Design
The defining characteristic of the Type II was its tiny size. Known as the Einbaum ("dugout canoe"), it had the advantages over larger boats of the ability to work in shallow water, diving more quickly, and being more difficult to spot due to the low conning tower. However, it had a shallower maximum depth, short range, and cramped living conditions, and could carry few torpedoes.
The boat had a single hull, with no watertight compartments. There were three torpedo tubes forward (none aft), with space for another two torpedoes inside the pressure hull for reloads. A single 20 mm anti-aircraft gun was provided, but no deck gun was mounted.
Space inside was limited. The two spare torpedoes extended from just behind the torpedo tubes to just in front of the control room, and most of the 24-man crew lived in this forward area around the torpedoes, sharing 12 bunks. Four bunks were also provided aft of the engines for the engine room crew. Cooking and sanitary facilities were basic, and in this environment long patrols were very arduous.
Most Type IIs only saw operational service during the early years of the war, thereafter remaining in training bases. Six were stripped down to just a hull, transported by river and truck to Linz (on the Danube), and reassembled for use in the Black Sea against the Soviet Union.
In contrast to other German submarine types, few Type IIs were lost. This, of course, reflects their use as training boats, although accidents accounted for several vessels.
These boats were a first step towards re-armament, intended to provide Germany with experience in submarine construction and operation and lay the foundation for larger boats to build upon. Only one of these submarines survives to this day; the prototype CV-707, renamed Vesikko by the Finnish Navy which later bought it.
On February 3, 2008, The Telegraph reported that U-20 had been discovered by Selçuk Kolay, a Turkish marine engineer in 80 feet (24 m) of water off the coast of the Turkish city of Zonguldak. The paper also reported that Kolay knows where U-23 and U-19 are, scuttled in deeper water near U-20.
Read more about this topic: German Type II Submarine
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