Class 205 submarine

Class 205
	; U1 in action, 1967
Overview
Type	Coastal submarine
units	Germany 11 (none in service) Denmark 2 (none in service) ;
Shipyard	HDW , Kiel; Orlogsværftet, Copenhagen
Order	December 12, 1960
Technical specifications
displacement	450 t surfaced ; 500 t submerged
length	45.7 m
width	4.6 m
height	9.2 m
Draft	4.0 m (surfaced)
crew	22nd
drive	2 diesel generators each with 1 Mercedes-Benz 12-cylinder 4-stroke V-diesel engine 600 hp and a firmly coupled BBC generator (the diesel generators have no connection to the screw shaft ) 1 SSW electric drive motor 1,100 kW / 1,500 hp acting on one Shaft with 5- (class 205) / 7- (class 205 B) leaf screw
speed	10 kn surfaced ; 17 kn submerged
Armament	8 × 533 mm torpedo tubes also for mines (RI + II)

The class 205 submarines were the first successful series submarines of the German Navy after the Second World War .

Tasks and commitment

U 4 surfaced, 1962

The class 205 submarines were used to combat enemy warships in the Baltic Sea . In the event of war, they were assigned an important role in repelling attacks with landing craft against the NATO area in the area of the Baltic Sea accesses.

Between 1967 and 2004 the boats operated mainly in the North and Baltic Seas. U 12 went out of service as a test vehicle for new weapon systems on June 21, 2005 as the last German boat.

Two class 205 submarines were built for the Danish Navy .

U10 in the Naval Museum Wilhelmshaven

U11. The double boat hull begins at the height of the federal flag

Technology and development

Submarine building program

At the beginning of the development of the German Navy in 1956, several submarine classes had been commissioned, including twelve coastal submarines of class 201 . Even during the construction of these boats, there were considerable additional military demands, which led to a revision of the design. From the fourth boat in the series, the adjustments were implemented, and the modified boats were given the designation class 205 .

Nine class 205 submarines were commissioned from Kieler Howaldtswerke on December 12, 1960 . The Lübeck engineering office under Ulrich Gabler was responsible for construction and development . Two other boats were built on the Orlogsværft in Copenhagen under license for the Danish Navy and put into service under the names Narhvalen and Nordkaperen .

In the class 201 boats it soon became apparent that the steel used was unsuitable, and the series was canceled after the third boat ( U 1 , U 2 , U 3 ). This so-called steel crisis also affected the class 205 U 4 to U 8 boats that were already under construction or completed .

Variants of class 205

As a consequence of the steel crisis, a construction freeze was imposed on the other boats in order to be able to select a suitable steel. This results in different variants of class 205.

U 4 to U 8

The boats U 4 to U 8 were so far completed when the steel crisis occurred that the Navy decided against demolishing the construction. Various measures have been tried to reduce the corrosion problems. The boats were given plastic paint, spray galvanization and additional sacrificial anodes . However, these measures were not enough to resolve the problem. In order not to delay the construction of the submarine weapon any further, the boats were used exclusively as school boats for the submarine teaching group in Neustadt-Holstein. Their torpedo tubes were sealed, and their use was subject to special safety restrictions. All boats were decommissioned and scrapped in 1974 after the addition of class 206 .

U 9 to U 12

The last four boats in class 205 were made of three different non-magnetizable steels. For U 9 and U 10 , grade AM 53 steel from the Austrian manufacturer Schoeller-Bleckmann Stahlwerke was used , which had also supplied the AM 10 and AM 20 grade steel for class 201. U 11 was built from PN 18 S2 (1.3964) from Phoenix-Rheinrohr-Stahl , and U 12 was built from Amanox 182 M 9 from Stahlwerke Südwestfalen . The PN 18 S2 , which has since been used for the construction of all later German submarines, has proven itself best .

U 1 and U 2

U 1 and U 2 have been completely converted into class 205 boats and are in fact new builds. Instead of a non-magnetizable steel, ferritic shipbuilding steel St 52 was used. On U 1 were 1963 and 1966, i. H. in the two variants 201 and 205 made experiments with a stern torpedo tube.

Later modifications

Towards the end of their active service time and afterwards three boats of the class 205 were converted and used for various tests.

