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55-623: They were the first submarines designed to operate primarily submerged, rather than spending most of their time as surface ships that could submerge for brief periods as a means of escaping detection. They incorporated many batteries to increase the time they could spend submerged, to as much as several days, and they only needed to surface to periscope depth for recharging via a snorkel . The design included many general improvements as well: much greater underwater speed by an improved hull design, greatly improved diving times, power-assisted torpedo reloading and greatly improved crew accommodations. However,

110-448: A carrier strike group may have an individual commander in charge of each separate warfare element. Western naval career advancement for unrestricted line officers also follow this model: a career line officer in a command-oriented track will specialize, train, and be billeted into distinct surface, naval aviation, or subsurface warfare posts. Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) is an important role for surface combatants, as submarines present

165-413: A flagship hosting dedicated command elements to conduct tactical operations within each of these areas. In smaller surface action groups (i.e. a single or a few task elements, such as a lone Aegis-equipped destroyer or cruisers on patrol), the same combatant commander may be responsible for managing all three areas as part of his duty in carrying out his vessel's mission, while larger formations such as

220-468: A lesser maximum diving depth than earlier U-boat designs. It was planned that final assembly of Type XXI boats would eventually be carried out in the Valentin submarine pens , a massive, bomb–hardened concrete bunker built at the small port of Farge , near Bremen. The pens were constructed between 1943 and 1945, using about 10,000 concentration camp prisoners and prisoners of war as forced labour. The facility

275-694: A practice attack before leaving the scene undetected. During 1957, U-2540 , which had been scuttled at the end of the war, was raised and refitted as research vessel Wilhelm Bauer of the Bundesmarine . It was operated by both military and civilian crews for research purposes until 1982. During 1984, it was made available for display to the public by the Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum (German Maritime Museum) in Bremerhaven , Germany. U-2518 became French submarine  Roland Morillot . It

330-599: A result, of 118 Type XXIs constructed, only four were fit for combat before the Second World War ended in Europe. Of these, only two conducted combat patrols and neither sank any Allied ships. Post-war assessments by the US Navy and British Royal Navy also found that the completed submarines had poor structural integrity due to the manufacturing problems. This rendered the submarines highly vulnerable to depth charges , and gave them

385-502: A serious threat to navies and civilian vessels. Many surface combatants carry weapons and sensors to engage submarines, but increasingly an on-board helicopter is used as the primary anti-submarine asset. Anti-surface warfare (attacking enemy ships) is typically carried out using anti-ship missiles , often from the ship but also from helicopters - particularly against small ships such as fast attack craft . Naval guns may also be used in an anti-surface role. Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW)

440-436: A subset of naval warships which are designed for warfare on the surface of the water, with their own weapons and armed forces. They are generally ships built to fight other ships, submarines, aircraft or land targets, and can carry out several other missions including counter-narcotics operations and maritime interdiction . Their primary purpose is to engage space, air, surface, and submerged targets with weapons deployed from

495-518: A very sensitive passive sonar for the time, housed in the "chin" of the hull. The Type XXIs also had better facilities than previous U-boat classes, with much roomier crew berths, and a freezer to prevent food spoilage. The increased capacity allowed for a crew of 57. A post-war assessment of the Type XXI by the United States Navy concluded that while the design had some admirable features, it

550-513: Is 162 metres (531 ft 6 in) in length making it the second longest private yacht in the world. B+V still administers the Elbe 17 dry dock at Hamburg. The semi-submersible drilling rig "Chris Chenery" was constructed in 1974 for The Offshore Co. of Houston, USA. When Thyssen AG and Krupp merged in 1999, B+V became a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. In December 2001, Blohm+Voss, Nordseewerke and Friedrich Lurssen Werft were awarded

605-567: Is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battleship Bismarck . In the 1930s, its owners established the Hamburger Flugzeugbau aircraft manufacturer which, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, adopted the name of its parent company. Following a difficult period after

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660-569: Is typically defensive in nature, protecting the ship and other friendly ships against both aircraft and incoming missiles (which may be fired from aircraft, but also from other ships, submarines or land platforms). Some surface combatants are developing anti-ballistic missile and/or anti-satellite missile capabilities. Land attack takes two main forms: In the United States Navy , there are two divisions of surface combatant missions : Blohm %26 Voss Blohm+Voss ( B+V ), also written historically as Blohm & Voss , Blohm und Voß etc.,

