U-552 VII C or : Size Matters
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1/300 or 1/350, matching or not? For most gamers that’s no question and so they use them together. I’m a bit more anal on that, I see the difference. So did not buy the kit of the German company from Bünde.
Nor a visiting friend brought it “instead of flowers”. He knew that I do 1/300 ships and asked in a shop for a WW II model in that scale. “There are no, they are all 1/350”. Well, in that shop surely.
Now I had a not much wanted wrong scale model and had to built it. Some parts are a bit flimsy, tending to hide in carpet.
The building instruction includes a larger view of the VIIC, even that is a bit smaller than 1/300. But the photo show that 2 cm are a lot.
Conversion into waterline, easy with a good saw. Built out of the box the result is good as Wargaming model.
The kit offers three versions, differing only from the decals. I choose U 552. I like the rd devils at tower of the “Teufelsboot”.
Built at Blohm & Voss Hamburg U 552 went into service 4<sup>th</sup> December 1940. 15 missions with 7. Flottille. with 30 merchants and destroyers HMS Allouette and USS Reuben James sunk. Reuben James was sunk in peace, the first US vessel sunk by Kriegsmarine. It served as escort for convoy HX 156 and attacked contacts. The “Neutrality Patrol” in international water up to 30° West in Atlantic was a very one sided action, helping the Royal Navy to transport cash and carry goods. Hardly backed by any existing international law.
Kapitänleutnant Topp reacted and fired two torpedoes on the attacker. One hit, blowing the bow away. 100 US sailors were killed, leaving only 44 enlisted men and no officers who survived the attack.
2 April 1942 Topp had attacked an US merchant David H. Atwater at night with the two guns and MG. One of the first shells destroyed the bridge, killing all of the officers. In all, 93 shots were fired from the deck gun, with 50 hits being recorded on the small freighter. War propaganda stated that the U-Boot tried to kill the crew, destroying the lifeboats by intent. In fact in the pitch dark the U-Boot fired until the small merchant started sinking.
Erich Topp, later became an Admiral in the post-war Bundesmarine. No charges were brought against Topp and he served alongside USN without problems.
U-552 did the longest VIIC mission, 97 sea days.
From Mai 44 on training boat, scuttled 5<sup>th</sup> May 45 in Wilhelmshaven.
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