In 1930 engineers just had to recover the blueprints and start from this. The cancelled Type UG in particular was its main inspiration. The Type VII was based on earlier designs, which in fact went back to the Type UB III of late WWI. Their range was 13,300 to 16,700 km, they can dive to 50m, had five TTs, one or two 10.5 cm guns, could run at 13,5 knots in surface and 7,5 knots submerged. The Type UB-III of WWI (1917) was also the most prolific (90 boats built) and successful of German U-Boats in WW1. The Type-VII therefore had to be relatively small to be be built en masse before meeting this tonnage ceiling. In addition, the new submarine could not succeed a tonnage requirement set by England, which stated that the German Kriegsmarine could have 35% of the tonnage of the Royal Navy (1930 London treaty). Genesis of the perfect U-Boat Designs for the Type-VIIA went back as early as 1933, and it was chosen for production based on the following specs, in range, armament, ease of manufacture, and required manpower. Last Type-VII decommissioned in 1970s Spain (See Spanish Submarines). With that being said, the Type-VII was one of the best submarines of World War 2, and one of the most prolific, comparing the 700 boats to the 1,156 grand total of U-Boats built by Germany during the war. They were improved from existing 1930s designs and found it seems the perfect formula, reflected in their weight in the war and extensive production: With more than 700 completed for over 1100 laid down, they are still today the largest submarine production type in history. While they did have their faults, German U-Boats and the Type-VII in particular didn’t have near the amount of problems displayed by tanks such as the "big cats", some guns such as the G-41 and G-43, and planes such as the ME-163. Type-VII U-Boats (1933) Germany (1933), About 700 subs A Massive Improvement of U-Boat designs If German tanks, aircraft and small arms from the German manufacturing complex had won a considerable and fearsome reputation in WW2, German submarines truly reached the world stage as the epitome of the genre, with just the perfect balance of engineering, simplicity, and ease of manufacture.
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