U 1

U 1 was converted in 1987 at HDW in Kiel to test the fuel cell drive. This successful sea test then formed the foundation for the installation of the fuel cell drive in the later class 212 . After decommissioning in 1991, it was transferred to Thyssen Nordseewerke in Emden as a test vehicle for further submarine drives that are independent of the outside air, where it was equipped with a closed-circuit drive .

U 11

U 11 received an additional outer skin in order to be used as a target ship for torpedo shooting exercises. Since 2005 the boat can be viewed as the Fehmarn submarine museum in the port of Burgstaaken .

U 12

U 12 was converted as a test vehicle for a towing sonar and carried such a device for several years.

Technical specifications

Torpedo tube set on U 11

Equipment:
- Withdrawable devices:
  - Periscope
  - Rod antenna
  - Radar mast
  - snorkel
  - ECM (radar detection)
  - UHF antenna
Nominal diving depth: 100 m with a safety factor of 2.5
Range: approx. 4200 nm at 5 kn above water, approx. 228 nm at 4 kn submerged
Construction costs: approx. DM 25 million

Units & whereabouts

Germany Germany - Class 205 submarines of the German Navy
Identifier	Surname	version	Keel laying	Launch	Commissioning	unit	Decommissioning	Whereabouts
S183	U 4	1. Construction lot (steel AM 10)	April 1, 1961	August 25, 1962	November 19, 1962	1st submarine squadron in Kiel submarine teaching group in Neustadt	1st August 1974	scrapped
S184	U 5	1. Construction lot (steel AM 10)	June 1, 1961	November 20, 1962	4th July 1963	1st submarine squadron in Kiel submarine teaching group in Neustadt	17th May 1974	scrapped
S185	U 6	1. Construction lot (steel AM 10)	November 8, 1961	January 30, 1963	July 24, 1963	1st submarine squadron in Kiel submarine teaching group in Neustadt	22nd August 1974	scrapped
S186	U 7	1. Construction lot (steel AM 10)	February 1, 1962	April 10, 1963	March 16, 1964 May 22, 1968	1st submarine squadron in Kiel submarine teaching group in Neustadt	September 30, 1965 July 12, 1974	scrapped
S187	U 8	1. Construction lot (steel AM 10)	20th February 1963	June 19, 1963	July 22, 1964	1st submarine squadron in Kiel submarine teaching group in Neustadt	October 9, 1974	scrapped
S180	U 1	2. Construction lot (steel St 52)	February 1, 1965	17th February 1967	June 26, 1967	1st submarine squadron in Kiel	November 29, 1991	scrapped
S181	U 2	2. Construction lot (steel St 52)	September 1, 1964	July 15, 1966	October 11, 1966	1st submarine squadron in Kiel	March 19, 1993	scrapped
S188	U 9	2. Construction lot (Stahl AM 53)	December 10, 1964	20th October 1966	April 11, 1967	1st submarine squadron in Kiel	3rd June 1993	Museum in Speyer
S189	U 10	2. Construction lot (Stahl AM 53)	July 15, 1965	5th June 1967	November 28, 1967	1st submarine squadron in Kiel	February 16, 1993	Museum in Wilhelmshaven
S190	U 11	3. Construction lot (steel PN 18 S2)	April 1, 1966	February 9, 1968	June 21, 1968	1st submarine squadron in Kiel later in Eckernförde	October 30, 2003	Museum in Burgstaaken
S191	U 12	3. Construction lot (steel Amanox 182 M 9)	September 1, 1966	September 10, 1968	January 14, 1969	1st submarine squadron in Kiel later in Eckernförde	June 21, 2005	scrapped

Denmark Denmark - Class 205 submarines of the Kongelige Danske Marine (Søværnet)
Identifier	Surname	version	Keel laying	Launch	Commissioning	unit	Decommissioning	Whereabouts
S320	KDM Narhvalen	3. Construction lot	February 16, 1965	September 10, 1968	February 27, 1970	5th Squadron in Frederikshavn	October 16, 2003	scrapped
S321	KDN Northern Cape	3. Construction lot	March 4th 1966	18th December 1969	December 22, 1970	5th Squadron in Frederikshavn	February 2, 2004	scrapped

The tower of one of the two Danish boats came back to Germany in 2019 and is exhibited in a private museum in Beneckenstein.

