow time for the Uboat to effect an escape! There will be much more but I've only just finished the first chapter! many thanks for any comments. mal.

[GoldenRivet]

2) Underwater "chaff", much like the aluminium foil strips used to confuse aircraft radar at the time, these would be shot from differing points on the boat, (little missiles), set to detonate at different times, the aim would be to confuse the sonar systems of any hostiles and allow time for the Uboat to effect an escape!

A similar device did exist from about mid 1942 onward called "Bold" it was a canister which contained a chemical which would react with sea water and create a cloud of bubbles. This cloud of bubbles would cause a sonar return often confused for a submarine.

as for the upward firing weaponry - the reason this was never deployed was probably not because of lack of technology, they could have easily developed a buoyant charge that would float to the surface and explode either on contact with an attacking destroyer or magnetically influenced by proximity, however the risk in deploying such a device probably outweighed the rewards.

not only would you have to time the release / launch of such a weapon system perfectly to cause damage to an attacker, you would have to launch it while being completely blind, doing so only based upon sound and you would have to strike a relatively small and maneuverable target which was moving at close to 30 knots.

Additionally, a miss could potentially result in revealing to the enemy the accuracy of his assumption of the u-boat's position thereby helping your attacker narrow down your location with even greater precision.

Finally, i would guess that roughly half of all u-boat losses were attributed to depth charges, the other half of those losses attributed to rockets and bombs dropped from aircraft, so a weapon system designed to launch vertically at an attacking destroyer really only had about a 50% chance of ever being deployed by a u-boat... let alone being used successfully.

By the conclusion of the war the German's were just beginning to understand the limitations of the u-boat as well as identifying their own tactical and logistical failures... not only understand the limitations but also make attempts in earnest to correct their shortcomings.

the real technological advances needed to make the u-boats more formidable came not in the form of offensive weapons systems, but rather in the form of deeper diving capability and air independent propulsion systems that could see the u-boat capable of being submerged for many days - if not weeks at a time.

unfortunately for the u-boat men, these technologies were only being investigated and somewhat developed as the allies closed in on all fronts. The war was long since over before any of these corrections and developments could be implemented to an existing fleet or built into new classes.

good luck with your book, it sounds interesting

[Platapus]

sort of buoyant version of the hedge hog might be interesting, but as GR wrote, probably of limited use. But an interesting concept. :yep:

[GoldenRivet]

I'd also point out that any sort of buoyant charge meant to float to the surface would have had to have been relatively small by design at the time.

Think about the T1 torpedoes - they have a large enough warhead to pack enough punch to sink a freighter sometimes in one hit.

They - including propulsion system and guidance systems etc - are something like 20 feet in length

i would think that any shaped charge that would launch - or float - vertically to a surface target would have to be pretty small. It might damage the escort, but it is doubtful it would pack enough punch to discourage depth charge runs... let alone sink an escort vessel.

such a weapon would probably prove to be an annoyance to a destroyer if anything

[Stealhead]

It depends on what your story is about because you could go more than one route with the technology you use.You could focus on things that allow the sub to be harder to detect or on things that improve it offensive capabilities.

Another problem with your Vesuvius weapon is that it would make noise upon launch noise that an ASW vessel would be able to detect and by the end of the war the hedgehogs where in common use they would simply listen for that nose place the bow in that direction and fire a pattern of hedgehogs over the sound location and most likely destroy the submarine.The rnage would also need to be increased 600meters is not very much you would need at least 2 KM of range on a weapon to insure that it would be able to reach the surface and also be able track and home in on its target.A third factor is that the Allies where already deploying towed acoustic noise makers to fool German acoustically guided torpedoes.

Developing new evasion technology and better longer ranged guided torpedoes would be the most interesting and feasible route if you want to create weapons based on technology that was in use or in some stage of development by the Germans around the end of the war.

[mallyob]

WOW! methinks a rethinks due! ok,..many thanks for all the replies, your very practical advice is a fantastic guide and will be invaluable as I progress through the story!But as i said before,this is a sort of "big boys own adventure" so some things will be quite near the mark as far as "credible" is concerned! I have taken close note of everything said so far and will be asking more (probably a bit stoopid) questions as and when I progress further into the attributes for the Seascorpion. Again many thanks guys, I'll keep all posted!(maybe I should get the story proof read chapter by chapter here,! in case my silly bits are tooo silly!! ha! mal.