Good site about uboot's radars and radar detectors

[jaxa]

I'm looking for good site about German uboot's radars and radar detectors, their ranges etc. Do you know anything?
I know uboat.net and uboataces.com of course, but there aren't infos about everything models.

[Catfish]

Hello Jaxa,
i recently wrote an article on that, after i had found out how advanced some of the german electronic warfare really was. Almost all of this has gone into the US Navy (and the USSR of course - but the USSR got the boats and technics, and the USA got the men with the theories, and used them in their "paperclip" project). Today the german firms that produced special detectors during WW2 still invent and produce them for the type 212 (Askania, Rohde und Schwarz etc.).
I found a lot of sites on the internet, but they partially contradict themselves, and some are plain wrong. I will post later if i find some again, but you can google for "detector", "FuMB", "FuMO" etc. and will surely find something. It is a bit complicated, and the following list is far from perfect nor complete. So if YOU find some new evidence or numbers or mistakes i made, or changes or whatever: Please tell me !!
Some additional info (sorry if you already know this):
FuMB is "FunkMessBeobachtung", meaning passive detector of enemy radar. It is however possible that a passive device generates radiation unintentionally itself.
FuMO is "FunkMessOrtung", meaning an active device sending out waves and detecting echoes (= english "RADAR" = Radio detection and ranging).
FuMB Ant means a special antenna, and FuMBs as well as FuMOs were used with different antennas.
OK, here it is:

List of german passive radar detection devices (FuMB)
(FuMB = Funk Mess Beobachtung)

Used FuMB passive receivers, submarine/navy versions:

FuMB 1 "Metox R 600 A", from August 1942 - Summer 1942 to 1942/43
built by french firms Metox and Gardin
Wavelength detection 1,88 m - 5 m.
"Metox 8203", an addition to "Metox R 600 A", increased the range towards longer wave lengths.

FuMB 1 intercepted radar transmissions from both air and surface escorts on wavelengths between 1.25 and 2.5 metres. Thus, Allied radar types which used wavelengths of 1.4 and 1.5 metres - such as the Canadian naval radars SW1C and SW2C, British naval type 286, and the airborne ASV Mark II - were vulnerable to Metox. However, it could not detect the 9.7 centimetre transmissions produced by newer British naval type 271 radar.

FuMB 2 "Sadir R 87 E"
Frequency 2,5 m - 4,55 m, built by french firm Sadir. Supposed to be used as warning receiver by U-boats.

FuMB 3 ?

FuMB 4 "Samos RS1/5UD42"
The heterodyn receiver “Samos,” developed for the Navy by the company Rohde and Schwarz, has a sensitivity of about 10μV. It replaces the older types “Metox R600A” and “Metox R203”, as well as type “Sadir R87E”. Beginning at the end of 1943, the company Lorenz also builds it for the Air Force.
Frequency 90 - 470 MHz, wavelength detection 0.64 m - 3.33 m.

FuMB 5 "Fanö" (also Fub1B5)
The receiver “Fanö,” also developed by the company Rohde and Schwarz, has a wave range of =38 - 75 cm and a wave range of 19 - 38cm with the upper beam wave of the oscillator.
Frequency 400 - 800 MHz.

FuMZ 6 "Cuba II"
Designed to resist high pressure like deep diving as well as depth charges, mounted on conning tower of U-boats. No polyrods used here.

FuMZ6/FuMB 7 "Naxos I" June 1943, range only 5 km, used by the Luftwaffe at the end of 1943, nightfighters.
Frequency 2500-7500 MHz (five freq. ranges: 1a-1y).
FuG 350 Naxos I, Frequency 2500 MHz and 3750 MHz, wavelength detection 12 cm - 8 cm.
FuG 350a Naxos Ia, ?

FuMB 7 "Naxos 1"
The "Naxos" has been used with several different antennas, one of it being the reflector antenna 24 Cuba 1 "Fliege" - all previous antennas were virtually useless.

