U-511

"Submarine U-511 of the German Navy, please call me Yuu. I've come a long way, so I'll be in your care..."

- U-511

"Submarine Ro-500, formerly U-boat U-511. I'm Ro, formerly called Yuu! Admiral? I will be in your care."

- Ro-500

German submarine U-511 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 21 February 1941 at the Deutsche Werft yard in Hamburg as yard number 307, launched on 22 September 1941 and commissioned on 8 December 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Friedrich Steinhoff.

After training with the 4th U-boat Flotilla, from May 1942, U-511 was used for testing the possibility of launching Wurfkörper 42 30 cm (12 in) artillery rockets from U-boats. In cooperation with the commanding officer's brother Ernst Steinhoff of the Peenemünde Army Research Center, a rack of six rockets were mounted on deck, and were successfully launched while on the surface and while submerged up to a depth of 12 metres (39 ft). However, the rockets were not particularly accurate and the racks on the deck had a negative effect on the U-boat's underwater handling and performance, so the project was abandoned.

The U-boat was attached to the 10th U-boat Flotilla for front-line service on 1 September 1943. In that role she carried out four war patrols, two commanded by Kptlt. Steinhoff, and two by Kptlt. Fritz Schneewind, sinking five ships totalling 41,373 gross register tons (GRT) and damaging one of 8,773 GRT.

The U-boat was transferred to Japan on 16 September 1943 and served in the Imperial Japanese Navy as submarine RO-500 until August 1945 when she surrendered to the Allies.

Appearance
Her design in comparison to U-511 goes through a dramatic change. She now wears a school swimsuit, a cropped serafuku, slippers, a hair flower, and a bracelet. She is seen holding a lifebuoy and a torpedo strapped to her. She also now has a one-piece tan.

Personality
Originally a stoic girl who is trying to adapt to her new surroundings, her second remodeling turns her into Ro-500 or simply Ro, a cheerful girl who reflects the name change she received once she was transferred to Japan.

Trivia

 * The real U-511 was transferred to Japan from Nazi Germany as part of a technology exchange assistance program, and she was renamed Ro-500 after the Japanese took command of her. The vessel survived the war and was surrendered to the Allies. She was scuttled, on 30 April 1946 at Gulf of Maizuru.
 * She is one of two ships in-game that was released with a second remodel in the same update, the other being Taigei.
 * She is also one of four ships who changes name on remodel, others being Taigei, Hibiki, and Littorio.
 * RO-500 is a second-class submarine as noted by the 'RO' prefix in her name, 'Ro' is the second letter in the Iroha from which the name prefixes for Japanese submarines derives. Normally a second-class submarine was considered one with a displacement between 500 and 1,000 tons, but RO-500 was designated as such despite being slightly larger than this limit.
 * On her Kai form, the small captions along her name reads "Satsuki 1-go" (Satsuki No.1), this was her temporary name after she departed Germany, and before being formally commissioned by the IJN.