Seehund-class submarine
Also known as Type XXVII, U-boot type XXVII B, German Type XXVII submarine, German Seehund-class submarine
Seehund (German: "seal"), also known as Type XXVII, was a midget submarine built by Nazi Germany during World War II. Designed in 1944 and operated by two-man crews, it was used by the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) during the closing months of the war, sinking nine merchant vessels and damaging an additional three, while losing 35 boats, mostly attributed to bad weather. The French Navy used four captured boats after the war until 1953.
Key facts
- Ship.display_title
- ital
- Ship/image.image
- Seehund, Wilhelmshaven, 2016 (01).jpg
- Ship/image.image_caption
- A Seehund midget submarine, on display at the Deutsches Marinemuseum, Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony, Germany
- Ship/class overview.name
- Seehund
- Ship/class overview.builders
- Germaniawerft, Kiel
- Ship/class overview.built_range
- 1944–1945
- Ship/class overview.in_commission_range
- 1944–1953
- Ship/class overview.total_ships_planned
- 1,000
- Ship/class overview.total_ships_completed
- 285
- Ship/class overview.total_ships_active
- 138
- Ship/class overview.total_ships_lost
- 35
- Ship/characteristics.type
Article
11 sectionsContents
- History
- XXVIIA (Hecht)
- Type XXVIIB
- Production
- Operational service
- Survivors
- References
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Further reading
- External links
Seehund (German: "seal"), also known as Type XXVII, was a midget submarine built by Nazi Germany during World War II. Designed in 1944 and operated by two-man crews, it was used by the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) during the closing months of the war, sinking nine merchant vessels and damaging an additional three, while losing 35 boats, mostly attributed to bad weather. The French Navy used four captured boats after the war until 1953.
==History== The origin of the Seehund began with the salvage of the two British X class submarines and which had been lost by the Royal Navy during Operation Source, an attempt to sink the German battleship Tirpitz. Hauptamt Kriegschiffbau subsequently produced a design for a two-man submarine based on inspection of the British boats, designated Type XXVIIA and named Hecht ("Pike").