I figured I'd pay tribute to the passing of Wesley Willis and the mortal ailment of Warren Zevon with, what else, a review of U-Boat history
from Black May by Michael Gannon, a book about U-boat defeats in May of 1943, a passage about how subs were supplied at long range:
"Beginning in April, boats operating in the Gulf and Caribbean were able to extend their time on station thanks to the deployment of a new large (1688 tons surface displacement) U-boat type, the XIV, which carried no torpedos but instead 700 tons of oil as well as spare parts, ammunition, food, other supplies, a physician...Popularly called milchkuh (milk cow), the U-tanker's capacity to refuel and revictual extended the patrol time of a Type IX boat by eight weeks, a Type VII by four, thus becoming for [Admiral] Donitz a long-distance force-multiplier."
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from the book Hitler's U-Boat War by Clay Blair, a bit about midget subs designed for anti-assault purposes at war's end:
"Among the many preparations to repel the allied invasion of occupied France, the Germans had initiated a little-known project to build "small battle units" developed by ADmiral Hellmuth Heye. These armed craft included one-man chariots, one-man midget submarines, two-man midget submarines, and little radio-controlled speedboats.
The Germans mass-produced two types of chariots, Neger and Marder. These consisted of two G7e electric torpedos, mounted one atop the other. The operator rode the upper "mother" torpedo, which had a cockpit with a plastic dome in place of a warhead and released the lower "child" live torpedo at the target. The Marder was a slightly larger version of the Neger. The Germans produced approximately 200 Negers and 300 Marders...
The one-man midget submarines Biber and Molch were infinitely more complex. Both carried two live torpedos and both could dive like a U-boat and run surfaced or submerged. For surface cruising, the Biber had a gasoline engine. The Molch was all electric. The Germans produced 324 Bibers and 383 Molchs, but these little craft proved to be too complex for one man to manage and they were not very seaworthy.
More sophisticaed yet were the two-man midget submarines Hecht and Seehund, which bore U-boat designations. The 34-foot 12-ton Hecht carried one torpedo or limpet mines. The Germans built 53 Hechts but all were relegated to school boats. The 39-foot 15-ton Seehund carried 2 torpedos or mines. [285 were made.]
The least sophisticated of the small battle units was the radio-controlled speedboat Linse. About 15 feet long, built of wood, these boats were armed with a 900-pound explosive charge. Workign in pairs, volunteers steered these two flimsy boats close to the target, then dived overboard. A third "mother" or "pilot" speedboat picked up the drivers and steered the two pilotless boats onward to the target by means of radio controls.
The first combat use of small battle units took place in the Mediterranean on April 21, 1944. 37 one-man Neger chariots set off from a German-held beach in Italy near the besieged allied enclave at Anzio to attack shipping off Nettuno. 14 Negers beached on a sandbar and were abandoned. The other 23 mounted attacks but none had any success. Only 13 of the 37 returned to the launching beach."
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In all fairness to Nazi germany, the allied secret weapons weren't always successful either. Perhaps you've heard of the "Q-ship" aka "the Mystery Ship"? This was a special small-cannon and anti-submarine-weapon-equipped ship that was disguised as an unarmed merchant ship (with fake cabins and fishing nets and things over the cannons/ depth charges).
Well, they weren't exactly a rousing success. Four were launched and one was soon after sunk. In a year, the remaing three engaged U-boats a total of 3 times with no hits registered...
...but I shouldn't crap around about Wesley and Warren. I feel bad for them. Who knows though, maybe they're reading this and dig U-boats.
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8/28 update -- I'm leaving this up until I get some U-boat love from some peeps here! What the deal, yo?! There has got to be some people out there that like submarines. Nanny nanny and neener neener.
from Black May by Michael Gannon, a book about U-boat defeats in May of 1943, a passage about how subs were supplied at long range:
"Beginning in April, boats operating in the Gulf and Caribbean were able to extend their time on station thanks to the deployment of a new large (1688 tons surface displacement) U-boat type, the XIV, which carried no torpedos but instead 700 tons of oil as well as spare parts, ammunition, food, other supplies, a physician...Popularly called milchkuh (milk cow), the U-tanker's capacity to refuel and revictual extended the patrol time of a Type IX boat by eight weeks, a Type VII by four, thus becoming for [Admiral] Donitz a long-distance force-multiplier."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
from the book Hitler's U-Boat War by Clay Blair, a bit about midget subs designed for anti-assault purposes at war's end:
"Among the many preparations to repel the allied invasion of occupied France, the Germans had initiated a little-known project to build "small battle units" developed by ADmiral Hellmuth Heye. These armed craft included one-man chariots, one-man midget submarines, two-man midget submarines, and little radio-controlled speedboats.
The Germans mass-produced two types of chariots, Neger and Marder. These consisted of two G7e electric torpedos, mounted one atop the other. The operator rode the upper "mother" torpedo, which had a cockpit with a plastic dome in place of a warhead and released the lower "child" live torpedo at the target. The Marder was a slightly larger version of the Neger. The Germans produced approximately 200 Negers and 300 Marders...
The one-man midget submarines Biber and Molch were infinitely more complex. Both carried two live torpedos and both could dive like a U-boat and run surfaced or submerged. For surface cruising, the Biber had a gasoline engine. The Molch was all electric. The Germans produced 324 Bibers and 383 Molchs, but these little craft proved to be too complex for one man to manage and they were not very seaworthy.
More sophisticaed yet were the two-man midget submarines Hecht and Seehund, which bore U-boat designations. The 34-foot 12-ton Hecht carried one torpedo or limpet mines. The Germans built 53 Hechts but all were relegated to school boats. The 39-foot 15-ton Seehund carried 2 torpedos or mines. [285 were made.]
The least sophisticated of the small battle units was the radio-controlled speedboat Linse. About 15 feet long, built of wood, these boats were armed with a 900-pound explosive charge. Workign in pairs, volunteers steered these two flimsy boats close to the target, then dived overboard. A third "mother" or "pilot" speedboat picked up the drivers and steered the two pilotless boats onward to the target by means of radio controls.
The first combat use of small battle units took place in the Mediterranean on April 21, 1944. 37 one-man Neger chariots set off from a German-held beach in Italy near the besieged allied enclave at Anzio to attack shipping off Nettuno. 14 Negers beached on a sandbar and were abandoned. The other 23 mounted attacks but none had any success. Only 13 of the 37 returned to the launching beach."
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
In all fairness to Nazi germany, the allied secret weapons weren't always successful either. Perhaps you've heard of the "Q-ship" aka "the Mystery Ship"? This was a special small-cannon and anti-submarine-weapon-equipped ship that was disguised as an unarmed merchant ship (with fake cabins and fishing nets and things over the cannons/ depth charges).
Well, they weren't exactly a rousing success. Four were launched and one was soon after sunk. In a year, the remaing three engaged U-boats a total of 3 times with no hits registered...
...but I shouldn't crap around about Wesley and Warren. I feel bad for them. Who knows though, maybe they're reading this and dig U-boats.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
8/28 update -- I'm leaving this up until I get some U-boat love from some peeps here! What the deal, yo?! There has got to be some people out there that like submarines. Nanny nanny and neener neener.
I wanna boat to drink on.