Type IX submarine

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The Type IX U-boat a class of large U-boats built for Nazi Germany's from 1936 to 1945. Derived from the preceding Type I classTemplate:Efn, it was designed as a large ocean-going submarine for sustained operations far from the home support facilities. It appeared in various sub-types: the first four subtypes IXA, IXB and IXC and IXC/40 differed only by an ever widened and lengthened outer hull to increase fuel storage and range. The Type IXD had yet again a larger outer hull, but also a lengthened pressure hull to install more engines. The Type IXD came in three versions: the type IXD1 used its larger engine room to install more diesel power for higher top speed. The nearly identical IXD2 and IXD/42 used the extra engine space to install economical cruising engines, which extended their range to three times the range of the original type IXA design.

A total of 194 Type IX U-boats was commissioned in the German Navy between 1938 and 1945. They mounted patrols as individual operating long-range submarines to the West African coast, the East Coast of the United States, the South Atlantic Ocean, and as far as the Indian Ocean. They also took part in wolfpack attacks against North-Atlantic convoys. At the end of the war, most of the remaining boats were scuttled either by their crews in Operation Regenbogen or later by the British in Operation Deadlight. A few survivors served in foreign navies. Two Type IX are preserved: Template:GS was captured at sea and survives at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and Template:GS was sunk on 5 May 1945, but raised and is on display at Woodside Ferry Terminal, Birkenhead.

Design

The Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935 allowed Germany to build a U-Boat fleet of Template:Cvt. Parts for two Type I, twenty-four Type II and ten Type VII U-boats had already been produced before the conclusion of the agreement and these thirty-six U-boats comprising Template:Cvt were built within the year. The German Navy wanted to spend the remaining Template:Cvt on a large Template:Cvt U-boat, capable of operating in the Mediterranean Sea.Template:Sfn

In order to speed up construction, the existing Type I design was modified to fulfill the extra requirements. To improve speed, the eight-cylinder diesel engine was replaced with a more powerful nine-cylindral supercharged diesel engine, and the forward section was more streamlined. To increase torpedo capacity, the upper deck was widened, providing space to store ten spare torpedoes below deck in water-tight containers. Because the heavier diesel engines required a larger engine room, the crew quarters and all battery compartments were moved forward of the control room. The pressure hull diameter was increased by Template:Cvt.Template:Sfn The double hull contained all ballast tanks and part of the fuel. The double hull with the wide and flat deck and bulwarks perpendicular to the surface, made the boat very seaworthy on the surface but affected the diving time badly. Diving time increased to 35 seconds, compared to 25-30 seconds for a Type VII.Template:Sfn Constructional, test and crush diving depth were , and respectively.Template:EfnTemplate:Sfn

Armament

Type IXs had six torpedo tubes; four at the bow and two at the stern. They carried six torpedoes in the tubes, six reloads internally and ten spare torpedoes externally in pressure-tight containers.Template:Sfn There were torpedo hatches fore and aft through which torpedoes could be reloaded at harbour, but it was also possible to take on these external spares at sea through these two hatches, by mounting a collapsible trough and a tripod. When during a patrol a spare torpedo was transferred from the external container to the inner torpedo room, the torpedo hatch had to be opened and the U-boat was unable to dive in that state. Hence this could only be done in low-risk areas.Template:Sfn

At the start of the U-boat building program in 1935, the Germans were only allowed to build a limited number of U-boats and they could not afford to build specialized minelaying U-boats. Instead they developed sea mines that could be laid by any U-boat through the torpedo tubes. A TMA moored mine could be laid in waters with a depth of maximum Template:Cvt and had a length of Template:Cvt. Each torpedo could be substituted by two TMA mines. The TMB ground mine had a length of Template:Cvt so that for each torpedo, three TMB's could be loaded. In November 1939 a heavier TMC ground mine with a length of Template:Cvt came into service.Template:Sfn A Type IX could could carry either 44 TMA, 60 TMB, or 22 TMC mines.Template:Sfn

Type IXs had a standard gun armament consisting of one deck gun mounted before the conning tower, one 3.7 cm SK C/30 mounted behind the conning tower and one C/30 mounted on a platform aft of the conning tower. From 1943 onwards, the deck gun was removed from most U-boats as it had little use anymore, except for U-boats operating in the Indian Ocean. At the same time the anti-aircraft defense was reinforced by substituting the lone 2 cm gun by two twin 2 cm guns on the higher platform behind the conning tower, whilst the 3.7 cm gun was moved to a lower platform behind the conning tower. In order to compensate for the extra volume caused by the installation of extra anti-aircraft guns, some of the U-boats had a part of their forward deck removed.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Subclasses

