The German Kriegsmarine first designed the Type VII submarine in 1934. With the climb to power of Adolf Hitler and his hatred of the Versailles Treaty the design began rolling off the drawing boards and into production. It initially was a derivative of former submarine designs from the First World War. As such its design was based on the concept of an Atlantic war being fought in the waters surrounding Germany, France and England. It had a range of only six thousand miles. This limitation proved to be a hindrance when the Second World War demanded ocean going capability.

The little craft was only six hundred twenty-six tons with an over-all length of about one hundred fortyy feet. The German steel manufacturers (Krupp and Thyssen) produced a high grade steel even the 1930s and the Type VIIA had a hull thickness of about three quarters of an inch. Further, internal frame spacing was short. The combination gave the boats a test depth of seven hundred twenty-two feet.

It had only five water-tight compartments. The forward room (Torpedoraum) had four tubes and bunks for about half the crew. The battery compartment (Batterieraum) accommodated the officers and some petty officers. It had space partitions of hard wood and bench upholstery of blue, plaid fabric. The control room (Zentrale) housed the planes stations, air and hydraulic manifolds, trim manifold, main steering station and periscopes. There was no conning tower of any size. Bridge access was from the control room aft of the periscopes. The engine room ( Diesel-Maschineraum) had two diesel engines which delivered 1600 horsepower each and two generators. Between the engine room and machinery room was a sound-isolating bulkhead, but it was not water-tight. The machinery space housed the propulsion motors, propulsion control equipment and most of the auxiliary machinery. The tiny after room had only stern plane and rudder gearing. On a few boats one tube was located aft, but it proved of little value.

Bow and stern planes were fixed, thus eliminating the need for a rigging motor. They were surrounded by guards similar to the Fleet Type submarine. Because the Type VII boats were designed to rest on the bottom as an evasion tool guards swung below the screws. This allowed the boat to take an initial up-angle when pulling off the bottom without damaging screws.

Much of the machinery was hand operated. For example steering and planes could be hand cranked through mechanical linkages. Flood valves and vents were all hand operated. Induction and engine exhaust valves were opened and shut by hand. Diving and surfacing was an all-hands evolution. Those not manning one of the hand operations when diving ran forward through the circular hatches to give the boat a bow-heavy attitude.

Although the battery was of good quality it was not large enough to give the boat much submerged stamina. A boat could remain submerged for about thirty hours at four knots, but on the half hour rate the boat could only make a maximum of ten knots. Without a snorkel the battery limitation meant that most of the time at sea a Type VII boat remained on the surface. It did so at night, but it became ever-more vulnerable to Allied ASW innovations.

The Type VIIA boats had no accommodation for showers or basins for washing. Hot-bunking was a rule with bunks for about half of the forty-four man crew. An extremely small galley provided one hot meal in a day which was a stew-like meal called "Eintoph". Without food refrigeration fruits and vegetables lasted a short time. Thereafter the crew ate sausage which hung like stalactites from every conceivable overhead space. This was accompanied by bread and coffee. The boat was intended for patrol durations of two to three weeks, but as the war extended these limitations meant the Type VII boat had to be redesigned.

The Type VIIB and C variations attempted to give the boats a longer range and slightly better crew accommodations. The original design provided for external saddle ballast tanks similar to the American Fleet Type submarine. The Type VIIC models were given added longitudinal external fuel tanks that gave the boats a strange patch-work appearance. The Type C also had a new cold-rolled steel pressure hull of slightly over an inch in thickness. This and its tight framing gave it a new test depth of seven hundred twenty-two feet. The super-saddle fuel tanks gave it a range of eight thousand two hundred miles. The initial wide turning radius was reduced by doubling the rudders and placing them directly behind the twin screws. The crew saw a slight improvement in conditions with a single shower and two wash basins. The eating routine remained the same with men eating at their stations or in their bunks. The shower was used for food storage and water restrictions meant it could be used as designed only when in port.

It was a Type C boat that went into Scapa Flow under Gunther Prien in U-47. Another was commanded by Otto Kretschmer in U-99 and another by Schepke in U-100, the three leading U-boat aces of the Second World War. The movie set for the film, "Das Boot" (pronounced boat as in English) was constructed from photographs taken of the only existing Type VII submarine. It is located at the naval museum in Laboe, Germany, about twenty miles north of Kiel.

The Type VII boat was the main-stay of the German undersea fleet during the Second World War. It was replaced by the Type XXI which was a completely new concept in submarines. Between the two were Type IXs which never were produced in quantity.

The one existing Type VII submarine in Laboe, Germany is in perfect condition. The accompanying pictures of its interior help to a submariner to visualize some of the boat's features which have appeared in so many newsreels.