Hello Mr. Tore,
I took a very close look at the bow and stern gauges and disks on U-995
The bow gauge has a range of 25 - 0 - 35, and the disk range is 30 - 0 - 40
The stern gauge has a range of 30 - 0 - 30, and the disk range is 35 - 0 - (35) (possibly -can't see it)
It looks like the gauges agree with the disks, I believe that a manual control could get a greater degree of angle like the manual states for the rudder (33 vs 35 when manually driven).
I have come to the conclusion that the manual would be correct for most Type VIIC U-Boats, and U-996's configuration is correct as well. The manual covers VII's built by 19.9.40. U-995 a type VIIV/42 and was commissioned on 19.9.43, so what changed? All the data seems to match up between the VIIC and the VIIC/42 and there seems to be no difference in length, bean, weight, etc,...
Could the Atlantic Bow have caused a redesign change in the dive plane angles? Did the VIIC/41 or any later VIIC with the Atlantic bow require a greater forward dive angle to get the wider bow to submerge, and match the Type VIIC dive characteristics with the narrower bow?
What do you think?
Regards,
Don_