Type X (XB) U-boats were a special type of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

(

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

). Although intended as long-range mine-layers, they were later used as long-range

merchant submarine A merchant submarine is a type of submarine intended for trade, and being without armaments, it is not considered a warship like most other types of submarines. The intended use would be blockade running, or to dive under Arctic ice. Strictly ...

s, a task they shared with the Type IXD and Italian ''Romolo''-class submarines.

History

The Type X was originally designed specifically to accommodate the newly developed ''Schachtmine A'' (SMA) moored mine.Williamson (2005), p. 53. The initial design provided dry storage for the mines, which needed their detonators to be individually adjusted before launch; this submarine was projected to have displaced up to 2,500 tonnes.Rössler (2001), p. 110. A further variant, the Type XA was projected, which would have supplemented the main mine chamber with extra mine shafts in the saddle tanks. Neither type entered production. A total of eight Type XB boats were produced, which replaced the mine chamber of the projected Type XA with six vertical wet storage shafts in the forward section of the hull.Williamson (2005), p. 54. Up to 18 mines could be carried in these shafts, with an additional 48 mines in a series of 12 shafts set into the saddle tanks on each side. They only had two torpedo tubes, both at the stern. When used as cargo-carrying submarines they carried freight containers in the mine shafts (or had the freight containers welded on top of the lateral shafts, preventing their use for mines). The first Type XB was launched in May 1941. At 2,710 tonnes submerged and fully loaded, they were the largest German U-boats ever built, and they had to sacrifice diving speed and agility.

Service history

Six of the eight boats built were sunk during the war (four with all hands) but two survived

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. One survivor was , which surrendered to US Navy ships on 14 May 1945 while en route for Japan with a cargo that included 560 kg

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, two

Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed (German for "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ("Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messersc ...

jet fighters, and 10 jet engines. The other type XB to survive was which reached Batavia (present-day Jakarta) in December 1944 with a cargo including dismantled

V-2 rocket The V2 (), with the technical name ''Aggregat (rocket family), Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range missile guidance, guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the S ...

s for Japan. Following Germany's surrender, ''U-219'' was seized by the Japanese at Batavia on 8 May 1945 and on 15 July 1945 was placed into service with the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

as ''I-505''.

List of Type X submarines

There were eight Type X submarines commissioned. * * * * * * * *

Losses

Six Type XBs were lost to various causes. * was last heard of on 6 October 1942 in the North Atlantic and was presumed sunk. * was sunk on 7 August 1943 in the North Atlantic by aircraft from . * was sunk on 12 June 1943 near the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

by aircraft from . Sixteen crew survived. * was sunk on 24 June 1943 in the

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by ramming and depth charges from . * was sunk on 28 October 1943 in the North Atlantic by aircraft from . * was sunk on 5 July 1944 southeast of

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

s and . There were 29 survivors.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Type 010 Submarine classes World War II submarines of Germany German Type 010