History of boats

U 4 (S183)

The first unit of class 205 was U 4 (S183), which was started as a class 201 boat but was launched with the modified design of class 205. It was put into service in 1962 by Kapitänleutnant Bringewat, who had previously led U Hecht .

Commanders of U 4 (S183)
Rank	Surname	from	to
Lieutenant captain	Bringewat	November 19, 1962	March 1964
First lieutenant	from Steynitz	April 1964	September 1966
First lieutenant	Hans Schäfer	January 1967	September 30, 1968
Lieutenant captain	Poppe	1st October 1968	September 30, 1970
Lieutenant captain	Hoschatt	1st October 1970	22nd August 1971
Lieutenant captain	Hans Lüssow	23rd August 1971	December 31, 1971
Lieutenant captain	Becker	January 1, 1972	October 9, 1972
Lieutenant captain	Sat	October 10, 1972	2nd November 1973
Lieutenant captain	Poske	3rd November 1973	7th January 1974
Lieutenant captain	fracture	January 8, 1974	August 8, 1974

U 5 (S184)

Commanders of U 5 (S184)
Rank	Surname	from	to
Lieutenant captain	W. Wüstenberg	4th July 1963	January 15, 1964
First lieutenant	Contactor	January 16, 1964	February 28, 1964
First lieutenant	Ullmann	January 29, 1964	March 26, 1964
First lieutenant	ED Jung	March 27, 1964	December 6, 1965
Lieutenant captain	Lurking	December 7, 1965	July 14, 1968
Lieutenant captain	Wilhelms	15th July 1968	15th January 1970
Lieutenant captain	Ewald	January 16, 1970	December 31, 1970
Lieutenant captain	Nietmann	1st January 1971	2nd October 1972
Lieutenant captain	Shower weather	3rd October 1972	17th May 1974

U 6 (S185)

The commissioning of U 6 (S185) took place in 1963, simultaneously with that of U 5, by Lieutenant Captain Hans-Jochen Emsmann, a former commander of U Hai .

Commanders of U 6 (S185)
Rank	Surname	from	to
Lieutenant captain	Hans Jochen Emsmann	4th July 1963	September 30, 1965
First lieutenant	Peter Jung	October 1, 1965	December 31, 1967
First lieutenant	Holfert	1st January 1968	22nd September 1968
Lieutenant captain	Dirk Horten	23rd September 1968	December 31, 1968
First lieutenant	Behrens	1st January 1969	August 11, 1971
First lieutenant	fracture	August 12, 1971	September 30, 1971
Lieutenant captain	Hillebrenner	1st October 1971	September 30, 1972
Lieutenant captain	Bischoff	1st October 1972	September 30, 1973
Lieutenant captain	Shitty	1st October 1973	22nd August 1974

U 7 (S186)

U 7 was in 1964 by first lieutenant z. S. Hannes Ewerth, the son of frigate captain Klaus Ewerth (commander of U 850 ) put into service. Ewerth later became the commander of the U-Flotilla . In the following year, a battery explosion occurred on board U 7, as a result of which the boat had to be decommissioned and repaired. The relatively wide tower cladding of the first boats in class 205 (U 4 to U 8) was replaced by the more aerodynamic version of the improved class 205 (U 9 and following). However, U 7 did not get its structure on the foredeck, which gave the boat a unique look.

Commanders of U 7 (S186)
Rank	Surname	from	to
First lieutenant	Hannes Ewerth	March 16, 1964	September 30, 1965
Lieutenant captain	Priesner	May 22, 1968	March 31, 1969
First lieutenant	Wensky	April 1st 1969	October 31, 1970
Lieutenant captain	Tassel	November 1, 1970	September 30, 1972
Lieutenant captain	Behrendt	1st October 1972	September 30, 1973
Lieutenant captain	Molter	1st October 1973	July 12, 1974

U 8 (S187)

The former commander of U 5 (S184), first lieutenant z. S. Ullmann, put the U 8 into service in 1964, the last boat to have the original Class 205 design.

