Seehund
Type XXVII B 5 (Seehund) midget submarine
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| Class overview | |
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| Builders: | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
| Operators: | |
| Built: | 1944–1945 |
| In commission: | 1944–1945 |
| Planned: | 1,000 |
| Completed: | 285 |
| Active: | 138 |
| Lost: | 35 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 17 long tons (17 t) submerged |
| Length: | 12 m (39 ft) |
| Beam: | 1.5 m (4.9 ft) |
| Propulsion: | |
| Speed: |
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| Range: |
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| Complement: | 2 |
| Armament: | 2 G7e torpedoes |
The Seehund (German: "seal"), also known as Type XXVII, was a successful series of German midget submarines created during World War II. Designed in 1944, and operated by two-man crews, the submarines were used by the Kriegsmarine during the closing months of the war, sinking nine merchant vessels and damaging an additional three, with 35 losses mostly attributed to bad weather.
The origin of the Seehund began with the salvage of the two British X class submarines HMS X6 and X7 which had been sunk 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")Crew 327
Like the British X class boats, the Type XXVIIA was designed to carry explosive charges to be laid beneath enemy ships, but it was markedly smaller and had substantial differences from the X class. It dispensed with a dual diesel/electric propulsion system, relying instead solely on electrical power in the form of a 12 hp AEG torpedo motor, on the basis that since it would operate submerged there was no need for a diesel engine. However, this resulted in a very low endurance of 69 nmi (128 km; 79 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph).
Since the boat would need to be able to pass through anti-submarine nets and similar obstacles, it was designed without hydroplanes or fins, her trim being controlled with adjustable weights within the pressure hull. In practice this proved totally ineffective since the weights could not be moved quickly enough and hydroplanes and fins were subsequently fitted. Submerged control was still poor, since Hecht was not fitted with ballast tanks.
Even though Hecht had been designed to transport an explosive charge, Karl Dönitz insisted that a torpedo be carried so that attacks could be carried out on vessels in coastal waters.
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