VIIA had handling problems that were inherited from the Type I. The saddle tanks did have the secondary effect of stabilizing the boat to an extent, but the increase of beam from the VIIB's on is what really stabilized the series as a surfaced platform.

Never. I am king of the screw ups on this board. Note the Prince Harry thread. The title serves as a continued reminder of my foul-ups. :yeah:

Ah, good old Germans. Can rely on them to keep the design that work. The sub gave me some flashbacks to the U-boat and SH GWX days. If you trained the crew of 1940s in modern technology and put them in a boat, they would feel quite at home.

A beautiful ship in my opinion and I'm glad they've given us a peek inside.

I didn't know the VIIa had handleing problems, I knew about the type I problems.

As I, that's why I asked.

Yes. They had a horrible tendancy to roll on the surface; a problem inhereted from the Type I. Aside from the increase in beam, the Type VIIB also introduced the Regelzelle, or compensation tanks, which were placed inside of the saddle tanks to alleviate the problem. This made for superior surface handling. This fact, as well as the limited range and inferior submerged performance, were the reasons that most of the A's were relegated to training duty by 1940.

I'll bet I've made more apologies on these forums than you have made posts. :sunny: