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The Type 206 is a class of diesel-electric submarines developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche-Werft AG (HDW). Its design is based on the preceding Type 205 submarine class. These very small and agile submarines were built in the Cold War era to operate in the shallow Baltic Sea and attack Warsaw Pact shipping if the war had turned hot. The pressure hulls were built out of antimagnetic steel to counter the threat of magnetic naval mines and make detection with MAD sensors more difficult.

Of the 18 submarines built for the Bundesmarine (West German Navy), 12 have been modernized in the early 90s and were redesignated as Type 206A, the others have been decommissioned. The current German Navy is starting to decommission some 206A vessels now with more of the new Type 212 submarines getting commissioned.

A slightly larger variant of the Type 206 (which even includes the distinctive dome, or buldge, 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 one 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 was scrapped and two were sent to HDW in an attempt to find them a buyer.

Specifications

• name: Type 206A
• displacement surface: 450t, submerged: 498t
• length: 48.6 m
• beam: 4.6 m
• draft: 4.5 m
• depth: 100 (offical)
• propulsion: 2 MTU 12V 493, 4-stroke 600 PS (441kW) diesel engines, each coupled with an Asea Brown Boveri-generator
  1 Siemens-Schluckert-Werke 1100 kW electric motor driving single five (Type 206) or seven (Type 206A) blade propeller
• speed surface: 10kn
• speed submerged: 17kn
• range surface: 4500 nm
• range submerged: 228 nm
• tubes: 8x533 torpedo tubes
• stores: 8 DM2A1 Seeaal (206) or DM2A3 Seehecht (206A) torpedoes
  
• 24 mines can be carried externally
• crew: 23

List of boats

Notes:

• After its decommissioning, U21 had an ever-changing history: First it should have been sold to Indonesia as Cundomani. After the deal failed it was about to be scrapped in Itzehoe, but HDW managed to salvage it for the planned companie's museum in Kiel. After that had to be given up, U21 was gifted to the city of Eckernförde and towed there. For a short time it had been a well accepted tourist attraction/technology museum, but because of local politics it was sold for scrap and broken up.
• U13, U14, U19 and U20 were also to be sold to Indonesia. There names would have been Nagarongsang, Nagabanda, Bramastra and Alugoro.
• The twelve surviving submarines are all upgraded Type 206A ones.

See also

External links

• [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/u206.htm

GlobalSecurity.org Unterseeboot Klasse U206A]

Picture taken from http://www.marine.de/02DB070000000001/CurrentBaseLink/W26K8AEK716INFODE

• Submarine classes
• Submarines of Germany