Late war Type VIIC’s & navigation lights

[NZSnowman]

Dougie, I have a question about late war Type VIIC’s, did they still have the Side lights (navigation lights) on the tower?

[SG]

Simon, it looks like they did (or at least the batch U 1191/U 1210 from F. Schichau GmbH, Danzig, did).
U 1195

[dougie47]

Hi Simon and Stefano,

As Stefano has pointed out, the later VIICs all had the navigation lights. There were differences to the types used in earlier boats. Firstly, on the photo of U 1195 you can see a horizontal grip bar (which looks black in the photo) that is mounted on the side of the tower, directly below the channel which allowed light to shine forward. I've seen this grip bar on other late VIICs (including U 1105) in the same location.

On the early VIICs this grab rail was located on top of the spray deflector (not on the tower side).

The navigation light on the starboard side was quite different on late VIICs compared with early VIICs. I'm sure you are familiar with the style on early boats. But on the late war boats the area surrounding the navigation light was much bulkier, with the horizontal surface at the top extending much farther forward.

Cheers,

Dougie

[NZSnowman]

Thanks, Stefano & Dougie.

Does anyone have any good pictures of the late war Type VIIC’s side lights (navigation lights) on the tower?

[SG]

I got a few. I'll send them to your email address asap.

[dougie47]

Hi Simon and Stefano,
 
Here are some I scanned in.
 

Above is U 1192. Note the light is below the FuMO box and there is a grip bar just ahead.
 

Above is U 249. It is a bit dark to see it clearly but note how this is different from U 1192 in that this one has a sort of hood ahead of the FuMO box.
 

Next we come to the other side. Above is U 778 showing the channel which allowed light to shine forward. What is really noticeable here is the armoured plate above the spray deflector.
 

Above is U 960. This frontal view shows how the lights and their surroundings were quite bulged.
 

Above shows the starboard side of U 1023. This one is quite good because it shows the shape of the housing and the channel ahead of the light itself. If you compare this one with early VIICs you should see quite a difference.
 
Cheers,
 
Dougie
 

[SG]

Great close-ups and a most detailed and complete study, as always. Congrats and thank you!

[NZSnowman]

Dougie, a big thanks!

A lot better than anything I had.

Will post my drawings in a few days.

[NZSnowman]

Starboard Navigation Light

I base the 3-D model on original German measurement and wartime photographs.

Model upload to https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/collection.html?id=u4a2facb6-00be-441c-a5e5-ffd7a3c3549d

[dougie47]

Great work Simon.

Cheers,

Dougie

[SG]

Looking Great! Keep it up!

[NZSnowman]

I did a little more research on the side navigation lights, here the updated light fixtures. This layout of the glass fixtures suggests that while at sea the glass fixtures were rotated 90 degrees so the glass not showing.

[NZSnowman]

I have uploaded the new 3-D model of the starboard side navigation light.

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/collection.html?id=u4a2facb6-00be-441c-a5e5-ffd7a3c3549d

[Roel]

Great models!! This is amazing work:)