They were the first submarines designed to operate primarily submerged, rather than spending most of their time as surface ships that could submerge for brief periods as a means of escaping detection. During the war only two were put into active service and went on patrols, but these were not used in combat. One hundred and eighteen were completed, with four being combat-ready.

Type XXI submarines were a class of German diesel–electric Elektroboot (German: 'electric boat') submarines designed during the Second World War. 2 x twin 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft guns.23 G7 torpedoes (or 17 torpedoes and 12 mines).2 × SSW GV232/28 'creep motors', 226 PS (223 shp 166 kW) for silent running, and to keep the boat moving while the batteries are being recharged.2× MAN M6V40/46KBB geared supercharged 6-cylinder diesel engines, 4,000 PS (3,900 shp 2,900 kW), driving:.

Geared Diesel/Geared battery-electric/CODABEL/Diesel-electric beltdrive/Low-noise electric beltdrive.

Type XXIII (parallel coastal submarine project)

Type XVIII (cancelled oceanic AIP project).

It is the only floating example of a Type XXI U-boat. He declined to ask Congress for a declaration of war at that time, arguing that Germany had still not committed any “actual overt acts” warranting a military response.U-2540 in wartime configuration and exhibited at the Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven. could mobilize and arm troops to land in Europe.Īlthough President Wilson formally broke diplomatic relations in February 1917 when the unrestricted submarine warfare resumed, he was still unsure how far public support had moved. might react with intervention, German military leaders calculated they could defeat the allies before the U.S. U-boats resumed unrestricted attacks against all ships in the Atlantic, including civilian passenger carriers. They hoped to break the British stranglehold blockade of crucial German supply ports and knock Britain out of the war within the year. Germany was already experiencing food shortages and had imposed unpopular compulsory service either in armed forces or war industries. By 1917, it had 140 and the U-boats had destroyed about 30 percent of the world's merchant ships.Īt the dawn of 1917, the German high command forced a return to the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, engineering the dismissal of opponents of the policy that aimed to sink more than 600,000 tons of shipping a month. Germany built new and larger U-boats to punch holes in the British blockade, which was threatening to starve Germany out of the war. might go to war over the incident, Germany backed down and ordered its U-boat fleet to spare passenger vessels. The Germans asserted the Lusitania was carrying war matériel and was therefore a legitimate target.įaced with the possibility that the U.S. The Allies and Americans considered the sinking an act of indiscriminate warfare. Nearly 1,200 men, women, and children, including 128 Americans, lost their lives. On May 7, 1915, German submarine U-20 torpedoed the Lusitania, a Cunard passenger liner, off the coast of Ireland. The goal was to starve Britain before the British blockade defeated Germany. They were Germany’s only weapon of advantage as Britain effectively blocked German ports to supplies. The formidable U-boats ( unterseeboots) prowled the Atlantic armed with torpedoes. Germany retaliated by using its submarines to destroy neutral ships that were supplying the Allies. Britain's blockade across the North Sea and the English Channel cut the flow of war supplies, food, and fuel to Germany during World War I.