I'm still worried about the type of subs being build and used. In 1904-1908 the Germans had only U-1 and U-2 type subs, based off the very obsolete Karp-class made by Krupp steel for the Russian navy.
The U-1 type sub had only like 2,500 KM(1500 miles) range and had 2 or 3 torpedo's on board.
U-3 was a large improvement on that, as it had multiple torpedos on board as well as a deck gun. But the range was insufficient, 5000 KM(3000 miles). To reach West-Africa you need 4,000 KM(2500 miles) range. This brings up the silly question of me if the range of a submarine is going there and back again or just going.... So a U-3 had 3000 miles range, which would let it reach West-Africa... But will it be able to return? Doesn't really matter as U-3 where not used in combat, only the U-9 where usefull in combat(started in 1908). But the earliest U-boat able to reach West Africa from Kiel was U-17 and they started construction on those in 1910.
So would they built like 10 or 20 of U-17 types a year from 1910? Would they make a lot of the type U-19's, U-31's all the way too U-57?
Not a lot of time too get too 100 before 1914. Do Germaniawerft in Kiel and Kaiserliche Werft in Danzig even have enough capacity?
Sorry i haven't read every single alinea of previous posts so i'm not very sure what the plan is for this.
Excellent points.
The numbers change on a daily basis, and nothing is set in stone until printed in the main timeline, but here is my current thinking.
1903 - A Holland class sub built under American license. This sub has many defects, and will soon be converted to a training sub, then into an into an in warehouse training sub.
1904 - U-1 type boat delivered form Kiel.
1905 - U-2 type boats from Danzig.
1906 - Another U-1, U-2. There is a production philosophy change due to different leaders in charge. In order to stretch the budget there will be much longer production runs. Ships have about an 85% learning curve, or put another way, if the design is not changed, the second costs 85% of the first, the third the 85% of the third. Over time, this will have subtle, but important effects on fleet composition and capabilities. I am trying to avoid a German wank, so changes from OTL will have both advantages and disadvantages.
1907 - The series of boats similar to U-3, but with longer ranges will be introduced. The longer range is driven by the need to get to West Africa. Eight of these ships will be built under the Second Naval bill. I will also introduce the first of the "sub-tender, range extender" type ships. The first one will be a modified, used freighter, but by wartime, there will be a few ships nearer to what an early 1920's sub-tender will look like. In 1907 in OTL, the Germans come out with a sub-salvage vessel with a 110 man crew. A sub-salvage ship is much more complicated than a ship used to simply to refuel and rearm a submarine. The "sub-tender" ship will also carry spare parts, a small electrical repair shop and mechanical repair shop. These ships will create the capability to greatly extend the operating range of the submarines, should the story go that way.
1908 or 1909. The first ships from the second authorization bill will begin to appear. The last ship from this build order will be completed by 1912. Twelve of the U-19 type boats with more range (up to 20%) and some other possible minor modifications will appear.
1910 or 1911. The first of the U-31 type boats will be made to form the 3rd squadron. Like the previous ones, it will be about a year build plan, and the boats will have a little more range.
The rest of the details have not exactly been worked out, but at the start of the war, I plan to have 4 active U-boat squadrons. (Baltic, North Sea, Africa, East Asia). The Holland class, U-1 class, and U-2 class mothballed. The U-19 will be used for training and also be the Baltic squadron. The U-31 will be the North Seas Fleet, and the other two will be at least U-31 type ships. I will have to work out the butterflies in the English and French navies, but everything I have read about the British indicated they just basically ignored the U-boat threat. This is why i have to do research, and figure out about Scalpa Flow. The U-19 boats in OTL could reach there with ease, yet when the HMS BB Monarch was attached, the attack was ignored because "U-boats can't reach that far". In fact the U-3 appears to have the range.
Since I am starting early, the German shipyards will be able to build 12 U-boats per year easily, so they will have a lot more ability to ramp up, assuming the extra budget can be found wartime. The U-boat arm will have at least one spectacular success that will help divert resources from by surface fleet to the submarine fleet. With 4 separate fleets, at least one of these will work well. I am toying with different plans but the types of battles likely are as follows:
Baltic & North Sea Fleet (probably 12 boat effort, old fork beard keep ships guarding the main fleet.)
- Major Naval raid in western channel focused on warships.
- Major attempt to stop BEF. Don't like this one, because don't want to butterfly the land war that fast.
- Major Naval raid towards North Scotland.
West Africa - 6 Ships
- Defense of Cameroon.
- Cape Town Raid - Much less likely.
East Africa
- Defense of Colony.
- Attempt to cut Suez Canal at mouth of Red Sea, possibly timed to match the Ottoman land offensive.
East Asia.
- At least one capital ship or several troop transports will die over OTL.
- Raid towards either Hong Kong or Singapore, perhaps by combination of Mines and Torpedoes. The East Asia commander is going to be a publicity hound much like Montgomery or MacArthur.
I do appreciate your questions. And as to the previous post, the plans are changing. Only once something goes to the main TL is it a permanent event.