The Type 205 was a class of German diesel-electric submarines. They were single-hull vessels optimized for the use in the shallow Baltic Sea. The Type 205 is a direct evolution of the Type 201 class with lengthened hull, new machinery and sensors. The biggest difference though is that ST-52 steel is used for the pressure hull since the Type 201's non-magnetic steel proved to be problematic. Type 206, the follow-on class, finally succeeded with non-magnetic steel hulls.
 205-class profile
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.jpg) Type 205 submarine U-1 (S180)
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders | |
| Operators | |
| Preceded by | Type 201 submarine |
| Succeeded by | Type 206 submarine |
| Subclasses | Kobben-class submarine |
| In commission | 1962–2005 |
| Completed | 13 |
| Retired | 13 |
| Preserved | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 44.30 m (145.3 ft) |
| Beam | 4.59 m (15 ft 1 in) |
| Draft | 3.80 m (12 ft 6 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Range |
|
| Test depth | 100 m (330 ft) |
| Complement | 4 officers, 18 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
The Type 205 was in service with the Royal Danish Navy until 2004, in which it was known as Narhvalen class. The Danish boats differed slightly from the German ones to meet special Danish demands. Responsible for the design and construction was the Ingenieurkontor Lübeck (IKL) headed by Ulrich Gabler.
List of boats
edit| Submarines built for the Bundesmarine: | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennant number |
Name | Call sign |
Launched | Com- missioned |
Decom- missioned |
Fate |
| S180 | U-1 | 17 February 1967 | 26 June 1967 | 29 November 1991 | scrapped | |
| S181 | U-2 | 15 July 1967 | 11 October 1966 | 19 March 1993 | scrapped | |
| S183 | U-4 | 25 August 1962 | 19 November 1962 | 1 August 1974 | scrapped | |
| S184 | U-5 | 20 November 1962 | 4 July 1963 | 17 May 1974 | scrapped | |
| S185 | U-6 | 30 January 1963 | 24 July 1963 | 22 August 1974 | scrapped | |
| S186 | U-7 | 10 April 1963 | 16 March 1964 | 12 July 1974 | scrapped | |
| S187 | U-8 | 19 June 1963 | 22 July 1964 | 9 October 1974 | scrapped | |
| S188 | U-9 | 20 October 1966 | 11 April 1967 | 3 June 1993 | Museum ship, Technikmuseum Speyer | |
| S189 | U-10 | 5 June 1967 | 28 November 1967 | 16 February 1993 | Museum ship, Wilhelmshaven | |
| S190 | U-11 | 9 February 1968 | 21 June 1968 | 30 October 2003 | Museum ship, Burgstaaken, Fehmarn | |
| S191 | U-12 | 10 September 1968 | 14 January 1969 | 21 June 2005 | scrapped | |
| Submarines built for the Royal Danish Navy: | ||||||
| S320 | Narhvalen | 10 September 1968 | 27 February 1970 | 16 October 2003 | scrapped | |
| S321 | Nordkaperen | 18 December 1969 | 22 December 1970 | 2 February 2004 | scrapped | |
These last two boats were built by the Howaldtswerke, in Denmark at The Naval Dockyard, Copenhagen.[citation needed]
Notes:
- U-1 was given back to Nordseewerke and was used to test an experimental closed-cycle diesel air-independent propulsion system before being scrapped
- U-11 was transformed to a Type 205A double-hulled boat (the outer hull filled with polystyrene foam to make it unsinkable) and used as torpedo target
- U-12 was used for sonar trials as Type 205B
References
edit- Karr, Hans (2014). Deutsche Uboote seit 1956 (in German). Stuttgart: Motorbuch. ISBN 9783613037083.
- Rössler Eberhard & Hans-Jochen Emsmann (1996). Vom Original zum Modell, Ubootklasse 205. (Bernard & Graefe Verlag GmbH & Co). ISBN 978-3-7637-6011-4.
Further reading
edit- Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen; Budzbon, Przemysław, eds. (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
- Showell, Jak P. Mallmann (2006). The U-boat Century: German Submarine Warfare 1906-2006. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 9781861762412.
- Rössler, Eberhard (2001). The U-boat: The evolution and technical history of German submarines. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 0-304-36120-8.
See also
edit
External links
edit- Submarines of the Narhvalen class - Danish Naval History