Chapter 9: Training Submarines Made in America

"To my knowledge, the cost of U-1 was 1.5 million marks, U-21 approached 3 million, and with equipment, I guess it must be over 5 million!" Hessen said with concern as he drank coffee in the crew dormitory area of the Schneider Shipyard.

In the house, which originally housed only Zhang Hainuo, now refurbished because of the arrival of the lady of the house, the black and white checkered tablecloth was replaced with a beige one. Fresh flowers were placed on the dining table every day, and even the floor became spotless. The air even smelled pleasant.

Glancing at Anna busy in the kitchen, Zhang Hainuo agreed, "From my estimation, the cost of a small coastal submarine nowadays is around 40 to 50 million dollars, a medium-sized submarine might exceed 800,000 dollars, and a large submarine wouldn't be less than 1 million dollars. If put into mass production, costs could be reduced by 10 to 20 percent, but the overall price would still be relatively high! The finances of small and medium-sized countries simply cannot allocate budgets for a submarine fleet, and the expenses for training and exercises in terms of fuel and ammunition are also significant!"

"With the current profitability of the shipyard, we can only build one or two submarines a year, unless we can significantly increase profits or find buyers for these submarines. If it's not urgent, I don't recommend using our reserve funds!"

The reserve funds Hessen referred to were the sunken ship treasures they salvaged in the Aegean Sea. One-third of it had already been converted into dollars as startup capital for the shipyard, the airline, and All-American Coffee. Although after nearly 5 years of construction and operation, all three projects were profitable, the annual profit of over 600,000 dollars still had to cover various non-profit items such as motivational research, settling German technical personnel and workers' families, etc. The financial situation was still not ample.

"For the next five years, I plan to focus most of my energy on the American market, especially the stock and futures markets!" Zhang Hainuo frankly stated his plan. In his mind, the mid to late twenties was the period where his economic knowledge could be most useful. "I don't want to miss this opportunity."

"I and Wolf, Simon, they will take care of the affairs of the shipyard, so you don't have to worry!" Hessen thought for a moment, still feeling somewhat uneasy, "I don't understand the situation in the American financial market, but I heard the risks are quite significant. Hainuo, you must not be careless!"

Zhang Hainuo gave him a humble look, "I'll be careful! Actually... last year, I was in America with Barbas, the Jewish antique dealer. By jointly manipulating the stock of All-American Coffee, we made a profit with the funds raised from the Jewish Chamber of Commerce! So, I think I'll allocate the money for buying submarines from that profit this time! As for the funds for future investment in stocks and futures markets, I will also try to avoid using our reserve funds as much as possible. Roderick, I hope you can understand this!"

Although not adept in business, Hessen was a sensible person. He promised, "Hainuo, rest assured, I won't disclose this to anyone! If you have any financial difficulties in the US, just let me know. The dividends I've received each time are still saved there!"

"Haha, Emily won't mind, right?" Zhang Hainuo chuckled. Emily was Hessen's newlywed wife. A quiet, elegant Brazilian of German descent, it was a mystery how these two somewhat dull gourds got together.

"Of course not!" Hessen still had that calm expression.

After joking around, Zhang Hainuo returned to the main topic, "The purpose of establishing the underwater travel company is to make the residents of Salvador accustomed to the presence of submarines. So even if the cost is high, it doesn't matter. Moreover, we can use these purchased old submarines to train our crew!"

"Yes, after these few years without submarines, I think many people have forgotten how to navigate the engine room!" Hessen joked earnestly. Now they had four reserve teams - the repair teams, as the crew knew them - each with 40 to 50 members, including team leaders, assistant team leaders, engineers, fuel operators, fore and aft compartment chiefs, etc. This was actually the standard crew complement for a medium-sized submarine. Once the submarines were in place, they would immediately be ready for action, as they had all previously served in the German Navy submarine force. It wouldn't take much time for them to become combat-ready!

