U-15 at Kiel Week 2007. |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft Nordseewerke |
| Operators: | German Navy |
| Preceded by: | Type 205 submarine |
| Succeeded by: | Type 212 submarine |
| Subclasses: | Gal-class submarine |
| Built: | 1968-1975 |
| In commission: | 1971-2011 |
| Completed: | 18 |
| Laid up: | 6[1][2] |
| Retired: | 18 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type 206A submarine |
| Displacement: | 450 t, surfaced; 498 t, submerged |
| Length: | 48.6 m |
| Beam: | 4.6 m |
| Draft: | 4.5 m |
| Propulsion: | 2 MTU 12V 493, 4-stroke 600 hp (441 kW) diesel engines, each coupled with an Asea Brown Boveri-generator 1 Siemens-Schuckert-Werke 1100 kW electric motor driving single five (Type 206) or seven (Type 206A) blade propeller |
| Speed: | 10 knots (19 km/h), surfaced; 17 knots (31 km/h), submerged |
| Range: | 4,500 nmi at 5 knots, surfaced; (8,300 km at 9 km/h) 228 nmi at 4 knots, submerged (420 km at 7 km/h) |
| Test depth: | more than 200 m |
| Complement: | 23 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
STN Atlas DBQS-21 (CSU-83) submarine sonar Thomson-CSF DUUX 2 passive rangefinder sonar Safare VELOX sonar intercept EDO-900 active mine avoidance sonar Thomson-CSF Calypso II surveillance and navigation radar |
| Electronic warfare and decoys: |
Thomson-CSF DR-2000U ESM system Thorn-EMI SARIE |
| Armament: | 8 × 533 mm torpedo tubes, 8 DM2A1 Seeaal (206) or DM2A3 Seehecht (206A) torpedoes; 24 mines can be carried externally |
The Type 206 is a class of diesel-electric submarines (U-boats) developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW). Its design is based on the preceding Type 205 submarine class. These small and agile submarines were built during the Cold War to operate in the shallow Baltic Sea and attack Warsaw Pact shipping if the war turned hot. The pressure hulls were built out of non-magnetic steel to counter the threat of magnetic naval mines and make detection with MAD sensors more difficult. The low emission profile allowed the submarines in exercises to intrude even into well protected opposing forces such as carrier formations with their screen.
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Ten Type 205 submarines were constructed between 1962 and 1968 with hulls constructed of a new non-magnetic steel. The early boats, however, suffered from cracking due to stress corrosion and an urgent programme was initiated to develop a new steel which overcame these problems, which received much publicity at the time. The new high-strength, non-magnetic, austenitic steel has greater elasticity and good dynamic strength, and has proved very satisfactory in service, thoroughly overcoming the doubts that were raised by those early problems, although it has never been selected by IKL's many export customers and thus remains unique to German Navy submarines. Subsequently, the Type 206 was designed by IKL in 1964-65 and a production order was placed on 7 June 1969 for eight from HDW in Kiel and ten from Nordseewerke in Emden.
Of the 18 submarines built for the Bundesmarine (West German Navy), 12 were modernized in the early 1990s and were re-designated as Type 206A; the others have been decommissioned. The current German Navy is starting to decommission some 206A vessels, with more of the new Type 212 submarines being commissioned. In June 2010 the Ministry of Defence announced that all six remaining vessels were to be retired from active service immediately and to be decommissioned by the end of 2010 to cut costs.[1]
A slightly modified variant of the Type 206 (which includes the distinctive dome, or bulge, in the front of the boat), the Gal-class submarine for the Israeli Navy was built to Israeli specifications as the Vickers Type 540 in the UK rather than Germany for political reasons. Three such boats were built, the first being commissioned in 1976. When the Israeli navy received its new Dolphin-class submarines (also built by HDW), the Gals were retired. As of 2006, one had been scrapped and two had been sent to HDW in an attempt to find a buyer for them. When no buyer was found, one of the submarines was returned to Israel for display in the Haifa naval museum.
A major mid-life modernisation was conducted on twelve of these submarines, the boats concerned now being officially designated Type 206A. The work started in mid-1987 and completed in February 1992, being carried out by Nordseewerke, Emden; this upgrade includes:
The STN Atlas DBQS-21D sonar has been fitted, together with new periscopes, and a new weapon control system (LEWA). The ESM system has been replaced and GPS navigation installed. The rebuilt submarines are armed with new torpedoes (Seeaal), and the propulsion system has been comprehensively refurbished, and improvements have been made to the accommodation.
| Pennant number |
Name | Call sign |
Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S192 | U13 | DRDG | April 19, 1973 | September 23, 1997 | scrapped | ||
| S193 | U14 | DRDH | April 19, 1973 | September 23, 1997 | scrapped | ||
| S194 | U15 | DRDI | June 1970 | June 1972 | July 17, 1974 | December 14, 2010 | |
| S195 | U16 | DRDJ | November 1970 | August 1972 | November 9, 1973 | March 31, 2011 | |
| S196 | U17 | DRDK | October 1970 | October 1972 | November 28, 1973 | December 14, 2010 | |
| S197 | U18 | DRDL | April 1971 | October 1972 | December 19, 1973 | March 31, 2011 | |
| S198 | U19 | DRDM | November 9, 1973 | August 23, 1998 | scrapped | ||
| S199 | U20 | DRDN | May 24, 1974 | September 26, 1996 | scrapped | ||
| S170 | U21 | DRDO | August 16, 1974 | June 3, 1998 | scrapped | ||
| S171 | U22 | DRDP | November 1971 | March 1973 | July 26, 1974 | December 18, 2008 | |
| S172 | U23 | DRDQ | March 1972 | May 1973 | May 2, 1975 | March 31, 2011 | |
| S173 | U24 | DRDR | March 1972 | June 1973 | October 16, 1974 | March 31, 2011 | |
| S174 | U25 | DRDS | July 1971 | May 1973 | April 19, 1973 | January 31, 2008 | |
| S175 | U26 | DRDT | July 1972 | November 1973 | March 13, 1975 | November 9, 2005 | scrapped |
| S176 | U27 | DRDU | October 16, 1974 | June 13, 1996 | scrapped | ||
| S177 | U28 | DRDV | October 1972 | January 1974 | December 18, 1974 | June 30, 2004 | scrapped |
| S178 | U29 | DRDW | January 1972 | November 1973 | November 27, 1974 | December 31, 2006 | |
| S179 | U30 | DRDX | December 1972 | April 1974 | March 13, 1975 | January 31, 2007 | scrapped |
Notes:
February/March 2010 the U26, U28 and U30 were towed by Polish tug Ikar to 's-Gravendeel, Netherlands to be scrapped.[4]
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Type_206_submarine Type 206 submarine] at Wikimedia Commons
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