Development Updates

[Konrad Friedrich]

Thanks for the latest update.
Glad to see it in a somewhat more compelling and informative form.

But one thing struck me right away.
The interior. More precisely: the textures.

If a Uboat would be so dirty, with stains all over the the walls and wooden surfaces or the placeholder textures of smeared diesel engines, the commander would certainly impose a vacation and shore leave ban. He would probably roar quite loudly while doing so...
Apart from the fact that the petty officers would run through the boat assigning extra shifts for the cleaning service until everything is sparkling clean. They probably wouldn't sound very friendly either.

It may be that the German Uboats were not known for being particularly hygienic - but dirty and scruffy, that should probably not happen in any navy in the world.

Anyone who has ever sailed a Navy ship knows that cleaning (and derusting and painting) is one of the main occupations of the lower ranks.

A filthy Uboat like this is quite unrealitic.

Thanks for the great update!

Regarding the Uboat cleanliness:
German Uboats were a filthy, stinky, moldy, disgusting places with minimal hygiene. Cleanliness was not a priority. The constant humidity made those steel tubs a very unpleasant place.
The conditions may have been slightly better on the US submarines during ww2, but the German Uboats. Nah, their priorities were elsewhere.
The way it's portrayed on those pictures, is perfectly fine.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Konrad Friedrich

Thanks for the latest update.
Glad to see it in a somewhat more compelling and informative form.

But one thing struck me right away.
The interior. More precisely: the textures.

If a Uboat would be so dirty, with stains all over the the walls and wooden surfaces or the placeholder textures of smeared diesel engines, the commander would certainly impose a vacation and shore leave ban. He would probably roar quite loudly while doing so...
Apart from the fact that the petty officers would run through the boat assigning extra shifts for the cleaning service until everything is sparkling clean. They probably wouldn't sound very friendly either.

It may be that the German Uboats were not known for being particularly hygienic - but dirty and scruffy, that should probably not happen in any navy in the world.

Anyone who has ever sailed a Navy ship knows that cleaning (and derusting and painting) is one of the main occupations of the lower ranks.

A filthy Uboat like this is quite unrealitic.

I don't know about that. Sure, naval vessels in general are kept in a high state of cleanliness, but WWII diesel boats (aka pigboats), especially U-boats were not clean at all (from my readings). They were cramped, smelly, very damp, and hard to clean. Das Boot (the book) gave me the impression that U-boats were looked down upon by the surface navy.

[ceh]

Originally Posted by Konrad Friedrich

A filthy Uboat like this is quite unrealitic.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but how do you know, were you on one during the war?

[derstosstrupp]

Fwiw, at 7 AM every day was an activity called “Reinschiff”. We call it “field day” in the US military, but it’s an all-hands cleaning time. Cleaning was somewhat of a perpetual thing aboard the boat, because there was always one or two sailors tasked with doing miscellaneous things aboard between watch times, including cleaning.

In short, an excessively dirty boat is indeed not historical.

Also, not quite fair to say just because you haven’t been there means you don’t know. That’s what historical research using good source material is aimed to do - understand how things were without having been there.

[derprophet]

Stosstrupp is indeed right, completely a-historical.

[ceh]

Originally Posted by derstosstrupp

Also, not quite fair to say just because you haven’t been there means you don’t know. That’s what historical research using good source material is aimed to do - understand how things were without having been there.

That is not what I wrote. Please don't twist my words I asked how he knows, and wondered if he was actually there - not "if you weren't you can't possibly know".

As for historical material - fair point, but we all know that not everything was always photographed etc.

Now, I'm not positively claiming it's this or that way, rather questioning the certainty with which some people claim it could not possibly have been dirty.

[derprophet]

Originally Posted by ceh

That is not what I wrote. Please don't twist my words I asked how he knows, and wondered if he was actually there - not "if you weren't you can't possibly know".

As for historical material - fair point, but we all know that not everything was always photographed etc.

Now, I'm not positively claiming it's this or that way, rather questioning the certainty with which some people claim it could not possibly have been dirty.

It wasn't a sterile atmosphere nor was it a dirty one. The boat was cleaned daily.

[derstosstrupp]

Originally Posted by ceh

That is not what I wrote. Please don't twist my words I asked how he knows, and wondered if he was actually there - not "if you weren't you can't possibly know".

As for historical material - fair point, but we all know that not everything was always photographed etc.

Now, I'm not positively claiming it's this or that way, rather questioning the certainty with which some people claim it could not possibly have been dirty.

It’s just normally when somebody says something to that effect, it’s trying to discredit. Maybe asking for his source is a better approach?

But you’re right, he could be a hundred-year-old Subsim member .

[ceh]

Originally Posted by derstosstrupp

Maybe asking for his source is a better approach?

Probably

Originally Posted by derstosstrupp

But you’re right, he could be a hundred-year-old Subsim member .

Believe it or not, the timeframe completely slipped my mind. Although that would have been cool!

[Onkel Neal]

I'm trying to remember where I read it, perhaps it was an account of the capture of U-505... anyway, the impression was the boat was filthy, shockingly. I'll try to remember, maybe it was an outlier.