Here is a picture of what I am talking about. ( link )
I know not all U-Boats sported this feature but it was on more than one model besides the one shown in the picture. I just cannot figure out what it is for. It looks like it is meant to be used in ramming another ship but I cannot see that realistically being the case. Ramming anything is likely to be far worse for the U-Boat than most anything it hit that is bigger than a row boat. On top of that the serrated piece looks rather flimsy and I suspect would crumple if the ship rammed anything.
So, what else could it be for? I also thought it might be there to hold the wires attached to the end but other u-boats have the same cables running over the ship that mount into the bow without the serrated thingy.
To add to the puzzle why the serrated (or jagged if you prefer) bow just in front of the torpedoe tubes in the linked picture?
And in this picture, U-99999 is trying not to be seen . . .
Yet another vote for the net cutter. The entrances to most harbors were protected by nets, and while incursions were rare (Scapa Flow is the only one I can recall offhand by a U-boat), the idea was probably to have the tool in case it was needed.
Yep…hiding U-Boats behind trees was a secret trick the Germans thought up. You have to admit it would surprise the hell out of people…they’d never expect an attack from there!
Here are a few more pics…the first one is the tail end of the tree hiding u-boat just so everyone knows there is in fact more to it (I picked the picture in the OP as it showed what I am talking about best).
The serrated part was named Netzsäge, i.e. net saw. Apparently these saws were a holdover from WW I and were abolished in the later years of WW II as not being much use.
Moored mines would sometimes be deployed in pairs with a horizontal line linking the two. The idea was to increase the area covered since a passing vessel only had to snag the cable to drag one or both of the mines into its side. For defeating this arrangement of mines the serrated edge is correctly oriented.
German u-boats of WWI typically had a maximum underwater speed of less than 10 knots, and a maximum operational depth of only 50 meters. The British and French made at least some use of underwater nets to snag submarines, particularly those sneaking into their harbors. Thus the addition of the net saw at the bow.
perhaps this one is merely painted incorrectly? It could be so they could paint a menacing grinning shark-like tooth design on there to scare away the fishies?
I guess it’s a net saw then. Doesn’t seem like it would be much use as that though so as to save the sub from getting snared. I mean, while it might saw a hole in the net at the bow (I’m a little dubious of its ability in that department but I guess several hundred tons pushing that into a net might make it work) it seems the net would still snag on all sorts of other protrusions from the sub (dive planes, conning tower, propellers, etc.).
That they took them off of later versions either means it was not in fact a useful device or going into harbors just got so downright dangerous to the sub that a sub net would be the least of their worries so they just didn’t bother.
Whack-a-Mole, that’s a pretty good picture, BTW. I’ve been in the U-505 and the one in your picture looks in great shape. Any idea of where it is? Just seems odd that it’s not in some museum.
Here are a few more pics…the first one is the tail end of the tree hiding u-boat just so everyone knows there is in fact more to it (I picked the picture in the OP as it showed what I am talking about best).
My question is: Why does this submarine have a door located under the waterline?
[looks for low flying jokes…sees none]
There are two such doors visible in the photograph and assuming that they were not installed at the Kiel shipyard (or wherever) in the 1940’s (unlikely), they were added for the benefit of tourists.
