VIIC "On the Ways"

[SG]

yep, much better!

[TopherVIIC]

Gentlemen,
Looking at references, and I came across a similarity of two flat sheet metal mounts - one on a flimsy bracket on the Torpedo Room side of D.Spt 63, on the Bb side of the hatch. The other on a flimsy looking bracket mounted between D.Spt 8-9 in the aft torpedo room, just aft of the emergency steerage column.
There is nothing on these empty plates at the moment, but it looks to me as if they once held the same, or quite similar round things.
My first guess - was they were compass repeater mounts.

There is one here:
http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-570Photo4.htm


Something that size could easily fit on those mounting plates.
BUT. the U-570 ONI report states that:"There were six (6) repeaters located in the ship.  Two were on the bridge, one in the conning tower, two in the control room and one in the sound room.  Repeaters are self synchronizing.  All repeaters were provided with 00 - 90 verniers.  In addition, the two that were located on the bridge, which were pressure proof (without covers), had in addition to the azimuth and vernier scales an indicator which showed ships heading in three digit numbers.  These indicators were at the centers of the repeaters.  Only one switch must be closed to cut in a repeater."


That does not match my proposed idea. :-(


Idea#2: depth indication? Both would be useful near emergency steering, the aft torpedo room, and in the forward torpedo room.
Deep-diving Buordon-tube type depth gauge (One in control room had been sabotaged but one in the forward torpedo room was graduated to 200 meters)."

Just thoughts
Christopher

[SnakeDoc]

Hi Christopher


Good question.
According to the gyro-compmass repeater - on the page 73, section: compass installation, paragraph: a) gyro compass installation (http://uboatarchive.net/Manual.htm) is said, that one of two control room repeaters were moved to the aft torpedo room, if there were necessity to use emergency, manual drive of the main rudder. In control room were two repeaters - one near the rudder station (at forward bulkhead), and one near the navigator table (wall type) (both are missing in U-995). I think that the wall type was fixed mounted, and the helmsman's was moveable:
http://uboatarchive.net/U-570Photo18.htm
It doesn't match to the mounting you marked in the aft torpedo room.


I like the guess, these plates are for the depth meters - with one exception - the meter in the forward torpedo room seems for me to be located to much aft. To indicate the depth, at which the bow part of the boat is, it had to have the inlet somewhere near the torpedo tubes. In other case, there had to be line leading through the whole torpedo room, or there had to be pressure hull opening near the torpedo room aft bulkhead (I don't know about anything like that in that area).
I have assumed, that depth gauge in forward torpedo room was located as on attached photos, but if so, I can not figure out, what was in the place marked by  Christopher.
--
Regards
Maciek

[tore]

I agree it is a possibly the mountings are for the depthgauges, that was my first thougth and I have been looking for evidence. Maciek know more than me about the torpedoneed for knowing the depth,but I am pretty sure there was a depthgauge both forward and aft.
Tore

[SnakeDoc]

I agree it is a possibly the mountings are for the depthgauges, that was my first thougth and I have been looking for evidence. Maciek know more than me about the torpedoneed for knowing the depth,but I am pretty sure there was a depthgauge both forward and aft.

Well, actually the depth was not needed for the torpedo launch/maintaince. The depth gauges in forward and aft rooms were needed because of diving differences for bow and stern when large trim angles (for bow orstern) occured. 





The above chart shows, that ie when the boat has 25

[tore]

Maciek
Yes it was quite a difference in the depth forward aft at a 20 degrees bow down dive. The most strange view was to look aft seeing the big main engines way up in "the air". Another aspect with having the depthgauges in the forward and aft sections was in case of emergency escape. The VIIC has as known 3 pressuretigth compartments forward, controlroom and aft all fitted with escapehatches. In an emergency the pressure hatchdoors to the controlroom shall be shut separating the compartments, voicepipes shut as well. For escapepurposes it is important to know the escapedepth.
Tore

[tore]

Maciek. Your white cover picture.
I cannot remember having seen this in my time. I`ll make a wild guess. It looks like a small fairly modern (1960 model) norwegian electric waterheater
poorly fitted ( terribly wired and piped ) on the bulkhead next to the officers heads. I think it migth be a chance that somebody who was shaving when Kaura (U-995) was reduced to a trainingsub used his innovation to install an electric hotwaterheater for the officers bathroom. Take it for what it is, a wild guess Maciek.
Tore

[SnakeDoc]

Hi

In control room were two repeaters - one near the rudder station (at forward bulkhead), and one near the navigator table (wall type) (both are missing in U-995). I think that the wall type was fixed mounted, and the helmsman's was moveable:
http://uboatarchive.net/U-570Photo18.htm
It doesn't match to the mounting you marked in the aft torpedo room.

