German Type XVIIB submarine

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Type XVIIB U-1406, partially dismantled shortly after the end of World War II.

The Type XVIIB U-boats were small experimental coastal submarines constructed to test the Hellmuth Walter's high-test peroxide propulsion system, which offered a combination of air-independent propulsion and high submerged speeds. Three boats of this type were built by Blohm + Voss of Hamburg between 1943 and 1944: U-459, U-461, and U-463.

All three members of this Type were scuttled at the end of the Second World War, but two were taken by the Allies for evaluation and trials. The United States received U 1406, which was used for trials by the US Navy and broken up in New York harbor sometime after 18 May, 1948. U 1407 was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Meteorite.

[edit] Specifications

• Displacement: 312 tons surfaced, 337 tons submerged
• Length: 136 feet (41.5 m) oa
• Beam: 15 feet (4.5 m) oa
• Draft: 14 feet (4.3 m)
• Propulsion: 210 to 230 ehp surfaced = 8.8 knots (16 km/h), 2,500 ehp submerged = maximum 25 knots (46.3 km/h)