Type VII U-Boat Torpedo Questions

[AncientDresden]

Hi everyone - I have a few questions I haven't been able either to confirm or find answers for:

1. For Type VII U-boats, how long on average did it take to:
(a) load a torpedo from the dock onto the boat?
(b) reload a torpedo from the internal storage?

2. For G 7e torpedoes, I understand they needed on-board maintenance about every five days:
(a) on average, how long did it take to complete this maintenance per torpedo?
(b) did this maintenance include pre-warming?
(c) if not, on average how often did the G 7e have to be pre-warmed and how long did it take to do so?

3. For G 7a torpedoes, am I correct that they did not require regular on-board maintenance or pre-heating?

Thank you in advance!

[DJS4000]

Originally Posted by AncientDresden

Hi everyone - I have a few questions I haven't been able either to confirm or find answers for:

1. For Type VII U-boats, how long on average did it take to:
(a) load a torpedo from the dock onto the boat?
(b) reload a torpedo from the internal storage?

2. For G 7e torpedoes, I understand they needed on-board maintenance about every five days:
(a) on average, how long did it take to complete this maintenance per torpedo?
(b) did this maintenance include pre-warming?
(c) if not, on average how often did the G 7e have to be pre-warmed and how long did it take to do so?

3. For G 7a torpedoes, am I correct that they did not require regular on-board maintenance or pre-heating?

Thank you in advance!

i can shed some light on questions 1a and 1b, i'll have to check my books on the others



1a)
with dock-side cranes and no interruptions: about 45 minutes per eel.


underway (reloading from external reserves), with calm seas and the boat-specific crane: at least 1.5 hours per eel.


1b)
a good crew could reload all four tubes within 20 - 25 minutes. so, about 5 minutes per torpedo. Günther Prien during his Scapa Flow engagement fired 2 salvos (3 torpedoes each time) from his bow tubes at 00:58 AM and 01:13 AM, respectively.


hope that helps

[AncientDresden]

@DJS400 - Thank you! That's very helpful.