Type VII submarine
U-995 Type VIIC/41 at the Laboe Naval Memorial near Kiel | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Type VII |
| Builders | |
| Operators | |
| Preceded by | Type UB III, Vetehinen class |
| Succeeded by | Type XXI (Late-war replacement) |
| Subclasses |
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| Cost | 4,189,000 ℛ︁ℳ︁ |
| In commission | 1936 – 1970 |
| Completed | 704 |
| Preserved | 1 |
| General characteristics (Type VIIC) | |
| Displacement | |
| Length |
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| Beam |
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| Draft | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
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| Range | |
| Test depth |
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| Complement | 44–52 officers & ratings |
| Armament |
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The Type VII was a class of medium attack U-boats built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine from 1935 to 1945. Designed for attacking the North Atlantic convoy lanes, they formed the backbone ot the German effort in the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II. The Type VII came in several variants, apart from four types Type VIIA, Type VIIB, Type VIIC and Type VIIC/41, which were each time improvements of the previous version, there was also a mine laying version Type VIID and a torpedo supply U-boat Type VIIF.
704 Type VII U-boats were built by the end of the war. The lone surviving example, U-995, is on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial located in Laboe, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
At the start of the Second World War the Type VII class was – together with the British U, S and T class and Dutch O 21 class – one of the most advanced submarine classes in service.