Commanders of U 8 (S187)
Rank	Surname	from	to
First lieutenant	Ullmann	July 22, 1964	September 27, 1965
First lieutenant	Hoard	September 28, 1965	22nd September 1968
Lieutenant captain	Holfert	23rd September 1968	December 31, 1968
First lieutenant	Hot	1st January 1969	December 14, 1969
Lieutenant captain	Kößler	15th December 1969	20th September 1970
Lieutenant captain	Love one	1st October 1970	September 30, 1971
Lieutenant captain	Haase	1st October 1971	October 9, 1974

photos

Tower U 11
Bow U 11 with muzzle flaps outlined in white
Control platform U 11
Rudder stand U 11
Engine room U 11
Galley (kitchen) U 11
Toilet U 11

Web links

Commons : Submarine Class 205 - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

literature

Siegfried Breyer, Gerhard Koop: The ships and vehicles of the German Federal Navy 1956-1976. Munich 1978, ISBN 3-7637-5155-6 .
Hannes Ewerth: The U-Flotilla of the German Navy. Herford 1988, ISBN 3-7822-0398-4 .
Heinrich Schütz: Just the past or already history? - The steel crisis in German submarine construction. In: Marineforum. 7 / 8-2009 p. 38 ff.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Heinrich Schütz: Just the past or already history? - The steel crisis in German submarine construction. In: Marineforum. 7 / 8-2009 p. 38 ff.
^ Heinrich Schütz: Only the past or already history - the steel crisis in German submarine construction. 2009, accessed April 16, 2017 .
↑ World premiere with Ex-U1. In: Marineforum. 5-1993, p. 188.
↑ Holger Manigk: Benneckentein: U-boat arrived in the Upper Harz. www.volksstimme.de, August 30, 2019, accessed October 2, 2019 .
↑ Uta Müller: Benneckenstein: On diving station in the garden pond. www.volksstimme.de, September 4, 2019, accessed on October 2, 2019 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an ^ao ^ap ^aq ^ar ^as ^at ^au ^av ^aw ^ax ^ay ^az ^ba ^bb ^bc ^bd ^be ^bf ^bg ^bh ^bi ^bj ^bk ^bl ^bm ^bn ^bo ^bp ^bq ^br ^bs ^bt ^bu ^bv ^bw ^bx ^by ^bz ^ca ^cb ^cc ^cd ^ce ^cf ^cg ^ch ^ci ^cj ^ck ^cl ^cm ^cn ^co ^cp ^cq ^cr ^cs ^ct ^cu ^cv ^cw ^cx ^cy ^cz ^da ^db ^dc ^dd ^de ^df ^dg ^dh ^di ^dj ^dk ^dl ^dm ^dn ^do ^dp ^dq ^dr ^ds Hannes Ewerth: The U-Flotilla of the German Navy , 2nd revised edition, Koehler Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 1995, p. 88 -93.

[Schütz-1] Heinrich Schütz: Just the past or already history? - The steel crisis in German submarine construction. In: Marineforum. 7 / 8-2009 p. 38 ff.

[2] Heinrich Schütz: Only the past or already history - the steel crisis in German submarine construction. 2009, accessed April 16, 2017 .

[3] World premiere with Ex-U1. In: Marineforum. 5-1993, p. 188.

[4] Holger Manigk: Benneckentein: U-boat arrived in the Upper Harz. www.volksstimme.de, August 30, 2019, accessed October 2, 2019 .

[5] Uta Müller: Benneckenstein: On diving station in the garden pond. www.volksstimme.de, September 4, 2019, accessed on October 2, 2019 .

[U-Flottille-6] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an ^ao ^ap ^aq ^ar ^as ^at ^au ^av ^aw ^ax ^ay ^az ^ba ^bb ^bc ^bd ^be ^bf ^bg ^bh ^bi ^bj ^bk ^bl ^bm ^bn ^bo ^bp ^bq ^br ^bs ^bt ^bu ^bv ^bw ^bx ^by ^bz ^ca ^cb ^cc ^cd ^ce ^cf ^cg ^ch ^ci ^cj ^ck ^cl ^cm ^cn ^co ^cp ^cq ^cr ^cs ^ct ^cu ^cv ^cw ^cx ^cy ^cz ^da ^db ^dc ^dd ^de ^df ^dg ^dh ^di ^dj ^dk ^dl ^dm ^dn ^do ^dp ^dq ^dr ^ds Hannes Ewerth: The U-Flotilla of the German Navy , 2nd revised edition, Koehler Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 1995, p. 88 -93.