[TEC] Submarine Crew

CCIP · 03-03-10, 03:46 PM

Okay, well, since this whole issue of not enough guys on the boat is a popular complaint - let's run our own little investigation, shall we?

My understanding that a norm for a Type VII boat was 45 men (ranging between 42 and 50 or so, depending on boat, year of war, and so forth).

Who were these men, and where were they during surface running, submerged cruising, and on battle stations? What were they doing there?

It would be great to come up with a diagram of the boat to help us along.

Here is how things currently stand (each red oval thingy represents a man, 27 in total at present), at least on surface cruising stations.

(used this diagram: http://www.mikekemble.com/ww2/images/typeVIIC.jpg)

Who can help fill in the blanks?

Sledgehammer427 · 03-03-10, 05:56 PM

I guess I'll bite

okay.
from your diagram I notice two things right off the bat.
a. where's the rest of the watch crew?
b. the forward bunks in the torpedo room are empty. but that's because of the torpedoes, even on the surface the bunks are folded up so the torpedoes can be loaded.

but here's my theory.
if memory serves me right, the U-boats had a two-watch system. that would split the boat in half while some crew rested, the other would be on watch. I'm not sure how the watch rotation was set up, (I know for Fleet boats, it was 8 hours sleep, 8 hours maintenance or what have you, and 8 hours on watch)
so I'm guessing the dev's set it up so it looks like only the crew on active watch was visible, I'm not sure how 40 men would impact performance, but, I can't blame them for their decision.

rsvette12 · 03-03-10, 10:46 PM

Great reference for a modeling project, thanks a lot.

Regards, Rich

LukeFF · 03-04-10, 02:27 AM

Some notes I've made on U-boat crew compositions:

Radiomen: there were typically four radiomen on board. Two would be petty officers (funkmaat/obermaat) and two junior enlisted sailors (funkgefreiter/obergefreiter). One would be in the radio shack, the other at the hydrophone station.
Bridge watch was typically one officer, one petty officer, and two junior enlisted sailors. The navigator and chief bosun also stood watch as the 3rd and 4th watch officers, respectively. There typically was also an officer cadet on board the boat as well who would stand watch.
Diesel compartment: this was headed by an Obermaschinist. Each watch typically consisted of one maschinenmaat/obermaat and two maschinengefreiter/obergefreiter.
Motor compartment: same as the diesel compartment.
Torpedo crew: typically one mechanikermaat/obermaat and two mechanikergefreiter/obergefreiter. Obermaat was the highest rating for a torpedo mechanic on a U-boat.
Control room: other than the chief engineer, typically two enlisted personnel from the maschinist ranks would be on duty at a time here: 1 maat/obermaat and 1 gefreiter/obergefreiter.

03-04-10, 02:48 AM

How about an inactive crewman in a bunk. It only needs a sleeping head and a blanket.....not much fps deduction in that.

Then fill up the bunks with "sleepers"

kptn_kaiserhof · 03-04-10, 06:42 AM

yeh that gowd damn diagram looks so unrealistic

03-03-10, 03:46 PM	#1
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	[TEC] Submarine Crew Okay, well, since this whole issue of not enough guys on the boat is a popular complaint - let's run our own little investigation, shall we? My understanding that a norm for a Type VII boat was 45 men (ranging between 42 and 50 or so, depending on boat, year of war, and so forth). Who were these men, and where were they during surface running, submerged cruising, and on battle stations? What were they doing there? It would be great to come up with a diagram of the boat to help us along. Here is how things currently stand (each red oval thingy represents a man, 27 in total at present), at least on surface cruising stations. (used this diagram: http://www.mikekemble.com/ww2/images/typeVIIC.jpg) Who can help fill in the blanks? __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

03-03-10, 05:56 PM	#2
Sledgehammer427 PacWagon Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Drinking coffee and staring at trees in Massachusetts Posts: 2,908 Downloads: 287 Uploads: 0	I guess I'll bite okay. from your diagram I notice two things right off the bat. a. where's the rest of the watch crew? b. the forward bunks in the torpedo room are empty. but that's because of the torpedoes, even on the surface the bunks are folded up so the torpedoes can be loaded. but here's my theory. if memory serves me right, the U-boats had a two-watch system. that would split the boat in half while some crew rested, the other would be on watch. I'm not sure how the watch rotation was set up, (I know for Fleet boats, it was 8 hours sleep, 8 hours maintenance or what have you, and 8 hours on watch) so I'm guessing the dev's set it up so it looks like only the crew on active watch was visible, I'm not sure how 40 men would impact performance, but, I can't blame them for their decision. __________________ Cold Waters Voice Crew - Fire Control Officer Cmdr O. Myers - C/O USS Nautilus (SS-168) 114,000 tons sunk - 4 Spec Ops completed V-boat Nutcase - Need supplies? Japanese garrison on a small island in the way? Just give us a call! D4C!

03-04-10, 02:27 AM	#4
LukeFF Silent Hunter Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Riverside, California Posts: 3,610 Downloads: 41 Uploads: 5	Some notes I've made on U-boat crew compositions: Radiomen: there were typically four radiomen on board. Two would be petty officers (funkmaat/obermaat) and two junior enlisted sailors (funkgefreiter/obergefreiter). One would be in the radio shack, the other at the hydrophone station. Bridge watch was typically one officer, one petty officer, and two junior enlisted sailors. The navigator and chief bosun also stood watch as the 3rd and 4th watch officers, respectively. There typically was also an officer cadet on board the boat as well who would stand watch. Diesel compartment: this was headed by an Obermaschinist. Each watch typically consisted of one maschinenmaat/obermaat and two maschinengefreiter/obergefreiter. Motor compartment: same as the diesel compartment. Torpedo crew: typically one mechanikermaat/obermaat and two mechanikergefreiter/obergefreiter. Obermaat was the highest rating for a torpedo mechanic on a U-boat. Control room: other than the chief engineer, typically two enlisted personnel from the maschinist ranks would be on duty at a time here: 1 maat/obermaat and 1 gefreiter/obergefreiter. __________________ ROW Sound Effects Contributor RFB Team Leader

03-03-10, 10:46 PM	#3
rsvette12 Lieutenant Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 263 Downloads: 132 Uploads: 0	Great reference for a modeling project, thanks a lot. Regards, Rich

03-04-10, 02:48 AM	#5
Mav87th Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	How about an inactive crewman in a bunk. It only needs a sleeping head and a blanket.....not much fps deduction in that. Then fill up the bunks with "sleepers"

03-04-10, 06:42 AM	#6
kptn_kaiserhof XO Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 418 Downloads: 42 Uploads: 0	yeh that gowd damn diagram looks so unrealistic