Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad Mardigan
You think that crane in the docking bays there is just for what... loading torp's, hauling deck guns to a waiting u-boat, for replacement or to add it to the u-boat... that that's all that crane's rated for... weight wise. 
Is conceivable that it could also be used to cradle a sub in the pen & turn it about... much more fuel efficiently than having the crew, doing donuts before backing it into the dock in there. Or, to block off the bay & drain the water... lowering it on to those blocks so that other work can be done on it... that can't be... while it's sitting there, floating in the water. |
All historical pictures I've seen show that U-Boats were always parked in the same way : bow forward. There were maybe some reasons, for example :
- crew is eager to dock and go on land again ;
- maybe more easy to enter in forward than in reverse ;
- more cargo (in particular torpedoes) is loaded in the U-boat's forward section than in the stern section ;
- more things are likely to be repaired in the forward section...
I also have pictures clearly showing U-boats getting out of the bunker in reverse course, then maneuvering to make a U-turn.