Type IXA

The first four Type IX U-boats were ordered on 29 July 1936 from DeSchiMAG AG Weser in Bremen,Template:Sfn and on 21 November a further four were ordered from the same yard.Template:Sfn The eight U-boats were commissioned in 1938-39. Six were lost in action and two were scuttled at the end of the war.Template:Sfn

Type IXB

On 17 July 1937 the British amended the Anglo-German Naval Agreement for an expansion of their submarine fleet. As a consequence Germany was also allowed more tonnage for their U-boats and part of this tonnage was used to order two Type IXB on 21 July. The Type IXB was nearly identical to the Type IXA, except for a wider outer hull,Template:Sfn which increased fuel storage to Template:Cvt,Template:Sfn and for the deck gun being mounted closer to the conning tower.Template:Sfn

In 1938, the Germans invoked a clausule of the Anglo-German Naval- Agreement which allowed them to build submarines in parity with the British. With the extra allowed tonnage, eight Type IXB were ordered on 24 May 1938. A ninth was ordered on 9 August,Template:Sfn followed by a further five. All fourteen Type IXB were ordered from DeSchiMAG AG Weser in Bremen. These U-boats were commissioned in 1939-1940. Thirteen were sunk in the course of the war, the remaining one was decommissioned and sabotaged when Lorient Submarine Base was evacuated in 1944.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Type IXC

The Type IXC had again a wider outer hull, with storage for an additional 43 tonnes of fuel, increasing the boat's range. This series kept the two conning tower periscopes but omitted the third control room periscope.Template:Sfn The 35 boats of Template:GS through Template:GS and Template:GS through Template:GS were not fitted for mine operations.Template:Sfn

The first ten Type IXC were ordered on 7 August 1939.Template:Sfn Three shipyards, DeSchiMAG AG Weser and Seebeckwerft of Bremen, and Deutsche Werft of Hamburg built 54 Type IXC submarines, which were commissioned in 1941-42. 49 Type IXC U-boats were lost. Two were decommissioned in French ports and could not be evacuated to Germany when the Allies overran France in 1944.Template:Sfn One was given to Japan as a gift from Hitler, one surrendered at the end of the war, and U-505 was captured at sea and survives at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Type IXC/40

Type IXC/40 was an improved Type IXC with slightly increased range.Template:Sfn The 87 Type IXC/40 U-boats built at DeSchiMAG AG Weser and Seebeckwerft of Bremen, and Deutsche Werft of Hamburg were commissioned in 1942–1944.Template:Sfn After the decision of Karl Dönitz on 13 August 1943 to focus on the construction of the new Elektroboote, on 30 September 1943, the outstanding order for 71 Type IXC/40 was cancelled.Template:Sfn 64 Type IXC/40 were lost in action, four were decommissioned before the end of the war, two were scuttled, one was transferred to the Japanese Navy and sixteen surrendered.Template:Sfn The Type IXC/40 Template:GS was sunk on 5 May 1945, but raised and is on display at Woodside Ferry Terminal, Birkenhead.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Type IXD1

After the cancelling of the Type XI U-cruisers at the beginning of the war, which were intended for patrols against independently sailing vessels in remote areas, Dönitz sought a way to replace these U-cruisers with an existing design that could be modified without much impact on existing U-boat production. The solution was to adapt the Type IXC into two designs : a high-speed Type IXD1 and a long-range Type IXD2. On 28 May 1940 the first IXD U-boats were ordered.Template:Sfn Only two Type IXD1 U-boats were built,Template:Sfn Template:GS was commissioned on 10 December 1941 and Template:GS on 8 April 1942.Template:Sfn

The Type IXD1 was significantly longer and heavier than the IXC/40. It had three pairs of 20-cylinder, four-stroke Daimler Benz MB501 diesels, which were also used for E-boats, with a total of .Template:Sfn This installation was not successful: it produced too much exhaust smoke, and the heat in the engine room was unbearable because of defective cooling.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Since they were not fit for war patrols, it was decided in the autumn of 1943 to convert the two Type IXD1 U-boats into transport U-boats. They had their torpedo tubes removed and the six diesel engines were replaced with two Type VIIC Germaniawerft F46 diesel engines.Template:Sfn As a consequence top speed dropped to .Template:Sfn In their new role they could transport 252 tonnes of cargo.Template:Sfn

