German Type 224 class Submarine:


Historically Germany was known for their submarine designs starting before the First World War. In both World War One and World War Two, German U-Boats decimated the British merchant marine and sunk a large number of British warships. While too late to see service, they developed some of the most innovative designs during World War II. These same submarines inspired designs of many nations after World War Two. After World War Two, German ship building industry themselves continued developing extremely effective submarine designs.


Unlike the American, British, and French navies, prior to the development of compact fusion power plants, all German submarine designs were of a conventional design. German shipbuilding was a leader in the development of fuel cell technology for submarines. Compared to pure diesel electric designs, fuel cell systems allowed for extended underwater operations without the need for nuclear power. The Type 212 class was the first fuel cell propulsion system equipped series of submarines.


During the Twenty-Thirties, there was a revolution in incredibly strong materials. These advanced materials in effect caused the navies of the world to become obsolete virtually overnight. Many military forces attempted to simply rebuild their designs with the new materials. While this was done to some extent with submarines, there was a far greater push to replace older submarines with new designs incorporating the new materials from the beginning.


The German navy found themselves in a similar situation with their Type 212 submarines. The newest boats had only been completed in the later part of the Twenty-Twenties but were still considered obsolete. It was decided that a new submarine class would be developed which would replace the Type 212 in service. This class later became the Type 224 class.


At the same time, while there had been some new advances in fusion technology, it was not yet considered ready for actual operational use. It would still be more than a decade before the navies of the world would introduce fusion power into their submarine designs. Following in the footsteps of the Type 212, it was decided that the Type 224 would be a diesel-electric design with fuel cells as well. Of course there had been a number of advances and the Type 224 was designed to operate for even longer underwater than the Type 212.


Over the next decade and a half, a total of eight of the new Type 224 were built for the German Navy. A number of other nations also ordered these boats or very similar designs. Not all nations had immediate access to fusion technology and a number of these submarines were completed even after the fusion revolution. Between the various orders, a total of forty-eight submarines of the Type 224 and related designs were completed. They were fated to be the last conventional submarine design developed by German shipbuilding however.


With the advent of fusion power, the German navy began replacing their own Type 224 submarines in the Twenty-Fifties. However, a number of nations retained these submarines and the German Navy boats themselves were sold to other navies. Many of these boats still remained in service until the coming of the Great Cataclysm. The use of advanced composites meant that they did not suffer the degradation that older submarines did and could enjoy extremely long life spans.


A number of these submarines were cut in half by their operators and the original diesel electric and fuel cell systems were replaced by fusion plants. Others remained with their original propulsion system however. With the relatively large number of these submarines in service, they are more likely to have some survive the cataclysm than many submarine classes. It is believed than a number of these submarines were found by techno-wizards and converted to techno-wizard electric power systems.


Even though relatively old submarines by the time of the Great Cataclysm, these submarines can still be considered some of the most dangerous and effective submarines in the post cataclysm world. With the exceptions of the New German Republic, Republic of Japan, and the New Navy, no submarine classes are as advanced as these. They are considered far more advanced than Coalition submarine designs. They are designed to be incredibly quiet and have advanced sonar systems beyond the abilities of most post cataclysm navies. Unlike the Type 212, the Type 224 used a pump jet instead of a propeller.


One of the few areas where there might be some criticism is with respect to the submarine’s armament. These submarines were armed with only six 533 mm torpedo tubes and carried a total of eighteen torpedoes. In comparison, the Coalition’s new Orca class submarine can carry a total of forty torpedoes as well as having the ability to launch a large number of missiles from a vertical launch system. Still, the Type 224 can fire missiles from its torpedo tubes.


Author Note: With respect to time line, these designs may or may not reflect our modern time line. The time line of these writeups diverged from our time line starting around 1999. Consider the universe that these designs are created for to be an alternate universe not bound by ours.


Model Type: Type 224 class Submarine.

Class: Ocean, Attack Submarine.

Crew: 26; 5 Officers, 4 chief petty officers, and 17 enlisted (Has a high degree of automation.)

Troop Capacity: None.


Robots, Power Armors, and Vehicles:

None.


M.D.C. by Location:

 

533 mm (21 inch) Torpedo Tubes (6, sides of submarine):

80 each.

 

Main Sail:

280.

 

[1] Sail Planes (2, sail):

90 each.

 

[2] Pump Jet Propulsor (1):

240.

 

[3] Main Body:

980.

Notes:

[1] Destroying the submarine’s sail planes will reduce the submarine’s ability to change depths but will not eliminate it. It also makes it difficult for the submarine’s crew to control the submarine giving a penalty of -25% to all underwater piloting rolls.

[2] Destroying the submarine’s pump jet propulsor causes serious problems. The submarine will no longer be able to use forward momentum and the sail planes to keep the submarine level. It is recommended that ballast tanks are immediately blown so submarine comes to the surface.

[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body destroys the submarine’s structural integrity, causing it to sink. If the submarine is underwater, the entire crew will die unless protected by environmental armors that can withstand the pressure that the submarine is under. If on the surface, there are enough flotation devices and inflatable life rafts to accommodate everyone aboard.


Speed:

Surface: 13.8 mph (12 knots/ 22.2 kph) maximum and 11.5 mph (10 knots 18.5 kph) normal cruise speed.

Underwater: 25.3 mph (22 knots / 40.7 kph) maximum and 5.8 mph (5 knots / 9.3 kph) normal.

Maximum Depth: 3,940 feet (1,200 meters).

Range: Boat carries sixty days of supplies for crew on board.

