Type 201 submarine

Class overview
Builders	Howaldtswerke, Kiel, Germany
Operators	German Navy Royal Norwegian Navy
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	8 × 533 millimetres (21.0 in) torpedo tubes, 8 torpedoes (no reloads) or 16 naval mines

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

• Karr, Hans (2014). Deutsche Uboote seit 1956 (in German). Stuttgart: Motorbuch. ISBN 9783613037083.
• Taucher.net (in German)