Conventional U-boat submarines had been the backbone of the Kriegsmarine during
the early stages of World War 2. Still, as allies developed more prominent and more powerful fleets,
the outdated German submarines drastically lost the battle.
Karl Donitz, the supreme commander of the Kriegsmarine, knew that if they didn’t attain
maritime supremacy in the Atlantic, Germany would lose the war: (QUOTE) “Only a U-boat
which no longer needed to surface in order to recharge batteries and which had both high
speed and long endurance under water could improve our prospects in the battle ahead.”
Donitz’s words were more than wishful thinking. By 1942, the unprecedented submarine he described was
already being developed with the utmost urgency, and Hitler himself overviewed the development.
The Type XXI Submarine became a Nazi wonder weapon developed in the latter
stages of World War 2, one of only a few infamous Wunderwaffes actually built.
It is also credited as the first real submarine in history, as previous U-boats were designed
to submerge only during short periods and had to resurface constantly to recharge their batteries,
making them easy targets for allied war efforts and considered mostly as submersible ships.
In contrast, Type XXI was the first vessel in the world
that could stay underwater indefinitely while reaching unparalleled depths,
revolutionizing the way submarines were developed from then on.
The submarine came in the heels of subsequent allied victories in the Atlantic, and Donitz
hoped for a massive overturn based entirely on the deployment of the mighty Type XXI submarine.
It was now a race against the clock and the only shot the Nazis had at winning the war...
Ticking Clock
World War II was defined by the battle of the Atlantic, as the Axis powers had to cut off
Britain’s naval supply lines from America, and the allies had to defend them at all costs. If Hitler
could starve Britain from war supplies and avoid the US from entering the war, Europe would fall.
After successfully conquering France, Germany achieved free access to the Atlantic, deploying
its furtive and fearsome U-boats to wreak havoc on Allied supply convoys. The deceptive
vessels proved to be a nightmare for allied mariners at the beginning of the conflict.
However, not all events unfolded according to the Axis plans;
thanks to the fantastic efforts of the Royal Canadian Navy,
Germany was unable to quickly isolate Britain from its resource lines as it had planned.
As pioneers in the technology, the Germans had been using submersible
U-boats since the dawn of World War 1. The unique capabilities of their
ships gave them an enormous advantage in sea warfare for over three decades.
But as World War 2 evolved, the German U-boats began to show their limits.
In fact, during the latter stages of the war, the once feared U-boats
were being shredded to pieces by the now modernized British and Canadian navies.
By 1943, Karl Donitz knew that defeat was imminent not only in the Atlantic,
but across every battlefront. Still, Germany had one ace under its sleeve.
As many other advantages from the third Reich, it revolved around their technological superiority.
The First Real Submarine
Due to their vast experience with submersible vessels,
the Nazis spearheaded the world’s innovations in submarine technology,
and research into the technology necessary to develop a submarine capable of staying
underwater for more extended periods had been a priority for German scientists for several years.
Before the outbreak of World War 2, Professor Hellmuth Walter,
a brilliant German submarine designer, had devised the outline of a powerful U-boat
capable of conducting war without having to resurface.
While only outlined as a theory, Walter’s design solved the problem of having to resurface to
charge up batteries by envisioning a system based on steam turbines instead of electric engines.
The steam would be heated through a chemical process where high-strength
hydrogen peroxide would suffer a decomposition triggered by a
potassium permanganate catalyst. The highly oxygenated fumes produced by the reaction
would then feed diesel combustion and allow a stable and high-capacity power output underwater.
Walter even developed an early prototype named the V80 which he
would later present to Grand Admiral Erich Raeder on November 14, 1941.
Karl Donitz himself had urged the German High command to concentrate on the development
of Walter’s research. He knew, much before the conflict started,
that achieving such a milestone before France and Britain would guarantee Naval superiority.
However, as Germany overwhelmed all opposing forces during the blitzkrieg,
Hitler ordered the cancelation of all Wunderwaffe projects that could not be ready before 1941.
He firmly believed that Germany would have won the war by then.
The initial research into the next generation of submarines was thus halted,
much to the frustration of Donitz,
who would constantly contend that the research was imperative for Germany.
