Submarine deck weapons

[sailorboy61]

Can anyone please advise. When a submarine submerged, were the small arms unshipped and taken below, I'm assuming that would be the case to protect the finer workings of the weapons. The muzzles of big deck guns would then be plugged?

 

Thanks.

[Alan P]

Hi, I'm a U-boat enthusiast (no expert) but I don't think they brought the AA guns inside when submerged. The boats were rarely submerged compared to the time they spent surfaced, so the guns were regularly serviced and oiled and didn't require waterproofing.

 

The breeches of the deck guns were gastight and therefore watertight, so only the muzzles were plugged with tompions when not in use. Fragile accessories like the gunsights were kept below unless needed. From early 1943 through to mid-1944 most boats were having their deck guns removed as they were increasingly unlikely to be used.

[sailorboy61]

Thanks Alan,

 

Well thats kinda good news for me. Planning a little diorama and having all weapons mounted makes things more visually appealing. Thanks.