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Originally Posted by johnno74
I have read somewhere (forget where) that the XXI was originally meant to be powered by a closed-cycle engine that ran on hydrogen peroxide - it didn't need air to run. I think they never would have got that developed in time even if the program was given total priority, the challenges are too great - u-boats powered by hydrogen peroxide are just starting to become a reality now...
I also read that the german high command (maybe Hitler or Donitz, not sure) cancelled development of the XXI in about 1940, because they believed they were not needed, they could win the battle of the atlantic without them.
Originally they were meant to come into service about 1941.
Now if Nazi germany had had a buttload of XXIs in '41 I don't know if that would have changed the course of the war, but it certainly would have made he atlantic a MUCH more dangerous place and would have at a minimum prolonged the war a few more years.
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Correct and in fact the British and Russions experimented with using subs powered by modernised versions of the same chemical reaction technology but they didn't have a great deal of success. Germany has a new 212 boats using hydrogen fuel cells. These subs are even quieter than the vaunted Los Angeles class holes in the water.