Type IX submarine
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The Type IX U-boat was designed by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine in 1935 and 1936 as a large ocean-going submarine for sustained operations far from the home support facilities. It was derived from the Type IA and appeared in various sub-types.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Efn
Type IXs had six torpedo tubes; four at the bow and two at the stern. They carried six reloads internally and ten spare torpedoes externally in pressure-tight containers. Type IX boats could also be fitted for mine operations; as mine-layers they could carry 44 TMA or 60 TMB mines.Template:Sfn
Secondary armament was provided by one [[10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun|Template:Convert deck gun]] with 180 rounds. Anti-aircraft armament differed throughout the war.
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. In order to speed up construction, the existing Type I design was modified to fulfill the extra requirements. To improve speed, a more powerful diesel engine was installed. The upper deck was widened so that ten spare torpedoes could be stored below in water-tight containers.Template:Sfn
Subclasses
Type IXA
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".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
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".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 a identical to the Type IXA, except for a wider outer hull,Template:Sfn which increased fuel storage to Template:Cvt.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. A further eight Type IXB were ordered on 24 May 1938 and a ninth was ordered on 9 August.Template:Sfn A total of fourteen Type IXB was ordered from DeSchiMAG AG Weser in Bremen. These U-boats were commissioned in 1939-40. 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 omitted the control room periscope leaving the boats with two tower scopes.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.[1]Template:Sfn
Type IXC/40
Type IXC/40 was an improved Type IXC with slightly increased range and some were commissioned with a schnelltauchback that made diving easier and faster .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 1942-44.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.[2]Template: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:Convert.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 Template:Convert Germaniawerft F46 diesel engines.Template:Sfn As a consequence top speed dropped to Template:Convert.Template:Sfn In their new role they could transport 252 tonnes of cargo.Template:Sfn
Type IXD2 and IXD/42
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".Apart from the two standard MAN M9V40/46 diesel engine totalling Template:Convert, the Type IXD2 had two extra six-cylinder, four-stroke MWM RS34S diesel generators totalling Template:Convert for economical cruising.Template:SfnThe IXD2 had a range of Template:Convert at Template:ConvertTemplate:Sfn and Template:Convert Template:Convert. 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 canister 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
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
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
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Further reading
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Template:German Type IX submarines Template:Uboat Template:Military navigation Template:French submarine classes after 1945