Nowadays, many countries owned submarines - Britain, France, the USA, Italy, Japan, the Soviet Union, and so on. Except for Japan and the Soviet Union, which rapidly rose in military strength after World War I, most of these countries had a large number of submarines transferred to reserve or directly decommissioned due to financial reasons. Considering various factors, Zhang Hainuo ultimately decided to import a batch of submarines from the United States. If the plan went smoothly, the submarine force of the Third Reich would use American submarines as the initial training vessels, although neither government nor naval departments knew about it!

This time to the United States, Zhang Hainuo brought Anna along, accompanied by Hessen and his newlywed wife Emily, as well as Otto and his fiancée Edna. They were all prepared to treat the world's largest, most prosperous, and most modern city as their honeymoon destination.

From Salvador to New York, Zhang Hainuo's group traveled on the "Versailles," a 1500-ton freighter built by the Schneider Shipyard. With the expanding scale of All-American Coffee, which now consumed a shipload of coffee beans every two months, compared to just one ship a year before, the freighter was necessary. In addition to operating canned liquid coffee, All-American Coffee also used its brand influence to launch traditional canned coffee beans and coffee granules to seize the solid coffee market. Now, its market share in New York alone accounted for nearly 40 percent, which was quite astonishing in the coffee industry.

The cabins of the "Versailles," a medium-distance freighter, were small and narrow, but this did not affect the happy mood of the three couples. When the weather was calm, they would entertain themselves on the deck with sun umbrellas and deck chairs for a comfortable sunbath, and when it rained, they would hide in the cabin, brewing coffee and sharing interesting stories they had encountered. In this respect, Zhang Hainuo, who had lived in the information society for more than twenty years, had an advantage. His stories about the Maya civilization, gods and aliens, the pyramids and aliens, the Great Wall and the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang were always fascinating.

The distance between Brazil and the United States was not too far. Before everyone felt bored with this sea journey, the "Versailles" sailed into the bustling New York Harbor. The three ladies who had never been to New York were all astonished by the city's modernity. When the car passed over the Brooklyn Bridge, their expressions were almost identical to Zhang Hainuo's when he first arrived here!

In the highly modernized city, skyscrapers stood tall, pedestrians were neatly dressed yet splendid, and the exquisite goods in the large department stores dazzled the eyes. Since it was their honeymoon trip, the men indulged a bit. After visiting several malls, their hands were full of shopping bags. The ladies' surprising endurance was astonishing, as they continued to explore high-end stores that were rare to see in Brazil. Ultimately, they made a significant contribution to the GDP of the United States with All-American Coffee's profits for three days.

Over the next two days, the group toured various famous places in New York, staying in the city's top hotels, and of course, they couldn't miss Broadway to see the famous musicals. In addition, Zhang Hainuo took everyone to visit All-American Coffee's factory in New York.

Supported by substantial profits, the Coffee Research Center had expanded several times its original size. Experts were not only researching various new flavors of coffee but also, according to Zhang Hainuo's instructions, focusing on cheap and convenient instant coffee. By the time they visited this time, the research had made considerable progress, and the chief researcher stated that according to current progress, instant coffee was expected to enter the market.

In the internal meeting of All-American Coffee, Zhang Hainuo emphasized the confidentiality of various formulas. This was somewhat similar to the recent management focus of the Schneider Shipyard.

Afterwards, Zhang Hainuo and his party set off north to Groton, Connecticut, over a hundred kilometers from New York. This was a seaside town across Long Island, and they came here not to admire the scenery but because the famous Electric Boat Company was located here.

Those familiar with submarine history should not be unfamiliar with the name John Holland. Born in the United States, he was hailed as the "father of modern submarines," and a significant portion of his achievements were obtained at this Electric Boat Company.

Because of Holland's relationship, the United States had an early start in submarines. However, the Battle of Jutland and the climax of battleship main gun doctrine in the Royal Navy in 1906 pushed the development of submarines to the forefront. Until the outbreak of World War I, although major naval powers had built submarines, the use of these "small fry" was limited to coastal defense and fleet support. As the first military power in the Americas, the United States restricted the export of submarines by 1914 but only to advanced diesel submarines.

