Type 206 submarine

The Type 206 is a class of diesel-electric submarines (U-boats) developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche-Werft AG (HDW). Its design is based on the preceding Type 205 submarine class. These small and agile submarines were built during the Cold War to operate in the shallow Baltic Sea and attack Warsaw Pact shipping if the war turned hot. The pressure hulls were built out of non-magnetic 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 were modernized in the early 1990s and were re-designated as Type 206A; the others have been decommissioned. The current German Navy is starting to decommission some 206A vessels, with more of the new Type 212 submarines being commissioned.

A slightly modified variant of the Type 206 (which includes the distinctive dome, or bulge, 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 being 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 had been scrapped and two had been sent to HDW in an attempt to find a buyer for them. When no buyer was found, one of the submarines was returned to Israel for display in the Haifa naval museum.

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 companies 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 seven surviving submarines are all upgraded Type 206A ones.cite web|url=http://www.marine.de/portal/a/marine/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLNzKOD_QzA8mB2d5mIfqRcNGglFR9X4_83FR9b_0A_YLciHJHR0VFAMCgKn8!/delta/base64xml/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80SVVFLzZfMjNfUVQ2?yw_contentURL=%2F01DB070000000001%2FW2699KBL528INFODE%2Fcontent.jsp
title="Uboote Klasse 206A|publisher=Deutsche Marine|accessdate=4 August|accessyear=2008]

References

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