715-558: The Fund for Compensation of Forced Laborers . Steinwerder was badly damaged during the bombing of Hamburg in World War II and at the end of it, shipbuilding was forbidden. In 1933 Blohm & Voss was suffering a financial crisis from lack of work. Its owners, brothers Rudolf and Walther Blohm, decided to diversify into aircraft manufacture, believing that there would soon be a market for all-metal, long-range flying boats , especially with

770-628: The Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program (GUPPY) improvements to the United States Gato , Balao , and Tench -class submarines, and the Soviet submarine projects designated Whiskey , Zulu , and Romeo by NATO . The Chinese-built Romeo-class submarines, and the subsequent Ming class , were based on Soviet blueprints. Surface ship Surface combatants (or surface ships or surface vessels ) are

825-493: The Thyssen Group . Even so, B&V would never regain its former size. In 1966 it took over neighbouring shipbuilder H. C. Stülcken Sohn . During the postwar years, B+V built oil rigs and developed a market for other offshore products such as support ships and pipelines. The company has also built ships for numerous commercial customers, including luxury yachts. Eclipse , built for Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich ,

880-633: The Atlantic Ocean. During November 1946 President Harry S. Truman visited U-2513 ; the submarine dived to 440 feet (130 m) with the President aboard. U-2513 was sunk as a target on 7 October 1951; U-3008 was sold for scrap on 15 September 1955. The only boat to survive intact is Wilhelm Bauer (ex- U-2540 ), at the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven. Records indicate that this sub

935-543: The City of Hamburg subsequently guaranteed it credit. By 1953 some 900 workers were back in employment. The building of new ships would later also be allowed again; the first ship built was the Wappen von Hamburg in 1955. During this period of resurrection the level of investment required meant that B&V moved out of private hands and became a publicly quoted company, 50% owned by Phoenix-Rheinrohr AG, itself soon to be consolidated into

990-586: The German state airline Deutsche Luft Hansa . They also felt that their experience with all-metal marine construction would prove an advantage. They formed the Hamburger Flugzeugbau that summer. Most of the aircraft built by HFB/B&V would in fact be other companies' designs and major subassemblies, contracted under license, including tens of thousands of aircraft each for Dornier , Heinkel , Junkers and Messerschmitt . Alongside its volume manufacturing

1045-464: The Second World War, the British continued to demolish the shipyards of Steinwerder. B&V, unable to restart shipbuilding work, all but ceased to exist for several years. In 1950, B&V created a new subsidiary company, Steinwerder Industrie AG, to manufacture machinery and boilers on the site. Its shipyard fortunes began to revive in 1952 when the new company was allowed to restart ship repair work and

1100-512: The Soviet Whiskey , American Tang , British Porpoise , and Swedish Hajen III classes, all based on the Type XXI design to some extent. The main features of the Type XXI were the hydrodynamically streamlined hull and conning tower and the large number of battery cells, roughly triple that of the Type VII submarine . This gave these boats great underwater range and dramatically reduced

1155-570: The Soviets had acquired several more Type XXI boats; a review by the U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee for the Joint Chiefs of Staff during January 1948 estimated the Soviet Navy then had 15 Type XXIs operational, could complete construction of 6 more within 2 months, and could build another 39 within a year and a half from prefabricated sections, since several factories producing Type XXI components and

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1210-497: The Type VIIC. The ability to outrun many surface ships while submerged, combined with improved dive times (also a product of the new hull form), made the Type XXI much more difficult to pursue and destroy. It also provided a sprint ability when positioning itself for an attack. Older boats had to surface to sprint into position. This often revealed a boat's location, especially after aircraft became available for convoy escort. The Type XXI

1265-634: The Yacht construction hull Project Opera, also called Coral Ocean, was transferred from Dock 17 to Dock 10 and both were tug to Berne, Germany to stay at least 2 years. The previous 146-m Project Sassi, which burned, remained only the engine section block, was part of the new Yacht Project Opera. Lürßen Dock 3 was transferred to Wilhelmshaven at Jade Yard. In Berne a Hall was extended. Mein Schiff 3 dock then in Dock 17, following by Aidacara and Aidamar, lasts cruise ships visiting

