u-47

U-47: Build Details and Technical Specifications

The following information covers the basic technical specifications of the Type VIIB U-boat in general, and U-47 in particular.

A. Build Details

Type: VIIB
Works: Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel
Series: U45 - U55
Build Commissioned: 21.11.1936
Build Number: 538
Completed: 25.02.1937
First Launch: 29.10.1938
Handed over for Service: 17.12.1938
Field Post Number: 18837

B. Technical Specifications

A side view of the Type VIIB U-Boat. The torpedo tubes are indicated in red.

Displacement:

Washington 517 metric tons
Surfaced (dry) 704 metric tons
Surfaced (fuel and water tanks full) 753 metric tons
Submerged 857 metric tons
Submerged (fully crewed and loaded) 1040 tons

Length:

Casing 66.5m (218.2')
Pressure hull 48.8m (160.1')

Beam:

Casing 6.2m (20.3')
Pressure hull 4.7m (15.4')

Draught:

4.7m (15.4')

Height:

9.5m (31.6')

Engines:

Two Germaniawerft 6-cylinder 4-stroke F46 diesels with superchargers totalling 2800 - 3200bhp

Motors:

Two AEG GU 460/8-276 electric motors totalling 750shp

Batteries:

Two rooms with 62 lead-acid AFA 27 MAK 800 battery cells producing 7500 amp hours

Fuel oil:

Maximum 108.3 metric tons
Normal load 99.7 metric tons (57.3 tons within pressure hull)

Speed:

Surfaced 17.2-17.9 knots
Submerged 8.0 knots

Range (surfaced):

3850nm at 17.2 knots
6500nm at 12 knots
8700nm at 10 knots
combined diesel/electric drive range 9400nm

Range (submerged):

90nm at 4 knots

Diving depth:

Operational - 100m (328')
Crush - 200m (656')
Maximum sustainable depth - c. 220m (733.3')

Diving time

30 seconds

Periscopes:

Sky - Standserohr C/2 with fixed eyepiece
Attack and night - Binokulare Nacht-Luftziel-Seerohr(NLSR)

Hydrophones:

Gruppenhorchgerat (GHG) (fixed hydrophone array) - 11 hydrophones per side, above forward dive planes

UWT:

Two underwater telephone membranes fitted on either side, above GHG (one for transmission and one for receipt of sound waves)

Armament:
» more info

88mm deck gun
20mm Flak gun

Torpedo tubes:

Bow - 4 x 21" (53.3cm) tubes
Stern - 1 x 21" (53.3cm) tube

Torpedo types:
» more info

G7a compressed air torpedo
G7e wakeless torpedo

Torpedo numbers:

Forward tubes - 4
Forward torpedo compartment - 6
Aft tube - 1
Aft torpedo compartment - 1
Between pressure hull and forward deck casing - 1
Between pressure hull and aft deck casing - 1
Total - 14. NB. Space was allocated in the deck casing for two additional torpedoes - one in the forward deck casing and one in the aft deck casing.

Mines
» more info

26 x TMA or 39 x TMB

Boats

1 dinghy, stored under forward casing forward of the torpedo loading hatch

Crew

December 1938 - 39
October 1939 - 40
February 1941 - 44

Mitsubishi A6M Reisen (Zero)

 

The notorious and fearsome A6M Reisen is better known in the annals of history, and in the minds of the pilots who faced it, as the Zero.
The A6M was a fighter conceived, “specs-first” by the Japanese Navy in 1937. The plane they wanted was to be a carrier- based, highly maneuverable, long range fighter that was capable of defeating heavier land-based fighters toe-to-toe.
Only Jiro Horoshiki of the Mitsubishi company was able to produce a plane that fit the specifications required, and in 1939 the first prototype was created. The A6M was a very clean and aerodynamic airframe even with its bulky radial engine. Its retractable landing gear was set widely for easier landings on carriers at sea. It was also well armed for its fighter role with two machine guns and two cannons. The prototype A6Ms were found to have exemplary turning and climbing ability and so the A6M was put into production in 1940. 1940 happened to be the Japanese year 5700 and so it was known as the Type 0 and thus the name Reisen or Zero.
A test-squadron of 30 Zeroes was sent to China in summer of 1940. The Zero bested all of its competition with ease. Next, the A6M was at the forefront on December 7th, 1941 during the attack on Pearl Harbour. Over the next 6 months the Zero confounded American pilots with its superior maneuverability and its highly trained pilots causing heavy losses to the Americans. After the Battle of Midway however, the Zero had lost its lustre of untouchability. American pilots refused to face the Zero head on and instead made high speed passes at them using their superior engines and armour and banking on the Zero’s tendency to catch fire.
New Zeroes were introduced with better armour and equipment but this added weight meant less of that famous aerobatic maneuverability. By 1945 many A6Ms were converted to kamikazes.
A total of 10,964 Zeroes were built.

Type	Fighter
Power Plant	1 x 1,130-horsepower Nakajima NK1F radial engine
Max speed:	565 km/h ( 351 mph)
Ceiling:	11,050 m (36,255 ft.)
Range:	1,920 km (1,193 mi.)
Weight (empty):	1,876 kg (4,136 lb.)
Weight (loaded):	2,952 kg (6,508 lb.)
Wingspan:	11 m ( 36 ft. 1 in.)
Length:	9.12 m ( 29 ft. 11 in.)
Height:	3.51 m ( 11ft. 6 in.)
Armament:	2 x 7.7mm machine guns; 2 x 20mm cannon
Service	1940-1945

Aichi D3A - Japanese carrier-based bomber of WW2

 

Although not a particularly modern-looking aircraft, the Aichi D3A sank more allied shipping than any other Axis aircraft both in its dive-bomber role and its later refit as a kamikaze plane. In 1936 a contract opened up to replace the obsolete Aichi D1A – a biplane dive-bomber – with a more modern craft. Aichi’s D3A won the design contest and went into production shortly after. The D3A was the first all-metal bomber used by the Japanese. It was a low-wing monoplane employing the Mitsubishi Kinsei radial engine. The D3A’s landing gear was not retractable and so a longer dorsal fin was added to increase stability.

The Aichi was typically used as a carrier-based bomber. D3As accompanied the first waves that flew over Pearl Harbour, inflicting heavy damage. In the Indian Ocean, D3A squadrons were known to have sunk the British carrier Hermes along with the cruisers Dorsetshire and Cornwall.
D3As were tremendously accurate in their bombing role with four out of every five bombs striking its target. The D3A remained an integral part of the Japanese navy’s offense up until the 1942 battles of Coral Sea and Midway where many were lost. A year later an aerodynamically improved version of the D3A, the D3A2, entered service but neither model could keep pace with new and numerous American fighters.
Those D3As that were not shot down were put into service as kamikaze planes, a move that sadly may have increased their already impressive accuracy record. A total of 1,495 of these dive-bombers were built.

Type	Dive-Bomber
Power Plant	1 x 1,080-horsepower
Max speed:	389 km/h ( 242mph)
Ceiling:	9,159 m (30,050 ft.)
Range:	1,561 km (970 mi.)
Weight (empty):	2,409 kg (5,310 lb.)
Weight (loaded):	2,618 kg (5,772 lb.)
Wingspan:	14.38 m ( 47 ft. 2 in.)
Length:	10.24 m ( 33 ft. 7 in.)
Height:	3.32 m (10ft. 11 in.)
Armament:	3 x 7.7mm machine guns; 816 pounds of bombs
Service	1938 -1945

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