I found the picture of the second, wall type repeater - and now I really do not know, which one could be moved to the aft toredo room, because both look detachable...
(one photo was taken on U-98, second - present view of the U-995)
--
Regards
Maciek

[TopherVIIC]

Tore has a point about the possibility of needing to know the depth of a compartment for emergency situations.
As a scuba diver, I know quite well that even only 60 feet of water between you and air is a lot of water, if you have limited air. The modern ideal is to rise only as fast as your slowest bubbles, but in an emergency situation, the actual panic impulse for a diver is to get to the surface as quickly as possible. That sort of panic can kill a person. If a boat were inclined at a steep angle, there could be several ATU differences in pressure from one end of a boat to the other, which could affect how much pressure is needed to open an escape hatch.
I also suppose there could be a situation where a boat was diving or surfacing and the torpedo compartments might need to know when it was exactly possible to open torpedo doors, but I cannot believe that the difference would be that far different and could not be read from the control room.
That round plate could be a mount for something as simple as a clock, too, I suppose.
Thanks for the ideas gents!
Christopher

[tore]

Christopher.
Rigth. The system worked like this. Each pressure compartment had an escapehatch. As can be seen each escapehatch had a "tube" protruding down in the compartment. In an escapesituation the " tube" could be extended further down in the compartment by either a canvas or sheetmetal exstension.
Then you flooded the compartment and compressed the compartmentair which collected in the upper part of the compartment. The people could breathe the air without any eqipment for a limited period when putting on the escape equipment. The first man escaping dived down to the end of the hatchtrunk and up in the watercolumn, deairated the trapped upper air and could easy open the escape hatch as the pressure was the same on both sides. The the rest followed through the water column. The lungs were filled with the subs compressed air and everybody were trained to whistle to let the air out while escapeing watching the trail of bubbles as Christopher said. The escape gear had even a "curtain" which you could pull out to brake the escapespeed. Yes you would like to know the depth in those cases and a depthgauge was installed but I cannot remember where.
Tore

[TopherVIIC]

Maciek,
If you compare the Sbd side of the metal wall in the aft of the fwd torpedo room -the one with the valves- the Bb side metal looks cut away. It is decidedly something that was removed. Drawings show that as being a storage locker. I can picture the emergency tools and maintenance equipment in there, but the Bb side is definitely altered.
Christopher.


Sorry Maciek - had a cat emergency and could not post pic right away.

[SnakeDoc]

Christopher

If you compare the Sbd side of the metal wall in the aft of the fwd torpedo room -the one with the valves- the Bb side metal looks cut away. It is decidedly something that was removed. Drawings show that as being a storage locker. I could see the emergency tools and maintenance equipment in there, but the Bb side is definitely altered.

Could you marked the parts you are talking about on the pictures?


--
Regards
Maciek

[tore]

Christopher.
Macieks picture of the red hand pump and "white cover" on port side shows pretty much how it looked like with a steel cupboard not going all the way to the floor . On the same place stb was a locker (wardrobecloset) for rain clothing. It may be the port closet was a stowage for hammocks but I`m not 100% sure.
Tore

[TopherVIIC]

Thanks Tore -
Here is another question:
Is the way that the angled deck plating is finished here the way it was on VIIC's and VIIC/41s, or is this a later addition for the KNM Kaura or U-995 post-war?
I need to build that section for my model, and was not sure if this is right. It looks like original decking. I notice that the Sbd side seems to have a cut out section, but the Bb side does not. What is that cut for?
Also, what is the device to the left of the green valve and flow-meter? It has a black painted shaft or pipe leading at an angle into the deck, and looks like it might be geared (it has lube points), but it looks like a pipe leads into it. It is not on the Bb side.
Christopher

[SnakeDoc]

Hi

Is the way that the angled deck plating is finished here the way it was on VIIC's and VIIC/41s, or is this a later addition for the KNM Kaura or U-995 post-war?

I believe, it is not original, but maybe Tore will confirm this.

I notice that the Sbd side seems to have a cut out section, but the Bb side does not. What is that cut for?

This is cut for the stb valve of the bridge-line connecting compensating tanks. See this discussion:
 http://models.rokket.biz/index.php?topic=106.msg8324#msg8324

Also, what is the device to the left of the green valve and flow-meter? It has a black painted shaft or pipe leading at an angle into the deck, and looks like it might be geared (it has lube points), but it looks like a pipe leads into it. It is not on the Bb side.

This is angle-gear for the shaft, which drove the forward diving planes, when the electric drive/control was damaged. The shaft was led on the stb side to the control room, to the diving planes control station - on your photo is cut because of the entrance. The other end was led below the deck plates, between the tubes, to the coupling (which was control by means of low compressed air) and then drove the diving planes.


--
Regards
Maciek