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Originally Posted by Corsair
A XXI in 1939 ? OMFG...
How about a Los Angeles or an Akula ??  |
Actually, that wouldn't be *TOTALLY* out of the question. The British R Class boats of WWI (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_R_class_submarine) had performance that was between the specs of the Type XXIII and the XXI:
9.5 knots surfaced, 14 knots submerged, with 6 bow tubes.
So, the technology was there. All it required was a little imagination on the part of the Kriegsmarine to understand that a submarine with a high underwater speed had tactical advantages, or at the very least was a more survivable boat in combat.
Having said that, even the British didn't recognize what they had - they scrapped almost all of them in the 1920's, and the last one in 1934.
So, if someone wants to try a Type XXI in 1939, I don't fret about it - it could have happened, if the Germans weren't stuck in a WWI mentality as far as U-boats were concerned.