FuMB 8 "Zypern I" (W.Anz.g1 for Wellen Anzeige Gerät) "Wanze" (=bug) 1943
Frequency 166 - 250 MHz

FuMB 9 "Zypern II" (W.Anz.g2, less own radiation than FuMB 8) "Wanze", from august 1943
Frequency 166 - 250 MHz

FuMB 10 "Borkum", figure-eight-shaped paddle, fixed at active FuMO 30 (Radar).
Wavelength detection >= 20 cm

FuMB 23 "Naxos ZM 1b", from september/october 1944. Direction-Finding Receiver.
One hundred units of the “Naxos ZM1b”, a version of the visual direction finder “Naxos Z” (developed for night fighter planes) are delivered to the navy until September 1944.
Frequency 2510 - 3750 MHz, wavelength detection 8 cm - 12 cm.

FuMB? "Naxos ZM 3b" , prototype for u-boats, but cancelled. Replaced by
"Naxos ZM 4b" (=FuMB 28).

FuMB 23 "Naxos ZMX", one prototype of FuMB 41.
Frequency 7500 - 12000 MHz

FuMB 24 "Naxos F1", "Fliege" prototype

FuMB 25 "Naxos T" (+ "Mücke" = "Tunis" (FuMB 26))
For 9 cm using a horizontal dipole and for 3 cm a horn antenna called "Mücke".

FuMB 26 "Tunis" (="Naxos"+"Fliege"+"Mücke"), from may/june 1944 on. Visual direction finder, passive/active locating combination.
Installed „Naxos" with Dipol antenna "Fliege" for 9-cm-waves, with horn antenna ("Hornstrahler") "Mücke" for (or better against) the new US-american 3-cm-Radar.
The direction-finding receiver “Mücke” (FuMB 25) built by Telefunken consists of a horn antenna with built-in detector. It is only deployed in connection with the direction finder “Cuba I” called “Tunis.” The bearing accuracy in the 9 cm range is ±10 degrees, in the 3 cm range ±3 degrees. When installed in submarines the range is between 25 km and 50 km, up to 70 km in good conditions (!).
Wavelength detection 2 - 4 cm and 8 - 23 cm.

FuMB 28 “Naxos ZM 4”, August 1944. Visual Direction Finder.
The direction finder “Naxos ZM4” is a further development of the type "Naxos ZM 1b". It has a rotating antenna consisting of two dielectric strip arrays. The beam rotating synchronously with the antenna on the visual direction finder is lit up when it receives a signal.
The first 22 units of an order of 1.700 direction finders are delivered in August 1944.
Wavelength detection 8 cm -12 cm.

FuMB 28 "Naxos ZM 4b", from 31th august 1944 on. Uses antenna ZA 290 M.
Frequency 2500 - 3500 MHz

FuMB 32 "Flores" Schnellboot?

FuMB 3 "Athos"

FuMB 37 "Leros"




Used FuMB antennas, submarine/navy versions:

FuMB Ant 1 "Hondo" (not used by u-boats)
Resembles the "Honduras" (="Biscaya cross") antenna, only used by torpedo speedboats. Has to be constantly rotated.

FuMB Ant 2 "Honduras" (nickname "Biscaya cross")
The Metox receiver is operated with the antenna "Honduras". It is handheld and has to be taken into the U-boat before submersion.
Frequency 0,6 - 2,6 m.

FuMB Ant 3 "Bali" (nickname "Häschen"), Dipol round antenna
"Honduras" is later replaced by the solidly mounted seaworthy "Bali" round antenna. "Bali" additionally has two vertical rods (therefore nicknamed "Haeschen" = Bunny). At the same time a visual display is introduced to replace the warning sound. “Bali” was mounted on top of the snorkel at the end of the war (U-2540).
Frequency 0,75 - 3 m.

FuMB Ant 4 "Sumatra" Array antenna. Used at the beginning of 1943.
The "Sumatra" is a broadband dipole. It has flat, drop-shaped branches mounted in front of a reflecting area. In order to receive horizontally as well as vertically polarized waves, the dipole is tilted. Its reception angle is +- 50 degrees. To be able to survey the whole area, the antennas of the Sumatra installation are mounted on all four sides of the ship.


FuMB Ant 5 "Samoa" Phase array antenna
It has two broadband, flexed dipoles mounted side by side and tilted so that they enable a minimum direction locating.