1320-399: The assembly yard at Danzig had been captured by the Soviets at the end of World War II. U-3538 — U-3557 (respectively TS-5 – TS-19 and TS-32 – TS-38 ) remained incomplete at Danzig and were scrapped or sunk during 1947. The four boats assigned by Potsdam were used in trials and tests until 1955, then scuttled or used for weapon testing between 1958 and 1973. The Type XXI design formed

1375-470: The basis for several Soviet design projects, Projects 611, 613, 614, 633, and 644. These became the submarine classes known by their NATO codes as Zulu , Whiskey and Romeo submarine classes. U-3017 was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS  N41 . It was used for tests until being scrapped during November 1949. The United States Navy acquired U-2513 and U-3008 , operating them both in

1430-490: The coast of Northern Ireland, where they were sunk during 1946 as part of Operation Deadlight . Both U-2511 and U-2506 were found by nautical archaeologist Innes McCartney during his Operation Deadlight expeditions between 2001 and 2003. Both were found to be in good condition. In April 2018 the wreck of U-3523 was found north of Skagen in Denmark. The Type XXI design directly influenced advanced post-war submarines,

1485-458: The company also maintained its own design office and workshops which continued to develop and build new types throughout the company's life. The first planes it produced were designated with the official RLM company code "Ha". The aircraft produced by Hamburger Flugzeugbau were still commonly associated with Blohm & Voss and this was causing confusion, so in September 1937 Hamburger Flugzeugbau

1540-431: The company had gained a reputation for quality and punctuality and was prospering. Initially, their products were steel-hulled sailing ships designed for long sea voyages. At that time steamships had a relatively short range, while many of the advantages of steel construction still applied to sailing ships as much as to steam. The company built its first steamship in 1900, while still continuing to build sailing ships until

1595-609: The contract to build the first five K130 fregatte MEKO . The first of them, Braunschweig , was built at Blohm+Voss, launched in April 2006 and commissioned in April 2008. Several problems with the equipment fit delayed commissioning, and the last was commissioned in 2013. In 2011 ThyssenKrupp agreed the sale of the Blohm+Voss civil shipbuilding division to British investment company STAR Capital Partners. The military division remained with ThyssenKrupp. In October 2016, regulatory approval

1650-536: The design was also flawed in many ways, with the submarines being mechanically unreliable and, according to post-war analysis, vulnerable to combat damage. The Type XXI submarines were also rushed into production before design work was complete, and the inexperienced facilities which constructed the boats were unable to meet necessary quality standards. After the war, several navies obtained Type XXIs and operated them for decades in various roles, while large navies introduced new submarine designs based on them. These include

1705-566: The dock. According to Hamburger Morgen Post Newspaper Interview and Meeting on 30 September 2021 and repeated at Hamburger Abendblatt, the workforce were advised that Lürssen would not refit to cruise ships, except the Hapag-Lloyd and P&O ones, an also company of Hamburg, and merchant ships like tankers and container ships in Hamburg anymore. The new building department was dissolved. All six floating docks were in review. The repair division

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1760-451: The inmate overseers take a tougher line. Work performance is highly satisfactory. Productivity is higher than with the same number of German workers because work hours are longer and absenteeism is lower. . . . The gentlemen are of the opinion that the conditions sound harsher than they actually are. Rudolf Blohm was present during this visit. A memorial stands on the site of the camp and the company continues to pay an undisclosed amount to

1815-601: The largest aircraft built by any of the Axis forces . Other notable types include the asymmetric BV 141 , which was built in moderate numbers but did not enter production. At the end of the war, aircraft production was shut down. Hamburger Flugzeugbau GmBH (HFB) re-emerged in 1956, still under the ownership of Walther Blohm but no longer connected to B+V. It reopened the former B+V aircraft factory at Finkenwerder and subsequently underwent various further changes of ownership and company name, eventually becoming part of Airbus . After

1870-581: The late 1930s. When Hermann Blohm died, his two sons Rudolf Blohm  [ de ] and Walther Blohm  [ de ] took over. Ernst Voss left soon afterwards. By this time the company was in financial crisis, so the Blohm brothers diversified into aircraft, setting up the Hamburger Flugzeugbau (see below) in the summer of 1933. With the rise of the Nazi Party to power in 1933, Germany began to rearm and both companies became increasingly involved in

