German Type XIV submarine
All you want to know about German Type XIV submarine
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Deutsche Werke (U-459 to U-464) Germaniawerft (U-487 to U-490) |
| Operators: |  Kriegsmarine |
| Built: | 1940–1943 |
| In commission: | 1941–1944 |
| Planned: | 24 |
| Completed: | 10 |
| Cancelled: | 14 |
| Lost: | 10 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,668 long tons (1,695 t) surfaced 1,932 long tons (1,963 t) submerged |
| Length: | 67.1 m (220 ft 2 in) overall 47.5 m (155 ft 10 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 9.35 m (30 ft 8 in) overall 4.9 m (16 ft 1 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 11.7 m (38 ft 5 in) |
| Draft: | 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in) |
| Propulsion: | Diesel-electric 2 × Germaniawerft F46 supercharged 6-cylinder diesel engines, 3,200 hp (2400 kW) 2 × SSW Gu343/388-8 double-acting electric motors 750 hp (560 kW) |
| Speed: | 14.9 knots (27.6 km/h) surfaced 6.2 knots (11.5 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 12,350 nmi (22,870 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced 55 nmi (102 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: | 240 m (790 ft) |
| Complement: | 53–60 men |
| Armament: | 2 × 37 mm AA guns 2 × 20 mm AA guns |
The Type XIV U-boat was a modification of the Type IXD, designed to resupply other U-boats. Because they were nicknamed "Milchkuh/Milchkühe (pl.)" (milk cows), a common name for them was milkcow. They had no torpedo tubes or deck guns, only anti-aircraft guns. Due to its large size, the Type XIV could resupply other boats with 400 tons of fuel, four torpedoes, and fresh food that was preserved in refrigerator units. In addition, the boats were equipped with bakeries, in order to provide the luxury of fresh bread for crews being resupplied.
In 1942 the Milk Cows successfully allowed the smaller Type VIIC boats to raid the American coast during the "Second Happy Time". The milk cows were of course a priority target for all Allied forces, and improved radar and air coverage eliminated most of them during 1943. Milk cow duty was especially hazardous; 289 sailors were killed out of an estimated complement of 530–576 men.
List of Type XIV submarines
Ten boats of this type were commissioned:
- U-459, commissioned 15 November 1941, scuttled 24 July 1943
- U-460, commissioned 24 December 1941, sunk 4 October 1943
- U-461, commissioned 30 January 1942, sunk 30 July 1943
- U-462, commissioned 5 March 1942, sunk 30 July 1943
- U-463, commissioned 2 April 1942, sunk 16 May 1943
- U-464, commissioned 30 April 1942 , scuttled 20 August 1942
- U-487, commissioned 21 December 1942, sunk 13 July 1943
- U-488, commissioned 1 February 1943, sunk 26 April 1944
- U-489, commissioned 8 March 1943, sunk 4 August 1943
- U-490, commissioned 27 March 1943, sunk 12 June 1944
Fourteen planned Type XIVs were cancelled. Three of them (U-491, U-492, U-493) were about 75% complete when all work was stopped and they were scrapped in July and August 1943. The other 11 had not been laid down when they were cancelled on May 27, 1944. On that same day Karl Dönitz dropped development plans for the Type XX U-boats, large transport boats that would not have been ready until the summer of 1945.
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