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The PR Mk:XIX Spitfire and the XXVII Midget Submarine
The MkXIX was the last and most successful photographic reconnaissance variant of the Spitfire. It combined features of the Mk:XI with the Rolls-Royce two-stage supercharge Griffon engine of the Mk: XIV., later aircraft were also fitted with the pressurised cabin of the Mk:X and the fuel capacity was increased to 256 gallons, three-and-a-half times that of the original Spitfire. The first Mk:XIXs entered service in May 1944, and by the end of the war the type had virtually replaced the earlier Mk:XI. A total of 225 were built with production ceasing in early 1946, but they were used in front line RAF service until April 1954. The Mk:XIX was unarmed and could carry two vertical cameras and/or one oblique camera in a heated compartment aft of the cockpit. It had a top speed of 445mph(716km/h) with a cruising speed of 265mph(430km/h) and a ceiling of about 42,500 feet(13,000m). With an external auxiliary tank, its top range could be increased to 1,400 miles(2,250km).
The Type XXVII was a successful series of German midget submarines created during World War II. Designed in 1944, and operated by two-man crews, the submarines were used by the Kriegsmarine during the closing months of the war. The origin of the Seehund began with the salvage of the two British X class midget subs, X6 and X7 which had been sunk during an attempt to sink the German battleship Tirpitz (Operation Source). Hauptamt Kriegschiffbau subsequently produced a design for a two-man submarine based on the British boats, designated Type XXVIIA and named Hecht(Pike).
The second variant under construction was the Type XXVIIB Seehund(seal), which had a greater range, could carry two G7e torpedoes and improved diesel/electric propulsion, the design was completed at the end of June 1944 and resembled Hecht but had a better boat-shaped external casing for improved sea worthiness while surfaced and additional room had been made inside the pressure hull by moving the batteries to the keel, while the two torpedoes were slung externally in recesses in the lower hull. The 22hp diesel engine was fitted for surface use and was estimated to give a surfaced speed of 5.5 knots (10.2km/h; 6.3mph), with a 25hp electric motor providing a submerged speed of 6.9 knots (12.8km/h; 7.9mph). Show less