Jump to content

German submarine U-691

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by The Epopt (talk | contribs) at 22:40, 23 June 2002 (first draft). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Unterseeboot 691 (U-691) would have been a Type VIIC/41 submarine of the Kriegsmarine, if she had ever been built. Her construction by Howaldtswerke of Hamburg, Germany was ordered on April 2, 1942, suspended on September 30, 1943, and cancelled on July 22, 1944. The new Elektro Boat XXI design had made the Type VIIs obsolete.

Neal Stephenson's novel Cryptonomicon includes a fictictious U-691, a Type IXD/42, launched at Wilhelmshaven on September 19, 1940 (four years before IXD/42s were actually developed). It is possible Stephenson picked the number not for historical accuracy, but for its being prime.