Biba one man submarine.

[wonwinglo]

Biber one man submarine.

Just been watching one of those 'salvage Squad' programmes where they fully restored a Biber one man German Submarine to working condition,powered with an Opel Blitz truck petrol engine which gave 100 miles range and 8 minutes on an electric motor they looked like a death trap ? simple rudder and diving plate hydrofoil with large ballast tanks fore and aft.Two Torpedoes either side there were many accidents with fumes filling the cockpit,apparently on 11-12-44 eleven Subs went out on these potential suicide missions and non returned.

How did they find the way back home ?

The brave soul who tested it was a modern day deep sea mini submarine pilot,he loved the unique challenge.

The battery was shot and they needed to replace that with a modern unit loaned fom the Royal Navy ,but what a fascinating and historical project the only diving WW.II Sub in the world.

More information please and a three view drawing so that I can at least make a static model of this fascinating piece of German desperation.

 

[Bunkerbarge]

Barry,

An extract from the timeline of the Battleship Tirpitz.

22 September 1943: The Tirpitz is attacked by the British midget submarines X-5, X-6, and X-7 in Kåfjord. After passing through the protective torpedo nets, X-6 places two mines of two tons each under the battleship's keel, and X-7 another one. The three midget submarines are sunk but the damage sustained is important and the battleship is out of action for the next six months. As a result of this attack 1 man loses his life and 40 other are wounded.

Can you begin to imagine manoeuvring one of those things into an enemy harbour and positioning yourself under 50,000 tons of battleship with a cargo of high explosives?

 

[Bunkerbarge]

Barry,

Check out this link and notice the spelling is Biber. I couldn't find anything until I corrected it.

http://www.dataphone.se/~ms/ubootw/welcom.htm

Go to "The Boats" and then "Midget Submarines"

 

[wonwinglo]

Thanks Richard,it makes fascinating reading,look at those very high terrible losses,the lack of technical details is another surprise,probably lost in the passage of time,an intriguing part of history that we should never forget.

 

[Bunkerbarge]

I think as any war nears it conclusion the loosing side gets ever more desperate with its machinery, tactics and manpower.

Just think what could have happened if the V1 had been used more effectively, the Me 262 had been put in the right place at the right time and not been slowed down by a bomb load. Did you know the average age of a U-Boat Captain was in his early 20's and over two thirds of all crew were killed in action.

These subs are an amazing piece of machinery but would never have been developed had the tide of the war not been turning.

By the way, did you notice that Biber means Beaver in German?

 

[wonwinglo]

How very true Richard,these things were done under desperate conditions,how young to die for your country but we know that history repeats itself time and time again.

One question ? how did they manage to navigate these subs ? visibility must have been poor,did they have a compass,I bet that getting lost was why a lot of them never returned to the mainland,what an awful way to go.

Yes I did notice the Beaver bit,the subs were built in three sections which bolted together via the bulkheads,a rubber seal failed on the restoration and water poured in,they had to split the thing apart and re-seal her after disconnecting pipes and controls,a fiddly job in itself.

 

[Bunkerbarge]

I think most of these miget subs were taken as close as possible by a surface vessel then launched as close as possible to the target. navigation could only be via a compass but they would have to pick out the course via surface landmarks and then submerge and maintain that course.

Divers have had wrist compasses for some time but I would expect these subs to be fitted with a compass, which would almost certainly have to be illuminated to be used but, once below the surface the effects of currents vary dramaticaly with depth so you can't rely on the same current at the surface affecting you at 50 feet down. Absolutely unbelievable acts of bravery to even attempt such things never mind achieve objectives.