Type IXD2 and IXD/42

Apart from the two standard MAN M9V40/46 diesel engine totalling , the Type IXD2 had two extra six-cylinder, four-stroke MWM RS34S diesel generators totalling for economical cruising.Template:SfnThe IXD2 had a range of at Template:Sfn and at . The IXD/42 was almost identical.Template:Sfn Most of the Type IXD2 were sent to patrols in the Indian Ocean as part of the Monsun Gruppe and were equipped with a Focke-Achgelis Fa 330 rotor kite which was stored in two watertight vertical canisters behind the conning tower.Template:Sfn

The first two Type IXD2 U-boats were ordered on 15 August 1940.Template:Sfn DeSchiMAG AG Weser of Bremen built 28 Type IXD2 U-boats, which were commissioned in 1942-44.Template:Sfn Following the decision by Dönitz to stop building conventional U-boats, the orders for 22 Type IXD/42 U-boats was cancelled. Only two that were already under construction by DeSchiMAG AG Weser of Bremen, were continued. Only Template:GS was launched on 28 April 1944 and commissioned 27 March 1945, and surrendered at the end of the war. The other Type IXD/42 Template:GS was launched on 17 May 1944 but was badly damaged on 30 March 1945 by US bombs while still in the dockyard and never commissioned.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Operational history

On 1 September 1939 only nine Type IXA and one Type IXB were in service. Due to the lack of available U-boats, most of the Type IX were used for patrols in British waters and only rarely operations were mounted to the more distant waters of West Africa. Type IX U-boats were first put to good use when the United States entered the war in December 1941. During the Second Happy Time they mounted very successful operations to the East Coast of the United States and the Caribbean Sea. In October 1942 these U-boats started operations as far south as Cape Horn and ventured into the Indian Ocean.Template:Sfn Eventually in 1943 a German base was established in Penang from where Type IXC and type IXD2 U-boats could operate.Template:Sfn Operating from that base, the Type IXD2 Template:GS executed a unique patrol around Australia, reaching Tasmania and New Zealand, and was the only U-boat to sink a ship in the Pacific Ocean.Template:Sfn

The Type IX designed for long-range operations against independently sailing merchants, not for Wolfpack operations against convoys. But as not enough U-boats were available for operations against the Atlantic convoys, Type IXC U-boats made one patrol on the North Atlantic convoy routes when transferring from their construction yards and training bases in Germany to their operational bases in German-occupied France.Template:Sfn Due to their slow diving time, they were considered unfit for service in the Mediterranean Sea, only Type VIIs were sent to that theatre of the war.Template:Sfn They did not operate in the Arctic Ocean either.Template:Sfn

Type IX U-boats sank two escort carriers and two cruisers,Template:Sfn but most of their efforts were directed against merchant shipping: of the twenty-most successful U-boats, fourteen were Type IXs.Template:Sfn The most successful patrol of the war was executed by Type IXB Template:GS, sinking fourteen ships for Template:GRT.Template:Sfn The Type IXD2 Template:GS made the longest patrol of the war, remaining 225 days at sea.Template:Sfn The most successful operations with Type IX U-boats include Operation Neuland, Wolfpack Eisbär and the first wave of Operation Drumbeat.Template:Sfn

In foreign service

• Template:GS had been scuttled in Lorient but was raised by the French after the war, repaired and recommissioned as Blaison.Template:Sfn
• Template:GS was returning from the Far East to Saint-Nazaire submarine base when the war ended and was captured there by the French.Template:Sfn The U-boat was commissioned into the French Navy as Bouan.Template:Sfn
• Template:GS was a gift from Hitler to Japan, she arrived on 16 September 1943 in Japan and was renamed Ro-500.Template:Sfn
• Template:GS was another gift from Hitler to Japan. A Japanese crew was brought to Germany to commission her on 14 February 1944.Template:Sfn She sailed for Japan on 30 March and was lost on her way.Template:Sfn
• Template:GS, Template:GS and Template:GS were in the Far East when Germany surrendered in May 1945, were captured by the Japanese and commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy as I-501, I-502 and I-506 respectively.Template:Sfn
• Template:GS surrendered at the end of the war and was given as a war prize to the Soviet Union. She was commissioned in the Soviet Navy as N.26.Template:Sfn
• Template:GS and Template:GS were on patrol in the North Atlantic when Germany surrendered. They put into a Canadian port and both were commissioned in the Royal Canadian Navy, but U-889 was later transferred to the United States Navy.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Specifications

