THE TYPE XXI U-BOAT

   The publication we want to offer, is actually a popular German book which was first published in 1988 as "Ubootyp XXI" - it was later translated into English language. It contains much more supplementary images than any other release of the "Anatomy of the Ship" series does, more than a hundred, and includes ones taken of the boats being built and there are also many images taken afterwards. It is also very rich with the drawings of the boats - in facts, such drawings are re-drawn versions of the original shipyard plans issued for the new construction. In fact, the design of the submarines addressed in this publication was a very serious step in the whole history of the development of the underwater vehicles.

   We could say that the vessels in questions served as the prototypes of the today's conventionally powered submarines. The first boats of this design were launched in 1944. Such submarines featured a number of innovations  - for example, the schnorkel, allowing to run faster while being under the water, employing the diesel machines, and auto torpedo reload systems. Such novel design features helped these submarines in their service. The record of their brilliant service has also been provided in this publication.