What happens when your uboat gets rammed by a destroyer ?

[Cptn_Enth]

I would also think that alot would have to do with the angle of impact between the two ships, and at what point the prow of the destroyer makes contact with the hull of the U-Boat. I would think that if a DD catches a U-Boat on the surface and rams her dead center, such that the prow of the DD and the Conning tower collide first, I would think that the U-Boat would either be split in half/rolled along the Longitudinal axis of the sub like a barrel, causing all manner of damage to men and arms/ordnance/equipment. The destroyer, on the other hand would probably go up and over the sub, probably causing the boat to broach along at least a good part of her hull, and depending on how much buoyancy the sub had left to resist against the Destroyer's displacement, might end up compromising her keel and ripping the bottom out of her/splitting her in half.

If the sub were rammed in the bow or stern, I would think that the sub would be pushed along and out of the way, with the destroyer either deflecting off but still sustaining damage...but it would depend on how far far forward/aft of the conning tower she was hit. Kind of the same principal as in an auto accident, where differing degrees of energy transferrence between the colliding vehicles would depend on point of impact, speed, vectors at time of collision, etc...

This is just me thinking out loud...feel free to correct me if I am wrong...

[kaa13]

http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-66.htm

[Sailor Steve]

The biggest problem for the u-boat is the pressure hull. No matter that it's thicker and tougher than the thin hull plates of a destroyer, 1200-to-2400 tons of ship making 12 knots or better has a fair chance of rupturing the pressure hull, and once that happens the u-boat is no longer a submarine - it's now a very big torpedo boat with only one cannon vs four or five.

Problem two is that the sub is at that point attempting to get crew out on deck to fight or get them below to dive. The hatches are open. No matter where the boat is struck, if it rolls over enough to get the bridge underwater even for a moment, the ocean is now running down the hatches and inside the sub. Bad news there.

In any case, it's always bad for a submarine to be rammed by a surface ship.

[GermanGS]

Nothing happens for me at all except sub rocking side to side and falling on their butts 1 min later LOL. I guess they are a bit slow HeHe

I recive no damage whatsoever i hope this will be fixed

[GermanGS]

I need to upgrade my crew to Destroyer Ramming Lvl 2
so they fall on time lol

[minispace]

Originally Posted by CCIP

Also on the topic of ramming...
http://uboat.net/boats/u222.htm

vs.

http://uboat.net/boats/u439.htm
http://uboat.net/boats/u659.htm

So even between two uboats, things often went very differently, yet often deadly.

The real issue for a sub is not its rigidity or how strong the ship that hits it is. The real problem is that a sub relies on operating at very close to negative buoyancy, and so unlike a surface ship almost any loss of buoyancy for it is a giant and easily fatal problem. Not always fatal, but can easily end that way.

How the heck did these u-boats end up colliding with each other, hard enough to sink one, or both?

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by minispace

How the heck did these u-boats end up colliding with each other, hard enough to sink one, or both?

The morale of both crews got so low, nobody reported any contact info to the commanders. And they were all out of magic soup.

[Noren]

...moral got so low that the the boat refused to turn.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Noren

...moral got so low that the the boat refused to turn.

Maybe they should've patted her on the stern more often.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

Maybe they should've patted her on the stern more often.

"Her name is U-331, but we call her Schoene Gretl."

[Armistead]

Originally Posted by jwilliams

I was under the impression that ramming subs was a common tactic used by destroyers.

sure the destroyer would suffer damage, but that damage was off set by the fact that the sub would prob sink.

This is just my thoughts on the matter. i have done no research.

You are right..It was common for DD's and even merchants to ram. I think the confusion is on the surface. Few got rammed on the surface, most got rammed as they submerged or just got under.