U-Boat Typical Watchstanding Schedule

[Tomcattwo]

Someone (Bridger I think) asked in another thread what the standard watchstanding routine was on a U-Boat. I pulled the following information from the book U-Boats: The Illustrated History of the Raiders of the Deep by David Miller (2000 by Pegasus Publishing, republished by Brassey's, Washington DC):

In combat, every man in the crew was on duty, either doing his designated task or standing by to deal with any emergency that might arise. At all other times the crew was divided into watches. The seaman's division worked a three-way system (8 hours on duty, 8 hours of sleep, and 8 hours of miscellaneous duties about the boat) while the engineers worked a two-way system (6 hours in the engineroom, 6 hours asleep) and the communications worked a split system with their day being divided into three four-hour watches between 0800 and 2000, and two six-hour watches between 2000 and 0800.

When on the surface there was a bridge watch, consisting of an officer and four lookouts. The watchofficer was found from the IWO and 2WO, who did two four-hour shifts each day, and the Obersteuermann and Oberbootsmann, each of whom did one four-hour shift per day. The lookouts were found from the seamen who each did one four-hour shift per day and these men were crucial, since the survival of the boat and all in it depended upon their rapid reactions to a threat, particularly from the air. From the bridge they could see about 6 nautical miles (12km) at sea-level on a clear day, but obviously much less in fog, rain, clouds, and at night. One feature that made life more difficult for the lookouts was that U-boat bridges were deliberately low to make them difficult to spot by enemy ships or aircraft, but for the watchkeepers this meant that spray and waves frequently interfered with their effectiveness.

Miller's book is an exceelnt reference for any U-boat enthusiast and is highly recommended.
R/
TC2

[Jimbuna]

Will have to have a search for this....cheers

[Tomcattwo]

Here's some additional information on U-Boat crew makeup, from the same resource U-Boats: The Illustrated History of the Raiders of the Deep by David Miller (2000 by Pegasus Publishing, republished by Brassey's, Washington DC):

The Crew
The second-in-command was designated the Erste Wach Offizier (= first watchkeeping officer [IWO]) and was usually an Oberleutnant zur See, whose primary responsibility was to understudy the CO, so that he could take command if his superior became ill or died. His responsibilities included the boat’s primary weapons system: the torpedoes, and their control and aiming systems. Normally the only other deck officer was a very junior Leutnant zur See, designated Zweite Wach Offizier (= second watchkeeping officer [2WO]), who was responsible for the deck and Flak weapons, and also oversaw the communicators.
The other commissioned officer on most U-boats was the Leitender Ingenieuer (= leading engineer [LI]), an experienced officer (sometimes more experienced than the CO), whose action station was in the main control room. His responsibilities included engines, motors, batteries and the trim, and he also set the demolition charges if the boat had to be scuttled. This meant that he was the last to leave and a number of LIs died as a result, some of them intentionally…Junior engineering officers were sent to sea for one voyage under an experienced engineer before being given a boat of their own.
The enlisted men were led by four chief petty officers. The Obersteuermann was responsible for navigation and provisioning. The Oberbootsmann (boatswain [bosun]) was responsible for the discipline and, generally, dealt with such matters himself, referring only the most serious or intractable problems to the CO. The technical department was headed by the LI who was assisted by the Obermaschinist, who was responsible for the diesels and the Elektro Obermaschinist who was responsible for the electric motors and the battery.
The rest of the crew was made up of Unteroffiziere (petty officers) and various types of specialist: Mechaniker (mechanics; e.g. for torpedoes); Machinisten (machine-men [stokers]); Bootsmänner (bosuns); Funkmaat (radiomen); and the general duty sea-men, Matrosen. COs were often able to take some of their most trusted crewmen with them when they moved to a new boat.

R/
TC2

[Sailor Steve]

Thank you for that information. Now, if the game only could do that (well, SH4 can, and u-boats are available, if limited for now).

[JScones]

Yes, this is a good book.

For those that can't find, or afford, David's book, an alternative is Osprey's "Grey Wolf: U-boat Crewman [sic] of World War II". It draws upon David's book and numerous others (such as Mallmann Showell's "U-boat Commanders and Crews 1935 - 1945") to present 64 pages of crewman insight, focussing on recruitment, training, conditions of service etc. The above quotes are pretty much included.

I've used it as a main resource for SH3Cmdr.

[Brag]

Thanks, Tomcattwo,

This answers a couple of questions I had