Quote:
Originally Posted by iambecomelife
Was about to post that exact same thing...you know your stuff! Type XXI's were notorious for quality control problems....in a lot of ways, they were like the UB-III boats Germany rushed out towards the end of WWI. Technically good units that suffered badly from material shortages, plus mediocre workmanship.
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I also found out that this overall failure was liberally distributed across many systems.
The American evaluation team that went over the captured U-2513 found a few desirable features (bigger battery storage, improved periscope optics and underwater sensors, improved snorkel design), but quite a few design flaws that call the actual combat worthiness into some doubt. These included the hydraulic lines which actuated the dive planes, AA turrets and snorkel, were outside the pressure hull and were vulnerable to both salt water corrosion, as well as depth charge shock damage, and needed the full services of a shipyard to repair. The diesel engines were poorly designed and built with substandard materials that the geared supercharger could not be used, which cut the potential HP in half, leaving the type XXI ruiniously underpowered. The snorkel system let constant streams of water into the bildge which had to be pumped outboard, which spoiled their stealth.
In all it's been said that even if the type XXI had come on line into mass production a year earlier, it would not have had such a significant effect on the war effort.
Maybe if they started from 1940/41 would it have made some kind of difference...