HDMS Sælen (S323)

For other ships of the same name, see HNoMS Uthaug (S304).

Sælen lifted aboard Grietje for transport
Career
Name:	HDMS Sælen (S323)
Laid down:	May 31, 1965
Launched:	October 3, 1965
Commissioned:	October 10, 1990 (Danish navy)
Fate:	Museum at Holmen, Copenhagen
General characteristics
Class and type:	Tumleren
Displacement:	370 tons surfaced, 435 tons submerged
Length:	47.20 meters
Beam:	4.70 meters
Draught:	3.80 meters
Propulsion:	two MTU 1,100 hp diesel engines, one 1,700 hp electric motor
Speed:	10 knots (19 km/h) surfaced, 17 knots (31 km/h) submerged
Complement:	24 officers and men
Armament:	eight 533 mm (21-inch) torpedo tubes, eight torpedoes

HDMS Sælen (S323) (or KDM Sælen ) is one of the three Tumleren-class small coastal submarines of the Kongelige Danske Marine (Royal Danish Navy).

She was built as a Type 207 submarine by Rheinstahl-Nordseewerke of Emden, Germany in 1965 for the Royal Norwegian Navy and served for 25 years as HNoMS Uthaug before being purchased by Denmark in 1990, and renamed after the seal. Her international call sign is OUCJ.

On 4 December 1990, Sælen sank while being towed from Copenhagen to Aarhus. On 17 December, she was raised by the German floating crane Roland and taken to Aarhus for repair. On 10 August 1993, diving approval was issued and the boat was recommissioned.

Sælen served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq from May 2002 until June 2003. To speed her return to her homeport of Frederikshavn after 385 days of deployment in the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf, she was transported on board the heavy-lift ship Grietje.

After her return from the Persian Gulf, Sælen was decommissioned and handed over to The Royal Danish Naval Museum (Orlogsmuseet). Sælen is now placed the old navy headquarters at Holmen in the middle of Copenhagen where she is open to visitors.