Diesel: 11,050 miles (9,600 nautical miles / 17,780 kilometers) at 11.5 mph (10 knots 18.5 kph) on the surface and 9.210 miles (8,000 nautical miles / 14,820 kilometers) at 11.5 mph (10 knots 18.5 kph) while snorkeling.

Battery: 740 miles (640 nautical miles /1,185 kilometers) at 5.8 mph (5 knots / 9.3 kph). Reduce to 46.0 miles (40 nautical miles / 74.1 kilometers) at 25.3 mph (22 knots / 40.7 kph). Requires 48 hours to fully recharge batteries.

Fuel Cell: 3,220 miles (2,800 nautical miles / 5,185 kilometers) at 5.8 mph (5 knots / 9.3 kph).


Statistical Data:

Draft:    21.16 feet (6.45 meters).

Length:  191.60 feet (58.4 meters).

Beam:    23.62 feet (7.2 meters).

Displacement: 1,740 tons surfaced and 2,080 tons submerged.

Cargo: Submarine is very cramped, 4 tons (3.63 metric tons) of nonessential equipment and supplies. Each enlisted crew member has a small locker for personal items and uniforms. Boat’s officers have a bit more space for personal items although still extremely cramped. Most of the boat’s spaces are taken up by extra torpedoes, weapons, and engines.

Power System: Hybrid diesel electric and fuel cell.

Black Market Cost: Not for sale; many nations and organizations would pay one hundred million or more credits for a new and undamaged Type 224 class submarine.


Weapon Systems:

  1. Six (6) 533 mm Heavy Torpedo Tubes: On the sides of the submarine are six torpedo tubes with three on each side. Tubes are 21 inches (533 mm) wide and torpedoes can be used against both surface ships and submarines. For warheads, heavy torpedoes should be treated as having long range missile warheads. Along with standard torpedoes, the launcher can also fire missiles (long range or cruise missiles) in special canisters and rocket boosted ASW torpedoes. Submarine normally carries eighteen reloads for torpedoes (in addition to six torpedoes in the tubes) and can carry up to thirty-six mines in place of torpedoes.

    Maximum Effective Range: 40 miles (34.8 nautical miles / 64 km) for torpedoes.

    Mega-Damage: By heavy torpedo warhead type (See revised Rifts torpedoes for details), can fire missiles (long range or cruise missiles) in special canisters as well (See revised bomb and missile tables for details.)

    Rate of Fire: Can fire heavy torpedoes one at a time or in volleys of two (2), three (3), four (4), or six (6) torpedoes. Reloading takes one full melee round.

    Payload: Six (6) heavy torpedoes total [Has eighteen (18) additional heavy torpedoes for reloads.]

  2. Four (4) Advanced Decoy Drones: The submarine carries four advance decoys drones. They are a small automated vehicles that creates a false sonar image designed to mimic the submarine’s sonar signature. It has a small propulsion system that can simulate movement [has a maximum speed of 23.0 mph (20 knots / 37.0 kph)] and maneuvers. In addition to be able to be used to decoy torpedoes, they can sometimes be used to trick another vessel while the submarine moves into position. If decoys are not destroyed, they can usually be recovered and repaired if they can be retrieved. Rifts Earth decoys systems are assumed to not be effective against Phase World / Three Galaxies guidance and targeting systems due to technological differences.

    M.D.C.: 20.

    Range: Not applicable. Decoys do however have a duration of 30 minutes (120 melee rounds) once launched.

    Effects: The decoy has an 80% chance of fooling ordinary non military sonars and non smart guided torpedoes, the decoy has a 50% chance of fooling military level sonars (like those of the Coalition) and non “smart” torpedoes, and the decoy has a 25% chance of fooling advanced military sonars (Like those of the New Navy and Triax) and “smart” torpedoes.

    Rate of Fire: Boat can launch one decoy drone per melee round.

    Payload: Four (4) decoy drones.

  3. Noisemakers: The submarine carries noisemakers in order to decoy torpedoes. They are most effective against normal torpedoes and less effective against “smart” torpedoes. Considered in many ways to be the last line of defense against incoming torpedoes and similar systems are carried on most submarines. The noisemakers are launched from the middle of the submarine.

    Effects: 50% of decoying normal torpedoes and 20% of decoying “smart” torpedoes.

    Rate of Fire: Two (2) noisemakers at a time (Can be reloaded in one melee round).

    Payload: Twenty (20) noisemakers.

Special Systems:

The submarine has all systems standard on a robot vehicle plus the following special features:


[ Altarain TM, Bandito Arms TM, Brodkil TM, Chipwell Armaments TM, Coalition States TM, Cyber-Knight TM, Federation of Magic TM, Free Quebec TM, Golden Age Weaponsmiths TM, Horune TM, Iron Heart Armaments TM, Kankoran TM, Kittani TM, Kydian TM, Larsen’s Brigade TM, M.D.C. TM, Mechanoids TM, Mega-Damage TM, Megaversal Legion TM, Millennium Tree TM, Mutants in Orbit TM, Naruni Enterprises TM, Naut’Yll, New Navy TM, New Sovietskiy TM, NGR TM, Nog Heng TM, Northern Gun TM, Phase World TM, Psyscape TM, Rifter TM, SAMAS TM, S.D.C. TM, Shemarrian TM, Splugorth TM, Stormspire TM, Sunaj TM, Tolkeen TM, Triax TM, Wellington Industries TM, Wilk’s Laser Technologies TM, Xiticix TM, and Zaayr TM are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]

[ Beyond the Supernatural®, Heroes Unlimited®, Nightbane®, Ninjas & Superspies®, Palladium Fantasy®, and Rifts® are registered trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]


Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).


Copyright © 2017, Kitsune. All rights reserved.


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