The Third Reich’s Giant Electric Submarine Fail

[SolomonW]

German's early goal in WW2 with submarines was to sink enough allied ships
to drive Britain out of the war. Initially, they were very successful but
by mid 1943, it became clear that to sink allied ship in quantity a new
kind of submarine was required. They decided on the type XXI.

According to this author Marcus Jones—an associate professor at the U.S.
Naval Academy, in a recent article for the quarterly Naval War College
Review everything about the Type XXI was a mistake.

Here is his report.

https://www.usnwc.edu/getattachment/dd165021-2812-40ba-847f-d5b4c3e4ac4e/Innovation-for-Its-Own-Sake--The-Type-XXI-U-boat.aspx

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[Roger Bell_West]

According to this author Marcus Jones--an associate professor at the U.S.
Naval Academy, in a recent article for the quarterly Naval War College
Review everything about the Type XXI was a mistake.

While that is certainly Tooze's opinion, I don't think it's Jones's
argument.

Rather, one should look at the Reich's options in 1943. They could try
to build more submarines of the sorts they had: clearly a bad idea,
with one getting sunk every day and no great supply of new crews. They
could try for something radical and new (the Type XXI): which
historically didn't work. But they didn't have anything in between
those two, say a design for a boat with the huge battery capacity of
the XXI but without all the other innovations which made it harder to
produce.

By 1943 they didn't have any good options, and _anything_ they did
would have been regarded as a mistake.

It would be reasoanble to argue, as Jones doesn't, that getting
Hellmuth Walter out of the loop much earlier might have given them a
less revolutionary Elektroboot-type design in 1941 or 1942, at which
point they might have been produced in sufficient numbers to make a
difference.

[SolomonW]

Post by Roger Bell_West
It would be reasoanble to argue, as Jones doesn't, that getting
Hellmuth Walter out of the loop much earlier might have given them a
less revolutionary Elektroboot-type design in 1941 or 1942, at which
point they might have been produced in sufficient numbers to make a
difference.

I doubt without Walter, the idea of the Elektroboot would even have been
deveopled.

A better solution, would have been to make major changes to the existing
boats.





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