Net Cutters, Breakwaters and Wind deflector
Combinations on popular boats
Net cutters = nc, breakwaters = bw, wind deflector = wd
U 96 –
1st Aug 1940 nc-yes bw-yes wd-no
Apr-May 1941 nc-yes bw-no wd-yes
27th Oct 1941 nc-no bw-no wd-yes
Note that the combination featured on U 96 in April and May 1941 (4th patrol) was quite unusual.
Net cutters (parts 111 to 114)
Two net cutters were present at the bow of the very earliest VIICs - one on the deck and the other below the waterline on the stem. On 1st March 1941 the order remove the net cutters was issued. As a result, most of the net cutters were removed in March and April 1941.
However, the net cutters were not removed from all boats in this period. For example, U 96 still had net cutters when arriving back from patrol on the 22nd May 1941.
Some or all of the earliest VIICs built at Germaniawerft (U 69 to U 72, and U 93 to U 98) had the lower net cutters when launched, but not the S-G.
Breakwaters (parts 115 & 116)
The earliest VIICs all had breakwaters fitted to the top of the hull casing to protect the 88mm deck gun crews from waves. It appears that the process of removing the breakwaters usually occurred during the April/May/June 1941 period. Prior to this the breakwaters were generally present, while after this they were generally absent.
A pattern of small, round free-flooding holes usually replaced the breakwaters. This was intended to help the boat dive slightly faster, but any improvement must have been marginal. Some boats, and indeed all of the late war VIICs and VIIC/41s, did not have any holes in this area at all.
Wind deflector (parts 121 or 124)
Another modification was the wind deflector. Fitted around the outside edge of the top of the tower, this flange was intended to block some of the wind and spray that hit the lookouts’ faces. Note that this wind defector is not to be confused with the spray defector that featured halfway up the tower on every VIIC.
The earliest VIICs did not have the wind deflector. The process of fitting this feature seems to have been between December 1940 and December 1941 or so – a far greater time period than the process of removing the net cutters or breakwaters. One of the first boats to be fitted with this feature was U 69: it was present during the boat’s commissioning ceremony on the 2nd November 1940. Other early examples of boats with the wind deflector are U 651 (December 1940), U 71 or U 72 (January 1941), U 69 (March 1941) and U 96 (April 1941). But most boats during this period did not have this feature. It began to appear very slowly throughout the course of 1941.
copyright by Dougie Martindale
Combinations on popular boats
Net cutters = nc, breakwaters = bw, wind deflector = wd
U 96 –
1st Aug 1940 nc-yes bw-yes wd-no
Apr-May 1941 nc-yes bw-no wd-yes
27th Oct 1941 nc-no bw-no wd-yes
Note that the combination featured on U 96 in April and May 1941 (4th patrol) was quite unusual.
Net cutters (parts 111 to 114)
Two net cutters were present at the bow of the very earliest VIICs - one on the deck and the other below the waterline on the stem. On 1st March 1941 the order remove the net cutters was issued. As a result, most of the net cutters were removed in March and April 1941.
However, the net cutters were not removed from all boats in this period. For example, U 96 still had net cutters when arriving back from patrol on the 22nd May 1941.
Some or all of the earliest VIICs built at Germaniawerft (U 69 to U 72, and U 93 to U 98) had the lower net cutters when launched, but not the S-G.
Breakwaters (parts 115 & 116)
The earliest VIICs all had breakwaters fitted to the top of the hull casing to protect the 88mm deck gun crews from waves. It appears that the process of removing the breakwaters usually occurred during the April/May/June 1941 period. Prior to this the breakwaters were generally present, while after this they were generally absent.
A pattern of small, round free-flooding holes usually replaced the breakwaters. This was intended to help the boat dive slightly faster, but any improvement must have been marginal. Some boats, and indeed all of the late war VIICs and VIIC/41s, did not have any holes in this area at all.
Wind deflector (parts 121 or 124)
Another modification was the wind deflector. Fitted around the outside edge of the top of the tower, this flange was intended to block some of the wind and spray that hit the lookouts’ faces. Note that this wind defector is not to be confused with the spray defector that featured halfway up the tower on every VIIC.
The earliest VIICs did not have the wind deflector. The process of fitting this feature seems to have been between December 1940 and December 1941 or so – a far greater time period than the process of removing the net cutters or breakwaters. One of the first boats to be fitted with this feature was U 69: it was present during the boat’s commissioning ceremony on the 2nd November 1940. Other early examples of boats with the wind deflector are U 651 (December 1940), U 71 or U 72 (January 1941), U 69 (March 1941) and U 96 (April 1941). But most boats during this period did not have this feature. It began to appear very slowly throughout the course of 1941.
copyright by Dougie Martindale