FuMB Ant 6 "Palau" Phase array antenna
Much like the "Samoa" antenna it only has a bigger reflector. Its bearing resolution is +- 2 degrees.
Frequency 0,9 - 2,5 m.

FuMB Ant 7 "Timor" Phase Array Antenna (not used by u-boats)
"Timor" is a heavy phase array antenna that can be used only on big ships. Eight vertical and four horizontal broadband dipoles result in a bearing resolution of +- 1.5 degrees.




Combinations:
FuMB-9 Zypern (better known as the “Wanze”), the FuMB-10 Borkum and the FuMB-7 Naxos.
All three were codenamed after islands—Zypern is the German name for the greek island Cyprus; Borkum is a German island in the North Sea; and Naxos again is a Greek island.
The “Wanze” detector received signals through the figure-eight-shaped paddle on the antenna, the same antenna used for the FuMO-30 radar. Together, the three radar detectors covered the entire radar spectrum possible at that time.

Korfu ?

FuMB 24 "Cuba1" Schnellboot?

"Metox", FuMB, "Gradin", "Warze 1", "Warze 2", "Hagenuk", "Borkum", "Naxos", "Fliege", "Mücke", "Tunis", "Gema", "Hohentwiel"

List of german active detection devices (FuMO)
(FuMO = Funk Mess Ortung)

Used FuMO active radar, submarine/navy versions:

FuMO 61/65
Pneumatical extendable turning-mirror-antenna (Drehspiegelantenne)
= Hohentwiel ?

FuMO 61 ?
FuMO 64 ?

You see there's still exact information lacking, so ...
Greetings,
Catfish

[jaxa]

Catfish - fantastic work, many thanks!
Do you have infos about ranges of all these FuMO and FuMB?
This is very important for me and it's hard to find good resources on the web.
For example, I'v found a lot of sites with Metox info, but there weren't any infos about range of it.

[ReM]

A makeshift search receiver, manufactured by the firm of Metox in Paris and designated the R600, was hastily put into production and designed to cover a range of 60 to 265 centimeters, including harmonics, and probably had a maximum effective detection range of about 6 miles.

and:

In addition, the set had a greater range (about 30 miles for an aircraft at about 1,000 feet altitude, 60 miles at 6,500 feet), and greater sensitivity. Yet, in spite of all these improvements, especially the greatly reduced radiation, sinkings continued.


You can find it here:
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ETO/Ultra/SRH-025/SRH025-1.html#s4

[Catfish]

Hello,
i know that distances are what we are interested in, but unfortunately this is not mentioned in most articles - probably because it was top secret. E.g. England usually gives information on secret stuff only after 50 (or was it 40?) years after the war, if at all. But even if new or recent devices have a better performance and use transistors the basic physics certainly remain the same.
After Germany had found the "Rotterdam-Geraet" in a shot-down bomber near Rotterdam it was obvious that the U-boats needed a new detector to cover the shorter 9.7, called 10 cm radar wavelengths. German scientists were not able to build such a radar that would have fitted in a plane, let alone with this wavelength at this time. The allies later developed a radar with shorter wavelengths (3 cm) which finally spotted snorkels and periscopes, and Germany always tried to cope without ever getting ahead in research. Passive detectors and infrared were however advanced and well developed in Germany.

I heard something of Metox 6-7, and Tunis up to 20 kilometres detection range, but i am not able to give evidence about it. Again even books are contradictious on that matter ...
The device used in the late war called "Tunis" as a combination of several detectors almost covered the whole bandwidth or spectrum of wavelengths, some of the wavelengths were detected by "Tunis" at a distance of 20 kilometres, but again i do not know which detector with which bandwidth installed into this Tunis was able to do this.

Active detectors (radar) were only seldomly used in the very late war in Germany, and had some mechanical problems (turning the device, sealing, short circuits etc.). US subs did have radar, but it also developed during the war, the first ones were primitive, especially the display. I do not know whether US subs had passive detectors for enemy radar, i have found no evidence so i doubt it - up to now.

Greetings,
Catfish