Type VII U-boat

The Type VII U-boat building program began slowly after the Anglo-German Naval Agreement in 1935, by the beginning of the war on 3 September 1939 only eighteen Type VII were in service, but by the end of the war a total of 709 boats had been commissioned. Many more were planned, ordered or even laid down, but the massive building program was abruptly halted in September 1943 when it became clear that this class had become obsolete and construction of U-boats had to focus on the newer elektroboote. At the end of the war, most of the remaining boats were scuttled either by their crews in Operation Regenbogen or later by the British in Operation Deadlight. A few survivors served in foreign navies, the last one was decommissioned in 1970. The lone surviving example, U-995, is on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial located in Laboe, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.