The plans of the type XXIII class
The type XXIII class was a class of coastal submarines with one hull and high underwater speed while having similarities with the type XXI: it also had two pressure bodys which were laying one above the other, with the rear end section as an exception. The upper pressure body contained the living rooms, the motors and the torpedo tubes, the lower one contained the accumulators, fuel cells and the submerging cells. Also, this type was one of the first submarines to have a streamlined hull. While being a coastal submarine, it also could dive very deep: with an maximal depth of 150m it could dive as deep as the type VII, which also happened very fast. The fastest recorded submerging took 9 seconds. However, the batteriest were not very strong, still the type XXIII class could hold its maximal speed underwater for more than one hour. It also had ony light armarment with 2 torpedo tubes in the bow and no reserve torpedos. This type had an experimental character but is still viewed as a successful one since it could fullfill its dutry while being nearly as fast underwater as other U-boats surfaced.
It idea of the streamlined submarine is realized in the type XXIII
The first type XXIII U-boat entered service on 12th June 1944 and until the end of the war, a total of 62 units were build. Many other were still under construction. Unlike the type XXI, this class actually saw combat from march to may 1945. Most of the type XXIII u-boats were sunk by their own crews or handed over to the Allies who used them in their own navies after the war and for researching. In 1956, the West German Navy (Bundesmarine) raised 2 units,
U 2365 and
U 2367 and kept them in service until 1968.
U Hecht (ex U 2367,
now S 171)
after the war in the Bundesmarine.
- crew: 14
- shipyard: Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel; Deutsche Werft, Hamburg
- displacement: 232 ts surfaced, 258 ts submerged
- length: 34,6m
- width: 4m
- depth: 3,66m
- maximal depht: 150m
- fuel: 18 ts
- fastest submerging: 9 seconds
- engine: 1 Diesel engine; 2 AEG e-motors for creeping speed
- engine performance: 575-630 ps surfaced, 550 + 35 ps submerged
- speed: 9,7 knots surfaced, 12,5 knots submerged
- range: 4300 sm at 6 knots surfaced, 175 sm at 4 knots submerged
- armament: 2x torpedo tubes in the bow, no flak armament