As imminent victory seemed to fade with every passing month, Donitz revisited the issue of
the Walter design. In a pressing letter, Donitz urged Raeder to prioritize the:
(QUOTE) “Immediate development, testing and most rapid construction of the Walter U-boat.”
Alas, his pleas were ignored, and the wonder weapon design was shelved.
However, as history would show, Donitz was hardly an irresolute man;
he left it upon himself to make sure the Walter Submarine was developed, and during
a naval conference in Berlin on September 28, 1942, he took the matter directly to Hitler.
After a persuasive presentation, Hitler was convinced that the Walter Submarine
would play (QUOTE): “A decisive role in the outcome of this war.”
Vast Superiority
With the Führer’s approval, expedited production of the Walter Type XXI U-boat finally began.
The production advanced at extraordinary speeds.
In October of 1942, Walter presented the Type XXI specifications,
and a month later, he gave the basic model to Donitz and other German commanding admirals.
The groundbreaking vessel was designed to house two 6,000 horsepower turbines
and two colossal 2,000-horsepower diesel engines to achieve underwater speeds of over 18 knots.
In addition, compared to the mere minutes previous U-boats could stay submerged,
the Type XXI could traverse underwater for up to 75 hours without having to resurface.
The submarine’s capabilities also included safety from aircraft
due to her underwater permanence, enough underwater speed to outrun most ships,
an innovative hydraulic system to reload torpedoes automatically, and possible
diving depths of up to 1,000 feet, placing the U-boat well beyond the reach of depth charges.
With such incredible advantages, Donitz was
confident that Type XXI’s deployment would be a turning point for the war.
An Innovative Building Process
Despite the enormous efforts during her development, Type XXI was delayed time and
time again due to issues with the engine system. The setbacks were so significant
that the model was partially reworked and delayed once more.
When a new viable model was finally approved in 1943, the Naval High command
construction experts estimated that a fleet of submarines wouldn’t be ready before 1946.
Donitz was livid; 1946 was too late, and the war would be lost if nothing changed. Reluctant
to surrender his dream, Donitz pulled on every string he could reach to accelerate the process.
Nonetheless, Germany was by now running low on resources and men.
Hitler drafted every single man he could into the conflict, and Donitz’s first task
was to use his new influence on Hitler to convince him not to enlist shipyard workers.
He then negotiated a deal to secure 30,000 tons of steel,
a scarce resource by then. And finally, he partnered with the Armaments Ministry
to conduct an unprecedented manufacturing program for the Type XXI.
Alas, despite all his persistent efforts, the best estimates put
the deployment of the first units no sooner than late 1944 or early 1945.
By now, the entire Nazi High Command was invested in the Type XXI project, so much so that an
extraordinary decision was made: the conventional shipyard construction process would be utterly
dismantled. In its place, they established an ambitious serialized component process.
Following the novel procedure, the submarines would be manufactured as
8 separate cylindrical modules, each built and assembled inland by a subcontracted factory.
The mass-produced segments would then be transported to designated assembly sites.
The scheme worked, and the first units were finished by March of 1944.
But as fate would have it, the process that made the delivery possible was also what doomed the
project. Due to each module being hastily produced by a third-party company with little experience
in shipbuilding, innumerable technical faults would arise when the time came for assembly.
Of the 118 submarines manufactured, only four were combat-ready by 1945,
when the war in Europe was already coming to an end.
Ultimately, only two Type XXI U-boats were deployed into combat in early 1945.
However, neither of them was destined to sink any ships.
On May 4, the chief officer of U-2511 claimed he had a British cruiser in his sights,
but the news of the German cease-fire was received before he could fire.
What if
History ended for the Nazi Wunderwaffe, but the Type XXI continued to live on,
this time on the hands of Allied forces who assumed command of the vessels
and used their designs to create an entirely new generation of submarines.
Hence, Type XXI became the grandfather of all modern submarines,
an unexpected inheritance from Nazi Germany in a peculiar twist of fate.
Still, some historians venture to suggest that if the earlier Type XXI project hadn’t been halted
and if Germany had managed to deploy a fleet, the war could have unfolded very differently,
giving the Nazis utter supremacy over the seas.
Thank you for watching our video! What do you think? Had the Type XXI been deployed earlier,
would the war have turned out differently? Let us know in the comment section below. And if you like
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