Soon-to-be Member (Mackenhausen) wrote with some interesting facts. He tells us:

"The very thought of how important electric welding in shipbuilding was to the new German Navy and her beginning with surface ships'at the end of the 1920's, there was in Germany strong care in handling electric welding on the ocean liners EUROPA and BREMEN. The three great pocket battleships were the first ships of any size to have the new electric welded hulls, and also to be propelled with diesel engines. Electric welding saved weight in tons as well as the lack of using rivets in armor plate. Thanks to the use of electric welding, it saved 550 tons of dead weight thus giving less stress on the diesel engines.

The same care was used in building U-Boats, where seams throughout the submarine were very strong with the use of electric welding. Submarines deep dives proved their strong character for the safety of the crew.

Since the surface navy was almost destroyed, the U-Boats were the main thrust of the German Navy."