The submarine class XXII , also known as the Walter turbine submarine type XXII , was a submarine with Walter propulsion . Some boats of this type were commissioned by the German Kriegsmarine during the Second World War , but were never completed. The boats of this submarine class were designed as so-called "coastal submarines" for use in coastal sea areas.
The submarine class XXII was developed in 1943 by engineers Fritz Fischer and Ulrich Gabler on behalf of the Hellmuth Walter engineering office in Kiel . The basis of the conception was the assumption that the complicated turbine system of the "Walter drive" represented a difficulty for the mass production of so-called "Walter submarines". Large "Walter submarines" such as the submarine class XVII were powered by two powerful turbines. As an alternative that could be implemented more quickly and to enable faster front testing, Fischer and Gabler therefore developed a small submarine for use near the coast whose main drive for rapid underwater travel consisted of just a Walter turbine. An electric motor was to be used for the underwater crawl, a diesel engine was provided for the overwater travel. The crew should consist of twelve men in order to allow a rotation of the guards of six men each during longer missions.
Technical specifications
The Type XXII was 27.1 m long and displaced between 225 m³ and 245 m³ when underwater. In contrast to other submarines of this size, this type did not have a tower and therefore had no artillery armament. Other special features of this type were that it had no forward depth rudder and the drive developed by Hellmuth Walter, which should enable a speed of 20 knots when underwater. For the surface travel, the XXII boats should have a diesel engine from Deutz AG , which should guarantee a maximum speed of 7 knots. An exhaust gas compressor extended the driving range when driving a turbine, especially at greater depths. The armament consisted of two bow torpedo tubes and a very high rear torpedo tube. Loading with 5 m long torpedoes was only possible from the outside. It was not possible to maintain the torpedoes while they were in motion. The concept also stipulated that the boat had to be seaworthy and could also be used in the closer coastal environment. The tank for the hydrogen peroxide , which was needed to operate the "Walter turbine", was located below the pressure hull and resulted in an elliptical boat cross-section.
production
On July 6, 1943, the Kriegsmarine received a construction contract for the manufacture of Type XXII boats to the Kieler Kriegsmarinewerft of Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG. When the shipyard announced the cancellation of the construction contract on September 30th, two boats - hull numbers 055 and 056 - had already received their designation: U 1153 and U 1154 . The cancellation of the order for these two and 34 other boats was confirmed by the Navy to the Howaldtswerke on November 6, 1943. The client had decided to give up the production of this submarine class in favor of the production of types XXI and XXIII .
Notes and individual references
↑ Two Walter submarines of type XVII (B and G) were commissioned in December 1942 from the Blohm + Voss shipyard and two more in February 1943 from the Germania shipyard in Kiel .
↑ a b Eberhard Rössler: History of the German submarine construction. Volume 2: Development, construction and characteristics of the German submarines from 1943 until today. Bernard & Graefe Verlag Bonn, pp. 293-294.
↑ Bodo Herzog: German U-Boats 1906–1966. Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1996, ISBN 3-86070-036-7 , p. 203.
↑ The "Walter process" named after the Kiel engineer uses hydrogen peroxide as an oxygen carrier, which breaks down in a decomposer into water vapor and free oxygen, which in turn burns into carbonic acid and water vapor and serves as the working gas for the drive turbine. See Ulrich Gabler: submarine construction. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1997, ISBN 3-7637-5958-1 .
^ Rainer Busch, Hans Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1942. Volume 2: The submarine construction in German shipyards. Publishing house ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg u. a. 1997, p. 271.
↑ a b Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. Publishing house ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg u. a. 1997, pp. 233-234.
literature
Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. Publishing house ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg u. a. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6
Bodo Herzog: German U-Boats 1906–1966. Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1996, ISBN 3-86070-036-7 .
Eberhard Rössler : History of the German submarine construction. Volume 2: Development, construction and characteristics of the German submarines from 1943 until today. Bernard & Graefe Verlag Bonn, ISBN 3-86047-153-8 .
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