U-Boat info plate

[VC54002]

Hi
Wanted to share this small but awesome piece of history, an info plate from an U-Boat warning that 'the fan may only be turned off temporarily during silent running'. I speculate that it might be referring to one of the fans used for cooling the electric motors but any additional info about where in the boat it might have been located would be appreciated. There's a decent chance that it belonged to U-573 (G7 / S-01 in Spanish service).

[Witt]

Hello,

I cannot imagine how many plates like this would have been mounted inside a U-boot with all of the working components of a submarine.
I would agree with you that this refers to the auxiliary electric motors. Schleichfahrt was creeping speed and relied on the electric motors to propel the sub while producing the least amount of noise. Electric motors of that size and advanced nature found during the war would have certainly burnt up if the ventilators were switched off. I would guess it was mounted to the auxiliary switchboard that controlled the batteries and electric motors. All of which was placed forward to the diesel engines as electric motors worked through the diesel engines to the propellers via a clutch and drive shaft.

Silent running (submarine) - Wikipedia

uboat.net - RE: XXI power


Ben