Thanks for the info!
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That is a really neat idea and combination of models. I have a Bronco Seehund in the closet. It never occurred to me to combine it with a tractor and trailer.
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Probably a daft question, but would a Seehund really fit on that trailer in real life?
I know they had to transport them somehow, but was this one of the trailers used?
It can be carried by a two axle trailer:
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No, quite a good one actually.
The Biber and Molch were smaller and had a much smaller displacement weight than the Seehund.
The Seehund had its own specially designed trailer, Transportanhänger (2 achs.) für kleinst U-Boot Seehund, as per Robin’s post. Another pic:
The SdAh 115 trailer has a stated 10 ton capacity. The Seehund was around 17 long tons without the over 3 tons of G7e torpedoes attached. I have no idea if the German measurement was the same as the imperial measurement, or different as per the US 'Short Ton", but I expect it would not be far off. Either way, I assume it would be a fairly big stretch, but never say never. After all the M15 trailer on the Dragon wagon was never supposed to be able to haul the extremely heavy loads it actually did.
I have always been tempted by this idea that Marcos (panzerserra) came up with:
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The 17 long tons is the displacement in the water (dived) so
it is the weight of the hull and everything inside the hull + the ballast water needed to make the submarine sink beneath the surface.
Numbers for the Type VII as comparison
769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced and 871 t (857 long tons) submerged
Long tons are heavier than metric tons (tonnes) which in their turn are heavier than short tons
The Type VII needs 102 tonnes of water in the tanks to submerge, 13% extra weight to go down.
If, and that is a risky assumption, the Seehund had the same behaviour it would use 2 tonnes
of water to submerge.
If this text (which I think comes from a rather trustworthy book about German submarines)
is correct the surface displacement without torpedoes was 12.3 tonnes (metric tons)
" The detailed planning of the 11.865m boat, which had a displacement of 12.3 tons, was handed over to the IBG, with Naval Construction Director Dr. FIscher in charge, and Howaldt-Kiel received a contract for 3 prototypes on 30 July 1944. Series construction would subsequently be carried out at GW; Schichau, Elbing; Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz, Ulm, and at CRD-Monfalcone. Most of the contracts and U-boat numbers had been awarded by April 1944, even before the design of Seehund was completely ready."
I don’t know how the load rating for the Sd.Ah. 115 relates to what it was actually capable of.
On road, off road, low speeds, normal speeds. Since the special trailer for the Seehund was a two axle affair just like the 115 I think that the 115 would also be able to handle that load.
Thinking and believeing is one thing, knowing is another …
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I came up with the next numbers, the Seehund weights about 15 ton, de 2 torpedos each 1538 kilo which make 3076 kilo.
Thats about 11 tons on a 10 ton trailer. Could work well if the torpedos aren’t fitted.
I will think about these numbers.
Thank you for the input!
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The 115 was often overloaded and seemed to handle it.
Seen here carrying a Pz.III.
The 115 may have had some frame cracking/breakage issues given the lack of suspension in the rear. However later a larger set of balloon tires were added to the rear which gave the trailer more “bounce” when heavily loaded. The forward axle was sprung.
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You will also need some rather large heavy wooden cribbing placed under the sub to get it high enough for the bow to extend forward over the trailer goose neck. This would be totally realistic and would spread the weight of the boat more uniformly over the length of the trailer frame.
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Yes, U-models has one, but I think I will make it from 10mm beech wood myself.
I like the U-models cradle better then the other one.
W’ill see.
Thanks for the input
The U-models cradle:
Peter Müller build a Faun with a cradle, a known picture
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Is there a table somewhere that lists towing vehicles and trailers, how they could carry, how much they could tow, and what they would usually carry and tow?
Should have bought the Chilton’s version.
I think, little details like that make a model really interesting. Maybe you don’t see them on the first view, but they make it more real too
Some new glue and something to get informations from. I have some magazines from ammo, to me they are very interesting and helpful. You learn the most by doing, but it’s not wrong to get some informations befor
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That trailer with the sub IS the 115 and I am not at all impressed with the “design” of that cradle blocking under the boat.
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Not exactly what you asked for but still useful:
http://www.kfzderwehrmacht.de/Homepage_english/homepage_english.html
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Thank you, Robin! Those links are super helpful and good practice for my rather rusty German.
I spent some time today looking at books on the subject but did not purchase anything.
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