1925-619: The main contractor in the production of the vessels, distributed its work between the two sites at Wolgast and B+V Hamburg to build only two, the F265 in 2021 and F266 in 2022. The contract was worth around 2 billion euros. On 25 July 2019, Peter Lürßen invested €20 million in Yard. The Dock 10 was covered with a 200-m-long and 50-m-high roof by a cost of €13 million. The mount of Steel Pillar above Dock's Walls started in October 2020. On 29 April 2021

1980-439: The position of open hatches and dug down to them to allow the removal of artifacts. The wrecks now lie beneath a car park (parking lot), making them inaccessible. U-2513 lies in 213 feet (65 m) of water 70 nautical miles (130 km) west of Key West , Florida. The boat has been visited by divers, but the depth makes this very difficult and the site is considered suitable for only advanced divers. Four other boats lie off

2035-665: The programme. The shipyard built both civilian craft and warships for the government, including the battleship Bismarck , before manufacturing U-boats in quantity. In 1944 a subcamp of Neuengamme concentration camp was set up at the company's shipyard in Hamburg-Steinwerder . It supplied labour to the company from July 1944 to April 1945. A report dated 29 August states: 500 foreign female concentration camp prisoners, political, and criminal. Adjacent barracks camp, 11 guards, 17,000 m barbed wire, 380 Volts, tripwire. . . . The German foremen should be replaced by prisoners because

2090-520: The ship itself, rather than by crewed carried craft. Surface ships include cruisers , destroyers , frigates , and corvettes , and several outdated types including battleships and battlecruisers . The category does not include aircraft carriers , amphibious assault ships , and mine hunters , as these generally do not use on board weapons system (i.e. aircraft carriers generally only attack with their aircraft, and mine hunters are not primarily combat vessels). However, some warships combine aspects of

2145-427: The shipyards. This new method allowed for a hypothetical construction time of less than six months per vessel, but in practice all the assembled U-boats were plagued with severe quality problems that required extensive post-production work and time to rectify. One of the reasons for these shortcomings was that sections were made by companies having little experience with shipbuilding, after a decision by Albert Speer . As

2200-535: The surface combatant and other roles, such as the Russian Kuznetsov -class aircraft carrier , which carries both aircraft and an array of conventional armament (the class is sometimes termed a "heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser"). Modern naval warfare is divided into three operational areas: anti-surface warfare (ASUW), anti-air warfare (AAW), and anti-submarine warfare (ASW). The current canonical combined arms naval task force or task group centers around

2255-477: The time spent on or near the surface. They could travel submerged at about 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) for about 75 hours before recharging batteries, which took less than five hours using the snorkel due to the new super-charged diesel engines. Being designed primarily for submerged use, the Type XXI's maximum surface speed (15.6 knots) was lower than that of the Type IX (18.2 knots) but its submerged speed

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2310-475: The war, B+V was revived, changing ownership among several owners, as Thyssen Group and Star Capital. In 2016, it became a subsidiary of Lürssen and continues to supply both the military and civilian markets. It serves two areas – new construction of warships as NVL B.V. & Co. KG, and new construction and refitting of megayachts . The company has been in operation, building ships and other large machinery, almost continuously for 147 years. Blohm & Voss

2365-623: Was 90% completed when, during March 1945, it was heavily damaged by Allied bombing with Grand Slam "earthquake" bombs and abandoned. A few weeks later the area was captured by the British Army. Due to the combination of design and construction problems, historian Clay Blair judged that "the XXI could not have made a big difference in the Battle of the Atlantic . The FuMB Ant 3 Bali radar detector and antenna

2420-451: Was also equipped with a pair of electric "creep motors" for silent running. The Type XXI was equipped with six bow torpedo tubes (instead of the more common four in German submarines) and carried 23 torpedoes. It featured an electric torpedo -reloading system that allowed all six bow torpedo tubes to be reloaded faster than a Type VIIC could reload one tube. The Type XXI could fire 18 torpedoes in less than 20 minutes. The class also featured

