Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Schroeder
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Gino
. So, the germans had to come up with the type XXI etc., which (astonishingly...) was a diesel electric, more luxurious, six tubes forward...Hmmm, which submarine had that also? Oh yeah the Porpoise class Fleetsubmarine built in 1934...
|
Last I checked the Porpoise had 4 front tubes and two rear.
You also forget to mention the automatic loading system of the XXI that could reload all 6 torpedoes within 5 minutes. The extreme speed it could go while being submerged, its maximum dive depth and it's agility. Now show me those features on a Porpoise.  |
I guess I wasn't clear enough. I didn't mean to say that the Porpoise already had those features you mention. Of course not. What I meant to say is that the Fleetsubs that were Guppied (i.e. upgraded) after the war, came very close to, or were even better than the XXI. So, the fleetsubs 'only' had to go through an upgrade program to get the same speeds as the XXI, whereas the XXI was a newly designed boat.
Some facts (this time I made my walk to my library
)
I give you the numbers for maximum surfaced speed, and maximum submerged speed:
XXI: 15.6 knots / 15 knots.
Guppy I: 17 - 18 kn./ 15 kn.
Guppy II: 17 - 18 kn. / 15 kn.
Guppy III: 17 kn / 14 kn.
Still, keep in mind that the Guppies were 'old' fllet boats that had 'some bodywork done'. (pimp my boat
)
USS ALbacore, that was built as a new design in 1952-53 already did 20+ knots submerged. (surf. 25 kn). The Albacore was based on Guppy and XXI, so maybe that is a bit poluted data there.
As for the automatic torpedo loading feature the XXI had. Guess what? The Dutch submarines O-19 and O-20 (commissioned in 1938) already had a half automatic torpedo loading system. They also were the first submarines with a snorkel!
It could be that the germans used the plans of the new dutch submarines, some of them were captured in 1940, to design the XXI.
groetjes,