uboat 209

In 1967 Howaldtswerke in Kiel signed a contract for the delivery of four Class 209 submarines to the then Royal Hellenic Navy. This contract marked the beginning of the long success story of submarines belonging to the Class 209 family. So far 63 boats of different types have been built in this class. Just the Class 209/1400mod – the youngest member of the family – now accounts for 7 boats currently being built, at the test stage or already commissioned. A common feature to all submarines of Class 209 is their pressure hull diameter, which has been approximately 6.2 m from the first to the most recent boat.

Advances in technology and increasing operational requirements made by HDW’s naval customers mean that the boats ordered and built at the end of the 1960s can of course hardly be compared with those designed and built today. The displacement of the first boats was about 1,000 t but this has now increased by up to 50% in some cases.