All but two Type VIIA U-boats were sunk during World War II (famous Otto Schuhart U-29 and U-30, which was the first submarine to sink a ship in World War II, both scuttled in Kupfermühlen Bay on ). Ten Type VIIA boats were built between 19. Usually carrying 11 torpedoes on board, they were very agile on the surface and mounted the 8.8 centimetres (3.5 in) quick-firing deck gun with about 220 rounds. They were much more powerful than the smaller Type II U-boats they replaced, with four bow and one external stern torpedo tubes. Also, the smaller boat's lower endurance meant patrols were shorter. Despite the highly cramped living quarters, type VIIA U-boats were generally popular with their crews because of their fast crash dive speed, which was thought to give them more protection from enemy attacks than bigger, more sluggish types. Most Type VIIA U-boats were constructed at Deschimag AG Weser in Bremen with the exception of U-33 through U-36, which were built at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel. Type VIIA U-boats were designed in 1933–34 as the first series of a new generation of attack U-boats. See also: Category:German Type VIIA submarines The Type VII was the most numerous U-boat type to be involved in the Battle of the Atlantic. Type VII submarines were the most widely used U-boats of the war and were the most produced submarine class in history, with 703 built. The design of the Type I was further used in the development of the Type VII and Type IX. The production of Type I was stopped after only two boats the reasons for this are not certain. These designs led to the Type VII along with Type I, the latter being built in AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, Germany. The Finnish Vetehinen class and Spanish Type E-1 also provided some of the basis for the Type VII design. The type UG was designed through the Dutch dummy company NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw Den Haag (I.v.S) to circumvent the limitations of the Treaty of Versailles, and was built by foreign shipyards. The Type VII was based on earlier German submarine designs going back to the World War I Type UB III and especially the cancelled Type UG. The lone surviving example, U-995, is on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial located in Laboe, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. 703 boats were built by the end of the war. Type VII U-boats were the most common type of German World War II U-boat. 1 × 8.8 cm SK C/35 naval gun with 220 rounds.14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA or 39 TMB mines.The use of better steel sheets allowed the maximum depth to reach 250 metres.U-995 Type VIIC/41 at the Laboe Naval Memorial near Kiel A swivelling snorkel mast (also swivelling in the kit) for fresh air and fume exhaust, and four pressure boxes with 5-man floats were additional typical of these boats. With the aim of a better defence when surfaced, the Type VII C/41 u-boots were fitted with a modified, larger bridge called large wintergarten (winter garden) armed with two 20 mm flakzwillings and one automatic 37 mm M42U flakkanone, which are reproduced with precision in the kit. The wolfpack tactic achieved then seldom positive results against better protected convoys, especially with the introduction of air umbrellas. By then, the conditions of the battle had totally changed. Starting mid-1943, 91 u-boots Type VII C/41 have been launched.
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