Hard to believe

[Guest]

Just been looking at 1/72

Just been looking at 1/72 length vs beam for a few similar classed subs

Gato 52" - 4.5"
VII 36.7" - 3.4"
IX 42" - 3.6"
Brit T Class 46" 4.25"

Foxtrot 50" - 4.1" - Gato is bigger than the Foxtrot !!

However the Lindberg Japanese C1 / C3 will be 58.5" - 5" what a monster

[casey thrower]

I've never been too crazy

I've never been too crazy about Lindberg's detail of their kits. Although their PT-109 looked good.

http://www.lindberg-models.com/water_model70817.html

http://www.lindberg-models.com/water_model70818.html

[tabledancer]

Another reason for the difference

Another reason for the difference in size was the Gato had 4 engines and the Type VII had 2.


TD

[hakkikt]

As I understand it, the

As I understand it, the basic reason for the difference in size was different requirements for range.

The Gato was meant for the much longer distances in the Pacific, so it had to carry more fuel. More fuel means a larger boat, which translates to bigger (or more) engines to drive it, which translates to an even larger boat. Now that you have a large boat anyway, you can fit (comparatively) good living space and 6+4 torpedo tubes in it.

Both the VII and the Gato were well adapted to their environment. The VII with its shorter range and smaller torpedo load would not have been very useful in the Pacific, while the Gato with its much longer diving time would not have lasted long against Allied anti-sub measures in the Atlantic.

-Harald

[jodyae52]

U-Boat Smells

Concerning the smells the young germans were exposed to on a U-boat; I am sure over the course of the patrol they got used to it. I grew up in Seattle Washington, and I remember working at the fish cannery on pier 47 during the summer...nothing but fish guts rotting in the hot sun, or fish slime everywhere, the smells were horrendous! After awhile we didn't smell anything, but everybody else could smell us when we got home. After each season we had to throw our clothes away, you couldn't wash the smell out!