U-boats in the Kiel Canal

Cybermat47 · 01-17-16, 12:31 AM

I was wondering, did U-boats actually use the Kiel canal when travelling from the Baltic to the North Sea? After all, the canal is rather shallow, meaning that diving wasn't an option in case aircraft attacked, and early on in the war formations of British bombers had been operating over nearby Heligoland, while the Skaggerak route provided waters deep enough to safely dive.

Sailor Steve · 01-17-16, 01:13 AM

A good question, and one I don't know the answer to. A quick search brought up a book that tells of a newly-commissioned boat using the Canal to get from Kiel to its Atlantic base as late as December 1941.
https://books.google.com/books?id=0t...0canal&f=false

blackcan · 01-17-16, 01:38 AM

They rarely I live near Kiel and basically all ubosts we got are in Eckernförde or Wilhelmshaven.
When they go into north so they usually drive around
Since the 212A got a new design with specific cells that uboat is made for long sneaky missions (max kn:20) but when they surfaced the max speed drop to about 7-10

Edit: obviously you meant in the second world war. im sorry then

Cybermat47 · 10-08-18, 09:39 AM

Update for anyone wondering the same question; it looks very likely that U-75 went through the canal on her April 10th - May 12th 1941 patrol. She departed from Kiel and, according to uboat.net, was in the position shown in the first attachment three days into her patrol. But for U-96’s first patrol in December 1940, she went to the Atlantic through the Baltic route.

So, it seems that u-boats went through the canal at certain periods, and through the Baltic route in others.

Seademon · 09-09-20, 09:45 PM

he "Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal", as it was officially named until 1948, has a length of 98,637 km and a depth of 11 m.

As far as I know U-boats didn't use the canal very often, for they had their training centers in the Baltic and went to operation by way of Kattegatt, Skagerrak and Norway. Of course every sub built in Hamburg, Bremen etc. had to travel through the canal to reach the Baltic.
Source:- https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=134294

Aktungbby · 09-09-20, 10:13 PM

^ That was then; this is now! U-32 in the Kiel Canal; Still tricky after a century + 20!

http://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2020/03/best-english-narrated-german-212a.html

01-17-16, 12:31 AM	#1
Cybermat47 Willing Webfooted Beast Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Australia Posts: 5,408 Downloads: 300 Uploads: 23	U-boats in the Kiel Canal I was wondering, did U-boats actually use the Kiel canal when travelling from the Baltic to the North Sea? After all, the canal is rather shallow, meaning that diving wasn't an option in case aircraft attacked, and early on in the war formations of British bombers had been operating over nearby Heligoland, while the Skaggerak route provided waters deep enough to safely dive. __________________ Historical TWoS Gameplay Guide: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?p=2572620 Historical FotRSU Gameplay Guide: https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho....php?p=2713394

01-17-16, 01:13 AM	#2
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	A good question, and one I don't know the answer to. A quick search brought up a book that tells of a newly-commissioned boat using the Canal to get from Kiel to its Atlantic base as late as December 1941. https://books.google.com/books?id=0t...0canal&f=false __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

01-17-16, 01:38 AM	#3
blackcan Gunner Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 97 Downloads: 93 Uploads: 0	They rarely I live near Kiel and basically all ubosts we got are in Eckernförde or Wilhelmshaven. When they go into north so they usually drive around Since the 212A got a new design with specific cells that uboat is made for long sneaky missions (max kn:20) but when they surfaced the max speed drop to about 7-10 Edit: obviously you meant in the second world war. im sorry then __________________ Last edited by blackcan; 01-17-16 at 01:46 AM.

09-09-20, 09:45 PM	#5
Seademon Seaman Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 33 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	some information he "Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal", as it was officially named until 1948, has a length of 98,637 km and a depth of 11 m. As far as I know U-boats didn't use the canal very often, for they had their training centers in the Baltic and went to operation by way of Kattegatt, Skagerrak and Norway. Of course every sub built in Hamburg, Bremen etc. had to travel through the canal to reach the Baltic. Source:- https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=134294 __________________ hang tough - Do it Right Seademon "Damn the torpedoes. Go ahead, full speed" RDML Farragut

09-09-20, 10:13 PM	#6
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 29,986 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	^ That was then; this is now! U-32 in the Kiel Canal; Still tricky after a century + 20!http://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2020/03/best-english-narrated-german-212a.html __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness?!! Last edited by Aktungbby; 09-09-20 at 11:15 PM.