[REQ] Severe Storm cause Damage to Sub

[tonschk]

I am not sure to which extent the U-Boot were fragile or not to Severe Storm Weather

[charognard]

Originally Posted by tonschk

I am not sure to which extent the U-Boot were fragile or not to Severe Storm Weather

Me too, need historic documentation before thinking to do anything ^^

[dcb]

Originally Posted by charognard

Me too, need historic documentation before thinking to do anything ^^

After briefly googling the idea (which BTW is great), here is a brief reference:

- 5 U-boats including 1 by RAF Bay of Biscay patrol; 3 by US Navy in Azores and Madeira areas; 1 scuttled after storm damaged in mid-Atlantic.

Source:
http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsUboats4.htm

EDIT:
And here is another reference:

The crew of U.188 (...) struggled to return to Europe with their valuable cargo, so desperately needed - unable to communicate, in a submarine that was short of essential supplies, mechanically failing and severely damaged in a storm rounding the Cape of Good Hope.

Source:
http://scotland.users.ftech.net/u188p1.htm

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by dcb

After briefly googling the idea (which BTW is great), here is a brief reference:

- 5 U-boats including 1 by RAF Bay of Biscay patrol; 3 by US Navy in Azores and Madeira areas; 1 scuttled after storm damaged in mid-Atlantic.

Exactly where is that listing? I searched the whole page and didn't see it.
1 out of 51. That's 2%

I looked all through here http://uboat.net/fates/losses/ and couldn't find any u-boats officially lost due to storm damage. I may have missed it if there was one, and of course that doesn't count boats that took damage and survived. And there are a lot of "Missing".

As to the OP, a WW2 submarine is basically a surface ship that can dive for limited periods. On the other hand, if the storm is dangerous they could dive for quite a while, riding out the worst of it in safety.

[dcb]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Exactly where is that listing? I searched the whole page and didn't see it.

Search the page using the word "scuttled" and you'll find the paragraph in the chapter dedicated to DECEMBER 1943.

And the fact that subs were not damaged by storm on a regular basis is not an argument against the idea. References to at least a couple of such incidents can be found by simply browsing the internet for 10 minutes.

Someone asked for historical references, and that's precisely what I found.

[TheBeast]

Logic would dictate that submarines were not damaged by storm conditions mainly because they would not surface during stormy weather unless required.

I know from personal experience in 1984, I was on USS Coral Sea off east coast of US. In a Storm. A big Wave that came in at 45 degree angle ripped off half the Port Side Cat Walk from Bow to Mid Ship and all antenna on that side as well.
The Cat Walk is at Flight Deck level approximately 30-45 feet (10-15m) above water level.

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by TheBeast

Logic would dictate that submarines were not damaged by storm conditions mainly because they would not surface during stormy weather unless required.

I know from personal experience in 1984, I was on USS Coral Sea off east coast of US. In a Storm. A big Wave that came in at 45 degree angle ripped off half the Port Side Cat Walk from Bow to Mid Ship and all antenna on that side as well.
The Cat Walk is at Flight Deck level approximately 30-45 feet (10-15m) above water level.

I can attest to storm damage also. Was on the USS South Carolina (CGN-37 - the so-pig as we called it) crossing the Atlantic for the med. Two hurricanes were spinning out there and our captain decided to take a path between them. We were in 40-45 foot seas, literally submaring our ship depending on how we crested the wave (gave new meaning to walking on walls). I didn't believe it either till I went to the bridge and watched walls of water going over the bridge. Ripped off radars, antennas, parts of the superstructure, etc. We got an extended stay in Gibraltar to try and repair some of the damage. To this day I still don't know what was so important that we had to risk the safety of the crew and the ship to get over to the med

We weren't allowed outside on the maindecks (for obvious reasons) but man was I curious to see just how much the keel was flexing when we crested some of those waves. Right in the middle of the ship you could put your feet on two sides of sliding plate to get an idea of how much the keel was flexing. It's amazing how much those ships 'flex'

[Hartmann]

Originally Posted by tonschk

I am not sure to which extent the U-Boot were fragile or not to Severe Storm Weather

I think the same.

An u-boat had a small size compared with large ships and with a streemlined design that makes more difficult take damage by big waves, that can pass over the hull whereas a surface ship the waves hit against the hull .