Unidentified!

[greenman407]

In the first picture, back by the tail there looks like another thingy sticking up as well.

[greenman407]

I NEED TO KNOW! What is the purpose of these sensors on the front of the sail of this U Boat?

[satlite440]

my book typeVII u-boat by robert.c stern says that those are the "the double row array of dipoles witch made up the FuMO 29 naval radar known as the GEMA set after its manufacturer" it list u-83 andu-230 as haveing them. starting 1940 on IX boats primaraly and limited number of typeVII's80 cm wavelength pfr of 500 surface range 7.5 kilometers.15 kilometers against aircraft at 500 meters..these experements were considered to be less than sucsessful.the antenna proved to be too bulky and adversley affect the underwater performance of the uboat.so it was dropped

[greenman407]

Thanks satlite440. I knew somebody would know.

[greenman407]

Be careful with this one. What pre WW2 British sub is this? There was only one of them. It was launched in 1926 and used operationally in WW2 until being downgraded to a training sub.

[Kazzer]

Be careful with this one. What pre WW2 British sub is this? There was only one of them. It was launched in 1926 and used operationally in WW2 until being downgraded to a training sub.

It's not Swordfish or X1, yet it looks like an O Class. Unfortunately, there were lots of them, so that can't be it. Or is it? Maybe Oberon N21!

[Roddersuk]

She is definitely an O Class boat. I think perhaps Oberon, but, the limber holes appear to be different. The first 4 after the hawse are only 2 in my book of Submarines in Camera by Cmdr J.J. Tall and Paul Kemp. also the rear of the conning tower isn't cut down. That said, I suppose she could have had these A&A's during a mid life refit.
HMSm's Oberon, Otway and Oxley were the only new boats launched in 1926, the other 6 of the Class being launched in 1928 and 1929.
I think that the only boat forming a single Class was X1 and she was launched in 1923. Armed with 4 x 5.2" and 6 x 21" tt's she was at the time the most heavily armed RN submarine, but a design failure. Submarines are not supposed to exchange shots with surface ships. One hit and she would be unable to dive, as later was proved with other boats in WW2 that were hit by shells.

[greenman407]

Thanks Mike and Roddersuk for the input. My source is "100 Years Of Royal Navy submarines". In it it says that this boat is the "Oberon" of the "O" class, which only one was made in the first group, it had the bow that looked like an "L" class. The Oxley and the Otway were of the second group of the "O" class that incorperated design changes which always create confusion. The author of the book I will post Monday as the book is at work. I found this picture about a month ago with no Identifacation. So after consulting with my book , I was able to put a name to it. I like the Oxley and Otway because of the appearance of their Bulbous bow. It makes them very distinctive. Thats why I never considered that this boat could be an "O" class until I found this very same picture in my book.

[greenman407]

The picture that Mike posted must have been taken later in Oberons career as it appears to show a fuller bow on top. I have pictures of Otway and Oxley posted on the thread "British Submarine ID" on the bottom half of page 12 under "General Topics"

[Roddersuk]

Actually Greenman, Oberon, Otway and Oxley were Group 1, all 3 being launched in 1926. With Group 2, Odin, Olympus, Osiris,Oswald and Otus being launched in 1928 with Orpheus, the last of group 2 being launched in 1929.
My information is from Royal Navy Submarines 1901-1982 by M.P. Cocker and HM Submarines in Camera 1901-1996 by Tall & Kemp

[greenman407]

My book, 100 years of Royal navy submarines by Jeremy Flack provides the following charts. If you will notice in the First one Oberon was not in Group one but was considered the Prototype. Otway and Oxley were in group one. All the rest were in group two. Which one is correct, I dont know, I wasnt there. However the important thing, I think that you will agree is that the picture is of the Oberon.

[Kazzer]

Damn! I'm good! (Good grief! I sound like Merriman! ---- Arghhhh! ----- I want my mummy!)

[Roddersuk]

You may be interested to know that I was taken all over HMSm ODIN, the last one in the RN list, by an old friend who served in her, in 1980 whilst in dry dock in Portsmouth dockyard. He took me everywhere below decks especially in all of the engineering spaces. I have been in many different boats as a visitor, S and O classes, but this visit was the ultimate.
The most interesting part was where we sampled the draught beer in the Chief & PO's mess. They had a small fitted bar in a space with 12 bunks and 2 tables. Fresh 9 gallon kegs were stored up in the casing. I can imagine you former US Subbies drooling at the thought.

[greenman407]

Roddersuk, Any pics that you can provide of your adventures, please post them here for us. I just get pictures off the internet, You were actually there. We appreciate your input.

[greenman407]

I was watching "Das Boot" the other night and I noticed a curious thing. In rough weather as the water was hitting the Conning tower, the deflector fence on top of the forward part, allows water in a heavy spray to shoot up like a geyser. Why? Why didnt they seal it so NO water came up thru to drench the men? Even if they had to use a heavier piece of steel so that nothing would be damaged in heavy swells. Here is a picture of what I mean. You can see a small space left intentionally between the tower and the deflector.