Comments by "Big Blue" (@bigblue6917) on "SM U-156 and the Battle of Orleans" video.

  1. I had heard of these submarines but I knew nothing of what they did. So it is good to find out more about them. I noticed some of the photographs show U-155 near Tower Bridge. Obviously post war. The British R Class submarine was built specifically to hunt German submarines in WW1. It could run at 14 knots submerged and had six torpedo tubes but no deck gun. The inclusion of a deck gun would have reduced her submerged speed. She also included a hydrophone array in her bow which would allow her to track German submarines while the British submarine was submerged. Though they did not come into service until the end of the war one did successfully hunt and fire on a German submarine but unfortunately they only hit failed to go off. It was not until 1945 that a British submarine succeeded in sinking another submerged submarine.
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  2. I realised that because the photograph prior to that one clear showed a British soldier, or possibly a Royal Marine, on the deck.
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  3. Sam Sadowitz I had assumed that was what you were referring to. Problem was the Royal Navy, or anyone else's for that matter, did not fully appreciate the full capabilities of the R Class, so they were never fully developed and we had to wait for more recent times to see their full potential. I have read that the shape of modern submarines is based on that of the airship as it was more streamlined then conventional submarines shape.
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  4. The US Navy did some research looking into improving the shape of the submarine to make it faster and sleeker. So they looked at the likes of the sharks, dolphins et cetera and discovered the best shape was the penguin. You do get the feeling they would have preferred something like the shark rather then a penguin, just for the look of it if nothing else.
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  5. You have to wonder how many pilots looked behind themselves, saw the shark mouth and thought "well that looks scary." I have a feeling not as many as looked behind and thought "shit, he's shooting at me."😊
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  6. At 5:52 the photograph shows the U-155 with a British soldier in cap and greatcoat stood next to the conning tower. The U-155 surrender on 24 November 1918 and was then put on display in London, hence the greatcoat. The submarine you show at 10:50 is, as can clearly be seen, R3 and is one of the one I mentioned which was designed to hunt German submarines. As you can see from her clean lines she was built for speed. And, of course, this would reduce any noise she made while submerged. It would make it more difficult for enemies to hear her will underwater.
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