In June 1915, when the war in Europe and the Atlantic was at a stalemate, from the 18th to the 25th of that month, the tasks assigned to the US Navy Atlantic Submarine Fleet were to set up ambushes and intercept hypothetical enemy formations in the sea area west of longitude 67. However, a sudden ocean storm swept through the exercise area from north to south. Faced with adverse weather conditions, large surface ships could still weather the storm, but the submarines, with a displacement of only a few hundred tons, had to withdraw from the designated combat area to avoid the storm in advance. At the same time, contrasting with the poor performance of the US Navy small submarines, the German boats were wreaking havoc in the turbulent North Sea and around the British Isles, sinking hundreds of British ships.

In 1916, the year before the United States entered the war, the submarines crossed the Atlantic and docked at Newport Harbor on the east coast of the United States. This move also left a deep impression on their American counterparts. Fully aware of the weaknesses of the US Navy submarine force, Admiral Fletcher, commander of the Atlantic Fleet, strongly supported the views of his subordinates. In his view, those small tonnage submarines were not worth purchasing.

On August 29, 1916, the US Congress passed a budget for the construction of three vessels proposed by the Naval Advisory Committee. The content related to submarines included the construction of 9 fleet-type submarines and 58 coastal submarines. Among these 58 coastal submarines were 55 traditional S-class and 5 improved 800-class submarines. According to the alphabetical order of submarine classes, these 800-class submarines were named S-class.

As for the appearance and performance of the S-class submarines, they were replicas based on German U-boats, but their success lay in adopting a series of very advanced design concepts at the time. During World War I, a total of three shipyards built the main S-class submarines for the US Navy - the Naval Shipbuilding Bureau, the Electric Boat Company, and the Simon Lake Company, with Electric Boat and Simon Lake being private enterprises. Among this batch of submarines that played an important role in the history of American submarine development, those built by the Electric Boat Company, such as S18 and S47, had the best technical performance and quality. Some of them were commissioned at the end of World War I. After several modifications, they even served until the end of World War II and became the main force of the US submarine force at the beginning of World War II!

In a spacious and bright conference room, Samuel, the sales manager of the Electric Boat Company, received Zhang Hainuo's party. Perhaps because there were three young and beautiful ladies present, this red-nosed man was exceptionally courteous.

At the beginning of the conversation, Zhang Hainuo directly informed the other party in his "distinctive accent" English that he was the sole consultant of a Brazilian tourism company, whose owner was a wealthy Bahia state congressman. Their purpose in this visit was to purchase one to two submarines from the United States for use in underwater tourism operations.

Despite Brazil's overall economic situation, the country never lacked wealthy individuals. Many tobacco, forestry, mining enterprises, and large landowners were immensely wealthy. Therefore, rather than mocking these Brazilian clients for their origins, "Red-Nose" was exceptionally hospitable. He had his assistant bring some written materials and photos and personally explained:

"This is the Dogfish, and this is the Shark, they were called the A class when they served in the US Navy, an improved version of the Holland class, just retired from the US Navy. They served admirably in defending the US coast during the war! It has a surface displacement of 107 tons, underwater displacement of 123 tons, a length of 19 meters, a draft of 3.2 meters, cruises on the surface at 8.5 knots, uses a 70 horsepower engine underwater, and can stay submerged for up to 4 hours. Maximum diving depth is 46 meters, with a standard crew of 7! If the customer needs it, we can remove the above weapons and carry out a comprehensive refurbishment within two weeks, guaranteeing that it will be as good as new when delivered to the customer!"

Although "Red-Nose" did not introduce it, Zhang Hainuo could still see from the photos the weapons equipped on it during its service in the US Navy—a 450-meter torpedo tube. This type of submarine, which has been in service since 1903, from the perspective of a World War I submarine commander, its combat effectiveness is quite limited, but it could still serve adequately for tourism purposes.

