Diving 400 meters deep?

[Weisia]

A couple of days ago I was cruising on the internet searching some general u-boat info. On one of my sites if found information about a German prototype that should dive about 400 meters deep. I think it was an IX type with some alterations (someting like IX-E)

Somehow I don't remember where I found this information. So I wondered if anyone of you knows about it.

[U-84]

sounds interesting, been looking it up for the past 25 minutes and can't find anything on it unfortunately...still looking though,

[SpeedyPC]

Their no information about a u-boat could dive at 400m.

WWI submarines had hulls of carbon steel, with a 100 meter maximum depth. During WW II, high-strength alloyed steel was introduced, allowing 200 meter depths. High-strength alloy steel remains the primary material for submarines today, with 250-400 meter depths, which cannot be exceeded on a military submarine without design compromises. To exceed that limit, a few submarines were built with titanium hulls. Titanium is almost as strong as steel, lighter, and is not ferromagnetic, important for stealth. Titanium submarines were built by the Soviet Union, which developed specialized high-strength alloys. It has produced several types of titanium submarines. Titanium alloys allow a major increase in depth, but other systems need to be redesigned to cope, so test depth was limited to 1,000 meters for K-278 Komsomolets, the deepest-diving combat submarine. An Alfa class submarine may have successfully operated at 1,300 meters,[4] though continuous operation at such depths would produce excessive stress on many submarine systems. Titanium does not flex as readily as steel, and may become brittle during many dive cycles. Despite its benefits, the high cost of titanium construction led to the abandonment of titanium submarine construction as the Cold War ended.

[Weiss Pinguin]

Originally Posted by Weisia

A couple of days ago I was cruising on the internet searching some general u-boat info. On one of my sites if found information about a German prototype that should dive about 400 meters deep. I think it was an IX type with some alterations (someting like IX-E)

Somehow I don't remember where I found this information. So I wondered if anyone of you knows about it.

400 meters! Even many modern submarines have trouble going that deep...

[Otto Heinzmeir]

I found this at www.uboat.net

The VIIC/42 was designed 1942-1943 and was intended to replace the then retreating VIIC, she had a much stronger pressure hull (with plating thickness up to 28mm) and a bit better offensive punch (16 torpedoes against VIIC's 14). Her diving depth was designed to be 200 meters with 400 meters as crushing depth (VIIC figures: 100/200 meters).
These boats would have been very similar in external appearance to the VIIC/41 but with two periscopes in the tower as type IX.
All contracts for the VIIC/42 U-boats were cancelled on 30 September 1943 in favour of the new Elektro Boat XXI.


This sub was never made, it says it was designed to dive 200m with a crush depth of 400m. Maybe this is what you had seen before?

yeah, some sub had armour plating instead of pressure hull!

also i once went up to 400 metres in a sinking ixd2!!!!

[BasilY]

Originally Posted by Otto Heinzmeir

I found this at www.uboat.net

The VIIC/42 was designed 1942-1943 and was intended to replace the then retreating VIIC, she had a much stronger pressure hull (with plating thickness up to 28mm) and a bit better offensive punch (16 torpedoes against VIIC's 14). Her diving depth was designed to be 200 meters with 400 meters as crushing depth (VIIC figures: 100/200 meters).
These boats would have been very similar in external appearance to the VIIC/41 but with two periscopes in the tower as type IX.
All contracts for the VIIC/42 U-boats were cancelled on 30 September 1943 in favour of the new Elektro Boat XXI.


This sub was never made, it says it was designed to dive 200m with a crush depth of 400m. Maybe this is what you had seen before?

Design specification is one thing, to actually build a working model that meets the spec is quite an other. There is another threat in this forum talking about the general deterioration of German workmanship after the middle of WW2. As German men were sent to the front in ever increasing numbers, workshops are being manned by poles, frenchmen, even slave labor. They have little incentive to make good machines that will bring victory to Germany. There are instance where welding work are done poorly on uboat hulls.

SO watch out, your boat may just snap when it gets down to 150 meter...

[Weisia]

Originally Posted by Otto Heinzmeir

I found this at www.uboat.net

The VIIC/42 was designed 1942-1943 and was intended to replace the then retreating VIIC, she had a much stronger pressure hull (with plating thickness up to 28mm) and a bit better offensive punch (16 torpedoes against VIIC's 14). Her diving depth was designed to be 200 meters with 400 meters as crushing depth (VIIC figures: 100/200 meters).
These boats would have been very similar in external appearance to the VIIC/41 but with two periscopes in the tower as type IX.
All contracts for the VIIC/42 U-boats were cancelled on 30 September 1943 in favour of the new Elektro Boat XXI.


This sub was never made, it says it was designed to dive 200m with a crush depth of 400m. Maybe this is what you had seen before?

Thank you. This was the bit I was looking for. Even keeping in mind that this was a prototype, I find it quite amazing that the German navy was trying to construct such a boat in ´42 ´43.