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Technologies
The Schnorchel
The German Navy paid little attention (they actually thought about this system in 1940 as a means to take fresh air
into the boats but saw no need to run the diesels underwater) and in fact had the schorchel removed from the 3
captured Dutch submarines (UD-3, UD-4 and UD-5 in 1941 (1) The Royal Navy also did the same with the Dutch
boats that escaped the German forces. It was not until 1943 when more and more U-boats were lost to the Allied
counterattack that the system fell into favor with the high command.
The Schornel was taken into service as an afterthought (but the XXI and XXIII types were designed in 1943 to use
the technology to its fullest) and fitted on the VIIC and IXC classes.
ventilation for diesels (1) but his ideas was not acted upon.
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Installation
The first boat to be fitted with the Schnorchel was U-58 which experimented with the equipment in the Baltic during
the summer of 1943 but operational boats didn't start to use it until early 1944 and even as late as June 1944 only
about half of the boats stationed in the French bases had Schnorchels fitted.
On type VII boats the folding mast was fitted on the port side (see photo on the left) while on the IX types the mast
was on the starboard side. The XXI and XXIII types both had periscopic air masts (they rose vertically through the
conning tower close to the periscope).
Schnorchel Problems
There were several problems with the Schnorchels; first it turned the attacking/patrolling U-boat into a slow (6 knots
was the max speed for the VII and IX types, otherwise the air mast would break off) and almost deaf weapon. Second
were the various disposal problems associated with the permanently submerged boat; garbage had to be stored
internally and further fouled up the boat. Third was the problem with the initial schnorchel masts that they tended to
close up and thus the diesels, being starved of air from above, sucked all available air from the boat itself and causing
extremely harmful ear pains and sometimes even damaged ear drums.
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Further reading
1. Jones, Mark C. Give credit where credit is due: The Dutch role in the development and deployment of the
submarine Schnorchel. The Journal of Military History 69, issue 4, pages 987-1012 (October 2005)
Technologies
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