So, I've looked on the fora for an answer to this. I'm wondering about the cost of the war in various theaters. One that has me stumped is the cost that the German navy paid per torpedo for a U-boat. Now, I KNOW there are lots of different torpedoes out there, and lots of different model submarines. Say the first half of 1942 in the NORTH Atlantic, north of the Brest-St. John's, Newfoundland line. What U-boats were most likely to be in service there? How much did the submarine cost? Fuel? Provisions? Machine-gun and deck-gun shells? Torpedoes? Crew pay? Any other particulars you can think of and provide information on? Thank you VERY much!!
Wow. A lot of good questions involving deep research. I hope to have some answers later, since I'm out right now. Maybe others will weigh in in the meantime.
Pre-war to early war costs. Type VIIA: U-30, AG Weser in Bremen - 4,189,000 Reichsmark Type VIIC: Germaniawerft in Kiel: 4.439.000 Reichsmark Vegesacker Werft in Bremen: 4.760.000 Reichsmark Flender-Werft in Lübeck: 4.714.000 Reichsmark Type IXB: 6.16 million Reichmark - 6.49 million Late 1943 & later costs had been reduced to around 2 million Reichsmarks for a Type VIIC and 2.9 million Reichmarks for a Type IXC. Torpedoes: G7a: 50,000 Reichsmark G7e: 25,000 Reichsmark Kriegsmarine Pay rates, 1941 Enlisted & NCO Matrose .50RM Daily .15RM Daily Gefreiter .75RM Daily .15-.60RM Daily Obgef. 98.-105.RM Monthly .15-.60RM daily Hauptgef 118.RM Monthly .15-.60RM daily Maat 118.-149.RM Monthly .20-1.00RM daily Obermaat 158.-168.RM Monthly .20-1.00RM daily Feldwebel 182.RM monthly .25-1.25RM daily StabFw. 190.-220.RM Monthly .25-1.25RM daily ObFw. 186.RM Monthly .25-1.25 RM daily StObFw 198.-228.RM Monthly .25-1.25 RM daily more can be found here: http://books.google.com/books?id=mcnMwFTGL8gC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=kriegsmarine+officer+salary&source=bl&ots=qvjh8oxZS9&sig=WIQ3ww7enN63eIfrcmD266Kjdls&hl=en&sa=X&ei=y7T3U7XRNI7esATuuIKABw&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q=kriegsmarine%20officer%20salary&f=false I would think that actual prices for fuel and provisions would be quite variable from port to port.
Tried to find the value of WW2 Reichmarks in todays US dollars. Was not as easy as you might think. Guessing torpedo's were costly in today's dollars, and must have been worth the expense.
Actually, it is easier than you think, but, I don't know if there is one website that does it all... Convert 193X - 194x Reichmarks to the same year US Dollar - Information easily found on the internet. Convert same year US Dollar to current US Dollar - again easily found on internet. Two things to remember - The exchange rate of the Reichmark was kept artificially high until about 1941.( historically, 1935-1940, the usual exchange rate was 1 US Dollar = 2.48RM-2.50RM) There are several different methods to convert a historic dollar value to current dollar value, depending on the method used, the current dollar value can vary greatly.
Well, only have 11 fingers and ten toes. So, yeah it is pretty hard...and the wine...what is this, a test? not drivin'.
You only need one of either to operate a keyboard and calculator/abacus. Not even that with voice recognition software. Well, OK, I don't think there is a abacus with voice recognition. But...Wait! Your adding wine to the mix! You now have 22 fingers and 20 toes! So, it's doable.
The reason I posted this is because I saw an interesting (and I do NOT know how correct it was) BBC presentation about convoy PQ-17 which was one of the worst disasters in the war. At one point, the narrator (the guy from Top Gear), is listing all the stuff that ONE ship was carrying, and commented that one torpedo could cause an effect FAR ranging on the battlefield. And I was wondering about the cost ratios of one torpedo to one freighter's cargo.
Nothing to do with torpedoes but the cost of killing a U-boat in April 1941 was as follows............ The cost of a MKVII Depth-Charge as used by the Royal Navy in April 1941 complete was £22 10s 0d (£22.50) The cost including the carrier and cartridge was £27 10s 0d (£27.50) From 'The Anti-submarine Warfare Division of the Naval Staff' April 1941
