Gato vs. VIIC
 

Let's get ready to rumble! :rock:

Which was the better weapon of war, the Gato or the VIIC?

Apples and oranges my friend, apples and oranges.

A Gato would be as ill-suited to the North Atlantic fighting as the VII (or even a IXB/C) to the Pacific theater.

I'll pull out some figures shortly.

Gato Class

Displacement: 1526 tons surfaced, 2424 tons submerged
Crew: 80 – 85 officers and men
Test depth: 300ft (91.4m)
Speed: 20.25 kt (37.5 km/h) surfaced, 8.75 kt (16 km/h) submerged
Torpedo tubes: 6 bow, 4 stern (24 torpedoes)
Deck Gun: 102 mm/50
Range: surfaced 21,900 km at 10 knots (19 km/h), submerged 185km at 3 knots
Max depth: ?

Type VIIC

Displacement: surfaced 769 tons, submerged 871 tons
Crew: 42-46 officers and men
Test depth: 90m
Speed: surfaced 17 kt (31 km/h), submerged 8 kt (15 km/h)
Torpedo tubes: 4 bow, 1 stern (14 torpedoes)
Deck gun: 88 mm/45
Range: surfaced 11,470 km at 10 knots (19 km/h), submerged 175 km at 4 knots
Max depth: 220 m (722 ft)

Hard to compare two boats one of which is about 3 times larger than the other, and with a totally different design doctrine behind it :hmm:

Yea its A&O. But If you want to go by stats
#of fish, Gato
Range, Gato
Technolgy, Gato
Diveing depth, VIIC.
Efectivenes aganst fleet, Gato

But the subs where construcetd for diffrent TOs. So you cant realy compare them.

Maneuverablility, VIIC
Speed, Gato
Habitability, Gato
Sonar profile, VIIC


Me, I'm still in love with the laundry facility, shower and ice cream machine.

And steaks.

Yep.

Though I would chalk up the VIIC for the tighter turn radius, quicker dive time, and (possibly) a somewhat more damage-resistant build. There were also several technology pieces like hydrophones and attack periscope in it that the British/Americans were impressed by when they captured German boats.

A Type IXD/2 is possibly the only German boat that's really worth the comparison. In which case it's still unclear - though the IXD/2 was possibly a deeper diver and definitely had better range than the Gato, it was probably a far less effective long-range raider due to a huge advantage that American boats had in terms of radar. (and their higher speed and heavier armament didn't hurt)

I agree. Considering the size and number of eels of the gato, the IX is a much better comparison.

If it's merely a case of which ones I like better, the German boats win hands down. But then I haven't got to know the US boats yet.

Hehe yeah Steaks and Icecream for the win!

Don't forget those linoleum floors.

If I had to choose to skipper one, I'd take that superior German engineering in a heartbeat!

:rotfl:Or were they vinyl? :hmm:

lol, I believe we established it was linoleum.

You can't compaire the two, GATO= :up: and 9c=:down: so there..HaHaHa:lol:..BOO!

U-Boat = Eels

US Boat = Fish



Just keepin' it real, dawg... :rock:



Russ :yep:

Thanks guys, that's all info I didn't know, and the comparison has helped me see both boats differently.

Weren't the VIICs pretty much built just for war and nothing else? What I mean is, there were very little comforts on the VIICs, they were war vessels, period, and not meant to serve in the fleet a really long time. Isn't that right?

Well I think it's true that the reason Germans excluded many comforts was that they wouldn't sacrifice any performance for that!

That said, I think there again is the difference in philosophy - American boats were built for longer fleet operations, with the comforts accounted for.

Mind you, some German boats still served in various Allied navies for years after the war...