Zhang Hainuo, Hessen, and Otto all shook their heads in unison, despite "Red-Nose" telling them that these two submarines were being sold as a package deal for only $100,000—half of their original factory price of $200,000!

"Octopus, it was called the B class when it served in the US Navy, it's almost half bigger than the A class we just saw, has two periscopes, and a standard crew of 10 people. After removing two of the periscopes, the submarine can be converted into a comfortable lounge, accommodating at least 5 passengers!"

"Red-Nose" probably thought that these customers were not very interested in the submarine's technical data, so he started planning how many sightseeing tourists this submarine could carry at once.

As the saying goes, "Outsiders watch the bustle, insiders watch the doorway," Zhang Hainuo and his team easily found the information they wanted from the written materials and photos—compared to the A class, this B class submarine is still a very limited small coastal submarine in terms of combat capabilities. Its only advantage is that it has changed from the single-axis drive of the A class to the dual-axis drive with two diesel engines and two electric motors, and it's 4 years newer than the A class, but it's already been in service for 17 years!

"We need something bigger, more magnificent-looking, just like what we usually see in documentary films! We don't need actual weapons, but if there are models of cannons and torpedoes on it, the guests will surely love it!" Zhang Hainuo struggled to explain in his broken English.

"Red-Nose" immediately expressed his "understanding" and gestured to his assistant, who soon brought another stack of documents.

"Sperm Whale class, also known as the K class, the current active-duty submarines of the US Navy, with a surface displacement of tons and an underwater displacement of 520 tons, maximum surface speed of 14 knots and underwater speed of 10.5 knots, equipped with four torpedo tubes, and two fixed periscopes. During the war, it was deployed to the European theater and performed exceptionally well! If necessary, we can install a 76mm deck gun on this submarine, although it will have some adverse effects on underwater navigation!"

"Active-duty submarines?" Zhang Hainuo looked at the American manager with a puzzled look. It was understandable to convert retired submarines for tourism, but active-duty submarines must have their roles in the navy. Could a shipyard manager like him really sell them?

"Hehe!" "Red-Nose" chuckled awkwardly. "To be honest with you, the only drawback of this type of submarine is that the engines are not very reliable, it was heavily criticized during its time in Europe, although we temporarily replaced the engines with those from other companies, it still has constant minor issues! Currently, there are two being repaired at our shipyard, I have a friend at the Navy headquarters, he revealed that the Navy has long wanted to get rid of these submarines, but the price is a bit..."

"The price can be negotiated, but what about the issues you mentioned..." Zhang Hainuo said with concern. Actually, if it was just an engine problem, he wouldn't mind buying this moderately-sized submarine that had only been in service for a year.

"Don't worry, usually, their engines only malfunction when sailing more than 400 miles!" "Red-Nose" leaned in and whispered softly, "As long as you can afford the price, I'm willing to help you pull the strings!"

"How much?" Zhang Hainuo looked calmly at this somewhat sleazy guy.

"Well, about that..." "Red-Nose" smiled, "I need to talk to my friend at the Navy headquarters to find out!"

Zhang Hainuo knew what he meant by "talk," if it was just in the name of an underwater sightseeing company, he really had no way to buy more advanced submarines, let alone the S class that the US Navy regarded as the main force and the under-construction Barracuda class fleet submarines. So, he agreed to "Red-Nose's" request to talk to his friend first.

Two days later, "Red-Nose" smiled and told Zhang Hainuo that the Navy was willing to sell the K-1 of the K class for $350,000, but the condition was that the submarine would be handed over to Electric Boat Company to remove the weapons and carry out the necessary modifications, with a total refitting cost of $50,000. The Electric Boat Company could also send personnel to deliver the submarine to Brazil for free—fuel costs would be separate.

Ironically, during the war, K-1 had been used for anti-submarine warfare, its opponents being the headache of the Allied powers, the German submarine force, and now it was to become post-war Germany's first training submarine—earlier than the secret plan of the German Navy in 1935.