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What is the reason for modern submarines not being streamlined like WWII German subs? How were the German Reich submarines able to be faster and stealthier while diving deep in the water?

WWII submarines, like their predecessors, were not true submarines. They were submersible boats, designed to operate on the surface and submerge for short periods.

Their hull design was close to that of a destroyer. A long, thin hull and sharp-raked bow. When a U-boat needed speed, she had to run on the surface. Once submerged she could only run on batteries, slow and for a limited period.

Toward the end of the war changes in technology were improving the relative time a boat could be submerged to running surfaced. The Schnorkel for instance allowed diesels to be run under water, to propel the boat and/or charge batteries.

But the Schnorkel was not a game changer. It restricted the submarine to depth and speed, and in even moderate weather it would routinely shut off the air supply as waves washed over the intakes, making life hell for the crew as the diesels would almost instantly turn the interior into a near vacuum.

The Reich’s Type XXI U-Boat is widely regarded as the first true submarine, in that it was designed to operate primarily submerged, utilizing improved Schnorkel gear, greater battery capacity and a hull designed to be efficient underwater, rather than riding on top of it.

The bows were still sharp, though no longer raked, designers came to realize a rounded bow was as efficient when submerged but greatly increased the internal capacity of the boat.

In particular, the business end, where torpedo tubes and handling gear were fitted. So modern submarines take on a more pear shape, combining underwater streamlining with the greatest capacity.

The Type XXI would have been a game changer, a nightmare for the allies, but it came late in the war and the combination of shortages in men and materials, disruption of building by bombing, and the loss of vital bases to operate from meant they were only ever a ‘Might Have Been’ threat.

The logical advance to the Type XXI would have been self-originated fuels such as Otto fuel, but these were (and still are) hazardous to use, it took Nuclear Power to perfect the submarine, producing a boat that could circumnavigate the world, and sail under the great Ice Packs. PLEASE SHARE OUR STORIES.

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