CONFIDENTIAL REPORT 2G-21
S33
     
 
FORMER GERMAN SUBMARINE TYPE XXI
 
 
 
 
LIVING AND BERTHING
 
 
 
 
SUMMARY
  
     
          While the comfort of the crew has received more consideration in this type than in earlier types of vessels, the quarters are still not up to minimum U.S. Naval requirements.  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
 
July, 1946
 
 
 
 
PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD, PORTSMOUTH, N. H.
 
     
     
     
 
 
     
     

 

     
     
 
  REPORT 2G-21
S33
     
          The appropriate general plan is No. 21S 999005.  Arrangement and deck plan (Einrichtungsplan - Deckspläne).  
          The commanding officer's stateroom, just forward of the control room, is fitted with a single berth, a chair, a writing table, a key locker, a confidential locker, three other lockers, bookshelves and instrument stowage, and a washbasin.  
          The separate stateroom for the engineer officer, which first appears in this type, is diagonally across the passage from the commanding officer's stateroom, and is similarly fitted except that it has no washbasin.  
          The wardroom, forward of the engineer officer's stateroom, on the same side (starboard) of the passage, is fitted with three berths, a transom, a folding chair, 13 lockers including toilet gear lockers, mess gear lockers and a confidential locker, and a washbasin.  
          The chiefs' quarters, on the port side opposite the wardroom, have 5 berths, an upholstered seat, a folding chair, a table, and 9 lockers.  
          The petty officers' quarters, forward of the chiefs' quarters, are provided with 12 berths, two portable tables, two folding chairs, three lockers and 7 toilet gear lockers.  
          Opposite the petty officers' quarters is a petty officers' mess with an L-shaped drop table, a transom and two drop seats.  
          The crew's quarters are located aft of the galley and forward of the engine room, and occupy both sides of the ship.  Two separate compartments are provided, each of which has 12 berths, two portable tables, four folding chairs, and lockers in available space.  
          Total berths, including the transom in the petty officers' mess room are 47.  The complement is 57, according to Navtechmiseu report 312-45, and the hull specifications.  The shortage in berths is distributed as follows:  1 petty officer, 9 other enlisted men.  
          According to the hull specifications, hammock fittings were to have been provided as necessary to make up the difference between permanent berths and complement, but on  
     
 
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  REPORT 2G-21
S33
     
  neither U-2513 nor U-3008 do any appear to have been fitted.  
          Joiner work continues to be wood, but oak has supplanted the mahogany found on some earlier vessels.  Bitt locks continue to be provided for lockers, and the same type of spring berth bottom is furnished.  The hull specifications continue to call for upholstered spring cushions in the officers' country, but specify mattresses for the crew.  Another change in the berths is to arrange upper berths (or middle berths in triple tiers) to drop down in order to serve as backs for the lower berths when used as seats.  
     
  Comment  
          This vessel represents an attempt to improve living conditions, and while many of the objectionable features of the previous designs were retained, the net results are in certain aspects superior to those on current U.S. submarines.  Some medium of privacy is provided for all personnel by eliminating any common sleeping compartment, and by dividing the off-watch personnel into a fairly small groups, each within its own quarters which are segregated from passageways.  Against this must be balanced the necessity to provide hammocks or to assign two crew members to the same berth.  The Germans considered the arrangement virtually palatial.  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
 
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