Class	IXATemplate:Sfn	IXBTemplate:Sfn	IXCTemplate:Sfn	IXC/40Template:Sfn	IXD1Template:Sfn	IXD2 + IXD/42Template:Sfn
Displacement surfaced in t (long tons)
Displacement submerged in t (long tons)
Length overall in m (ft)
Length pressure hull in m (ft)						--
Beam overall in m (ft)
Beam pressure hull in m (ft)						--
Height in m (ft)						--
Draft in m (ft)
Power surfaced (diesel) in hp (kW)Template:Sfn
Power submerged (Electric) in hp (kW)Template:Sfn
Surface speed in knots (km/h, mph)
Submerged speed in knots (km/h, mph)
fuel capacity in t (long tons)Template:Sfn
Surface range at 10 knots in nmi (km, mi)
Surface range at 12 knots in nmi (km, mi)Template:Sfn
Submerged range at 4 knots in nmi (km, mi)
Construction diving depth in m (ft)Template:EfnTemplate:Sfn
Test diving depth in m (ft)Template:EfnTemplate:Sfn
Crush diving depth in m (ft)Template:EfnTemplate:Sfn
Bow tubes	4
Stern tubes	2
Torpedoes (maximum)	22	22	22	22	22	24
ComplementTemplate:Sfn	48	48	48	48	55	55-64
CommissionedTemplate:Sfn	8	14	54	87	2	28 + 1

Series of Type IX hull numbers

A total of 290 Type IXs were ordered, of which 194 were commissioned. At the end of the war, six were laid down but not yet commissioned. The orders for the remaining ninety U-boats were suspended in 1943 and definitively cancelled in 1944. A further sixty-eight hull numbers were reserved for Type IXs, but these hull numbers were never ordered.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Type IX U-boat series
Series	Type	Yard	Year ordered	Year commissioned or cancelled	Number commissioned	Number laid down, but not commissioned	Number cancelled
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXA	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1936	1938-39	8
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXB	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1937	1939-41	2
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXB	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1937	1939-41	9
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXB	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1937	1939-41	3
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1939	1940-41	3
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1939	1940-41	7
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1939	1940-41	8
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1939	1940-41	6
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC	Deschimag Seebeck, Wesermunde	1939	1941-42	6
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC	Deutsche Werft, Hamburg	1939	1941-42	24
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deschimag Seebeck, Wesermunde	1940	1942-44	4
Template:GS - Template:GSTemplate:Efn	IXC/40	Deschimag Seebeck, Wesermunde	1940	1942-44	6
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deschimag Seebeck, Wesermunde	1940	1944			10
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deschimag Seebeck, Wesermunde	--	--
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1942-44	12
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1942-44	6
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1942-44	6
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1942-44	6
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1942-44	5
Template:GS	IXC/40	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1944			1
Template:GS	IXC/40	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1944	1
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	--		2
Template:GS - Template:GSTemplate:Efn	IXC/40	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1944			3
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deutsche Werft, Hamburg	1940	1942-43	26
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deutsche Werft, Hamburg	1940	1943-45	15
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deutsche Werft, Hamburg	1940	--		3
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deutsche Werft, Hamburg	1940	1944			24
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deschimag Seebeck, Wesermunde	1940	1944			6
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXC/40	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1944			24
Template:GS	IXD1	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1942	1
Template:GS	IXD1	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1942	1
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXD2	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1942-45	3
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXD2	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1942-45	2
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXD2	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1942-45	5
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXD2	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1942-45	6
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXD2	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1942-45	6
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXD2	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1942-45	6
Template:GS	IXD/42	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1945	1
Template:GS	IXD/42	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	--		1
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXD/42	Deschimag AG Weser, Bremen	1940	1944			2
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXD/42	--	1940	1944			2
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXD/42	--	1940	1944			6
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXD/42	--	1940	1944			12
Template:GS - Template:GS	IXD/42	--	--	--
Totals					194	6	90