XXI question...

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Alpha Von Burg

Thanks for the link.

Oh BTW the question still stands. Is a XXI worth saving up for?

A simple yes or no answer with an explination would suffice.
Also, thanks for all you response so far.

Originally Posted by Randomizer

Just $0.02 but if you have ever operated in the GWX 1944-45 environment you are probably aware that it is not intended to be particularly U-Boat friendly. Nor is it.

The Type XXI is all about staying alive in an increasingly hostile world. It will get you out of scrapes that would see you sunk in a VII or IX but it is not invulnerable (unless you set the game accordingly). With a XXI you sacrifice surface speed and so long range interceptions tend to be more difficult. However, its greater battery endurance and reletively higher submerged cruise speeds allow submerged interceptions that you might otherwise be unable to achieve in an older boat. Besides, late in the war, surface interceptions and attacks are next to impossible in the North Atlantic so you might as well opt for the platform that increases your chance of survival.

Snorkel operations can be tiresome from a game standpoint but the firepower of those six quick-reloading forward tubes and the damage a well aimed salvo of FAT's or LUT's into one of those large late-war convoys can do make a XXI a pretty good investment in my books.

I would imagine that the Type XXIII provides similar survival bonuses but have never used that mod.

Both boats share similar speed and diving characteristics but the XXI has more eels/reloads...the XXIII only have two and no reloads but better suited to attacking on the coastline on short patrols as opposed to deep sea/longer patrols like the XXI.

Originally Posted by jimbuna

Both boats share similar speed and diving characteristics but the XXI has more eels/reloads...the XXIII only have two and no reloads but better suited to attacking on the coastline on short patrols as opposed to deep sea/longer patrols like the XXI.

That's exactly how they were used; V.E. Tarrant's Last Year of the Kriegsmarine shows only 6 fully operational Type XXIII that conducted war patrols, most to the Firth of Forth or the mouth of the Thames. Boats involved were:
U-2324 sailed 29 Jan 45, RTB 24 Feb 45 - no sinkings;
U-2322 sailed 6 Feb 45, RTB 3 Mar 45 - 1 x 1317 GRT;
U-2321 sailed 12 Feb 45, RTB 13 Mar 45 - no sinkings;
U-2324 (again) sailed 3 Apr 45, RTB 25 Apr 45 - 1 x 1150 GRT;
U-2322 (again) sailed 5 Apr 45, RTB 5 May 45 - no sinkings;
U-2329 sailed 6 Apr 45, RTB 29 Apr 45 - no sinkings;
U-2326 sailed 19 Apr 45, RTB 28 Apr 45 - no sinkings;
Sailed again 3 May 45 and surrended at sea;
U-2336 sailed 1 May 45, RTB 14 May 45 - 2 x 4669 GRT.

Tarrant also shows U-2321 as conducting a second unsuccessful patrol in April-May but the dates provided don't work so there may be a typo in the data.