German submarine class
Class overview
Builders Howaldtswerke , Kiel , Germany
Operators
Preceded by Type XXIII U-boat
Succeeded by Type 205 U-boat
Built 1960–1962
In commission 1962–1967
Planned 12
Completed 3
Cancelled 9
Active 0
Retired 3
General characteristics
Type Coastal U-boat
Displacement
395 t (389 long tons) surfaced
433 t (426 long tons) submerged
Length 42.40 m (139 ft 1 in)
Beam 4.60 m (15 ft 1 in)
Draft 3.80 m (12 ft 6 in)
Installed power 880 kilowatts (1,180 hp) diesel generator
Propulsion 1,100 kilowatts (1,500 hp) electric motor
Speed
10.7 knots (19.8 km/h; 12.3 mph), surfaced;
17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph), submerged
Range
3,800 nautical miles (7,000 km; 4,400 mi), surfaced;
270 nautical miles (500 km; 310 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph), submerged
Test depth 100 metres (330 ft)
Complement 21
Sensors and processing systems sonar, radar, periscope, GHG
Armament
The Type 201 was Germany 's first U-boat class built after World War II .
Design
They were built out of amagnetic steel to counter the threat of magnetic naval mines , but the material had been insufficiently tested and proved to be problematic in service with the Bundesmarine . Microscopic cracks in the pressure hull forced the cancellation of nine of the twelve ordered submarines and the rebuilding of the first two boats as Type 205 submarines . Responsible for the design and construction was the Ingenieurkontor Lübeck (IKL) headed by Ulrich Gabler .
List of boats
Pennant number
Name
Shipyard
Laid down
Launched
Com- missioned
Decom- missioned
fate
S180
U-1
Howaldtswerke
8 June 1960
2 October 1961
20 March 1962
22 June 1963
scrapped 1967
S181
U-2
Howaldtswerke
1 September 1960
25 January 1962
3 May 1962
15 August 1963
scrapped 1967
S182
U-3
Howaldtswerke
12 October 1960
7 May 1962
20 June 1964
15 September 1967
intentionally destroyed in trials in high pressure chamber "Dock C" (Marinearsenal Kiel 1971), scrapped
U-3 was loaned to the Royal Norwegian Navy and served under the name Kobben from 1962 to 1964 before being commissioned in the German Navy.
References
Diesel-electric submarine classes of German origin after World War II