U9
Type 205 submarine U9
Housed in the Speyer Technik museum in Germany U9 is a type 205 submarine which is based on the direct development of the type 201 which were the first class of submarines built in Germany post world war two.
U9 was one of the thirteen submarines built in the type 205 class, they are small submarines designed primarily to operate in the Baltic and North Sea.
U9 was laid down in the Howaldtswerke shipyard Kiel on the 10th December 1964, launched on the 20th October 1966 and finally commissioned on the 11th April 1967 and assigned to the Baltic fleet in Kiel. During its service, the U9 travelled 174,850 nautical miles, which is equivalent to eight trips around the world. The ship spent 16,478 hours and 11 minutes submerged, which corresponds to a year and 11 months spent underwater
U9 is 145ft long 15ft wide has a shallow draft of 12ft 6inch, she displaces 410 tons on the surface and 450 tons submerged.
Her two 600hp Mercedes Benz four stroke V12 diesel engines would be coupled with the BBC generator and a single 1,300hp SSW electric motor.
With this coupling the submarine could achieve 10 knots on the surface and 17 submerged, it also gave a fairly long range to the submarine at 4,200nm in total.
Although the U9 looks bulky her test depth was only 100 meters, given the Baltic and North Sea is pretty shallow it does mean these boats didn’t require deep diving capabilities nor a large crew to man them, just four officers and eighteen enlisted would crew these boats.
U9 is armed with eight 533mm torpedo tubes for torpedoes and mines but she is unable to fire missiles.
U9 would remain in German service until 3rd June 1993 when she was decommissioned and handed over to the Technik museum Speyer for display.
Write up and picture source: Blair Shaw
