第二次世界大戦中、ドイツには他の潜水艦に補給するためだけの潜水艦があった。タイプXIV「ミルクカウ」は、パン屋、医者のいる小さな診療所、生鮮食品、追加の燃料と魚雷を積んでいた。タイプXIVのおかげで、ドイツのUボートはアメリカ近海を無期限に哨戒することができた。
【衝撃】独潜水艦「ミルクカウ」のヤバすぎ補給能力！パン焼き窯、医務室完備で米軍震え上がる
挿話
挿話
挿話第二次世界大戦中、ドイツには他の潜水艦に補給するためだけの潜水艦があった。タイプXIV「ミルクカウ」は、パン屋、医者のいる小さな診療所、生鮮食品、追加の燃料と魚雷を積んでいた。タイプXIVのおかげで、ドイツのUボートはアメリカ近海を無期限に哨戒することができた。
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The Type XIV was rushed into service in 1941 during the outbreak of war between Nazi Germany and the United States, essentially being a fattened version of Nazi Gemany’s mainstay oceangoing submarine, the [Type IX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_IX_submarine) ([an example](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-505) of which can be seen in Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry). It was slow and essentially defenseless (it lacked torpedo tubes), but proved critical in allowing Germany to sink American shipping off the Atlantic seaboard [basically at leisure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Happy_Time). Resupplies were typically done at sea, with supplies being slowly ferried between two surfaced submarines with rubber dinghies over several hours. The Type XIV was equipped with a crane, but this was rarely used as the seas were usually too rough. If the U-boats were spotted, the Type XIV woud dive for safety while the resupplied U-boat would try to engage the target as a delaying action before diving down itself.
Only 10 Type XIV’s ended up being built out of a planned 24.
The Type XIV being a defenseless, slow moving target which was critical to resupplying dozens of U-boats out at sea was a very attractive target for the allies. One by one, over the course of the war, all ten submarines were sunk, with ~~230~~ 289 men going down with their submarines.
In the Broderbund game Wolfpack, a couple of the missions have one of these parked well out of range of the convoy. I rarely could manage to get close enough to actually initiate the resupply without ramming it and sinking both subs.
That’s actually pretty wild. Here’s what else was crazy about German subs in WWII:
Supply runs:
– They’d meet up in the middle of the Atlantic at night
– Transfer took like 12+ hours while both subs just sat there vulnerable
– Had to pump fuel through hoses between moving submarines
The milk cows carried:
– 400+ tons of diesel fuel
– Fresh bread (they actually baked it onboard)
– Spare parts for everything
– Mail from home
Other submarine facts from that era:
– US subs had ice cream makers and air conditioning
– Japanese subs could launch aircraft
– Some German U-boats had snorkels to run diesels underwater
The milk cows got hunted down pretty quick once the Allies figured out their meeting spots. Only built 10 of them and they all got sunk by 1944.
Makes sense though – if you take out the supply ship, you cripple the whole wolf pack operation.
I remember some other ship that was like a huge bakery, an above water one I think. Japanese?
It was something extravagant.
But does it have ice cream?
I learned about this from the novel Iron Coffin (John Mannock). Great read. I pull it out every other year for a re-read.
Yes, and it was a great idea