2475-486: Was founded on 5 April 1877 by Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss (or Voß) as a general partnership, to build steel-hulled ships. It established a shipyard on the island of Kuhwerder , near the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg , covering 15,000 m (160,000 sq ft) with 250 m (820 ft) of water frontage and three building berths, two suitable for ships of up to 100 m (330 ft) length. The company name

2530-566: Was given for Lürssen to acquire Blohm+Voss from STAR Capital Partners. In April 2017 the company dismissed 300 employees from which were 1000. In September 2017, the German Navy commissioned the construction of five K130 corvettes by a consortium of North German shipyards including ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, Blohm+Voss, and the German Naval Yards in Kiel . The Lürssen Group, which would be

2585-566: Was located on top of the snorkel head. The Type XXI boats were fitted with the FuMO 65 Hohentwiel U1 with the Type F432 D2 radar transmitter. U-2511 and U-3008 were the only Type XXIs used for war patrols, and neither sank any ships. The commander of U-2511 claimed the U-boat had a British cruiser in his sights on 4 May when news of the German cease-fire was received. He further claimed he made

2640-624: Was more than twice that of the Type IX (17.2 knots versus 7.7 knots) because they were equipped with much more powerful electric drive motors and had less drag. The Type XXI was also much quieter than the VIIC, making it more difficult to detect when submerged, and the design eliminated protruding components that had created drag in earlier models. The new, streamlined hull design allowed submerged speed of 17.2  kn (19.8  mph ; 31.9  km/h ), versus 7.6  kn (8.7  mph ; 14.1  km/h ) for

2695-413: Was not a success. Despite the around 20 million euros invested in modern shipyard technology, the subletting of many halls and the shrinkage to only around a third of the used shipyard area, the costs were still too high and is not yet fit for the future. The location is too expensive compared to other shipyards, so structural measures and cost adjustments were necessary. Blohm & Voss was established in

2750-608: Was renamed Abteilung Flugzeugbau der Schiffswerft Blohm & Voss and the RLM changed its company code to "BV". Its most significant designs were flying boats , mainly used by the Luftwaffe for maritime patrol and reconnaissance. Most numerous was the BV 138 Seedrache (initiated as the Ha 138), a twin-boom trimotor , while the BV 222 Wiking was much larger. Largest of all was the BV 238 prototype,

2805-655: Was scuttled by her crew in 1945, salvaged in 1957 and refurbished for use by the West German Bundesmarine until retirement in 1982. She was then modified to appear in wartime configuration for exhibition purposes. The wrecks of several Type XXI boats are known to exist. During 1985, it was discovered that the partially scrapped remains of U-2505 , U-3004 , and U-3506 were still in the partially demolished "Elbe II" U-boat bunker in Hamburg . The bunker has since been filled in with gravel, although even that did not initially deter many souvenir hunters who measured

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2860-400: Was seriously flawed. The submarines' engines were underpowered, which limited the surface speed and increased the time required to charge the batteries. The hydraulic system was unduly complex, and its main elements were located outside the pressure hull. This made the system highly vulnerable to corrosion and damage. The snorkel was also badly designed, and difficult to use in practice. This

2915-425: Was shown with the ampersand , as B&V, until 1955. Shipbuilding was at that time dominated by the British, with even German customers preferring to buy from them. Initial business was confined to ship repairs, although B&V managed to build and later sell the three-masted barque National . Eventually the first new-build order arrived for the small cargo paddle-steamer Burg , and the business took off. By 1882,

2970-404: Was the first U-boat to be constructed of modular components to allow for the manufacture of the various components in different factories and subsequent assembly at the shipyard. Between 1943 and 1945, 118 boats were assembled by Blohm & Voss of Hamburg , AG Weser of Bremen and Schichau-Werke of Danzig . Each hull was constructed from nine prefabricated sections with final assembly at

3025-637: Was used for active service during the Suez Crisis in 1956, and remained in commission until 1967. It was scrapped in 1969. Four Type XXI boats were assigned to the USSR by the Potsdam Agreement ; these were U-2529 , U-3035 , U-3041 , and U-3515 , which were commissioned into the Soviet Navy as B-27 , B-28 , B-29 , and B-30 (later B-100 ) respectively. However, Western intelligence believed

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