An insight into the design construction & operation of the feared World War 2 German Type VIIC U-boat The German Type VIIC U-boat scourge of Allied shipping convoys during the Second World War was the workhorse of the German U-boat force With some 568 Type VIIs in use between 1940 & 1945 it was a potent fighting vessel that could hunt for long periods in the far reaches of the western & southern Atlantic Centrepiece of the Haynes U-boat Manual is the sole surviving example of a Type VIIC U-boat U-995 which is on display at the German Naval Memorial near Kiel in northern Germany