Submarine class XI
The Type XI was a submarine class that was developed for the German Navy but was never used. The only construction contract included four boats of these submarine cruisers , but was canceled again after the start of the war .
Planned mission
The Atlantic Ocean around America and Africa, the northern European coast and the eastern Mediterranean were planned as the operational area, on the "... secondary theaters of war, which, because of their weaker organized anti-submarine defenses, still allow the use of the type of submarine as a submarine and which also allow the enemy have such a meaning that he must take appropriate countermeasures ”. The basis of these considerations and demands of the naval leadership was a case of war with France and / or Russia .
Development and technology
The fundamental consideration that led to the design of the Type XI was the desire for a submarine that could wage cruiser warfare . A strong armament was a prerequisite for this, so for the Type XI "an artillery that is capable of effectively fighting an auxiliary cruiser or flotilla leader over long distances (not less than 100 hm )."
Special features of the armament
In the bilateral amendment to the German-British naval agreement , Article 7 stipulated that the Navy must not have a submarine that was equipped with guns over 130 mm in caliber . Instead of the originally planned four 15 cm guns in two turrets, plans were made with 12.7 cm guns from July 1937. The two closed twin towers (two guns each) that were to be placed in front of and behind the tower were considered significant for Type XI . At that time, the use of submarines was planned according to the price order . A submarine should stop the enemy ship, inspect the papers, then either disembark the crew and sink the vehicle, or use a prize crew on board.
Other special features
For reconnaissance measures, it was planned to add its own small reconnaissance aircraft to the Type XI. A floatplane, the Arado Ar 231 , was to be carried in a specially designed tube mounted upright in the boat, assembled on deck if necessary and put into the water with a crane that was also collapsible.
facts and figures
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Displacement :
- above water 3140 m³
- under water 3930 m³
- Length: 115 m
- Width: 9.5 m
- Draft: 6.2 m
- Drive:
- Speed:
- Armament:
- four bow and two stern torpedo tubes, 12 torpedoes
- four 12.8 cm cannons
- two 3.7 cm FLAK
- a 2 cm FLAK
- crew
- 110 men
The Type XI and the fleet building program
The armament of the German fleet went hand in hand with the negotiations between the German Reich and Great Britain. Furthermore, either the increased construction of heavy units or the emphasis on arming medium-sized units for the cruiser war were favored within the navy . The updated version of the fleet building program of November 1, 1938, which General Admiral Raeder Hitler had presented, provided for an increased expansion of the submarine weapon. The completion of a total of seven Type XI boats was planned. However, the resulting shipyard occupancy plan reduced the amount to be achieved to four boats of this type again in mid-December. The construction contract was issued to Deschimag Weser AG in Bremen on January 17, 1939 as part of the Z-Plan . It comprised the boats U 112 , U 113 , U 114 and U 115 with the construction numbers 977 to 980. They were intended for use with the 20th U-Flotilla , which was to be stationed in Wilhelmshaven and a total of nine by 1944 Type XI boats should have.
End of the project
As early as September 1938, Captain Dönitz , former FdU, had called for an increase in the number of Type VII and Type IX boats, also at the expense of other classes of submarines. A year later he demanded: “ ... to build the boat only as a fast boat with a large radius of action, reducing its artillery armament ”. The originally planned tactical mission, which was mainly based on a conflict with Russia and France, but not with the naval power Great Britain, was now obsolete, thus also the concept of the U-cruiser. For the tasks of a so-called “remote submarine”, the type IX boats designed for this purpose were much better suited. The construction contract for the Type XI boats was thus canceled and the 20th U-Flotilla became a training flotilla - not in Wilhelmshaven, but in Pillau .
literature
- Eberhard Rössler : History of the German submarine building. Volume 1. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1996, ISBN 3-86047-153-8 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0509-6 .