- Barbel class submarine
The "Barbel" class of submarines, the last diesel-electric propelled
submarine s built by theUnited States Navy , incorporated numerous, radical engineering improvements over previous classes. They were the first production warships built with the teardrop-shape hull first tested on "Albacore" (SS-569), and the first to use an "attack center" within the hull rather than a conning tower in the sail.In mid-
2004 , the government of theRepublic of China (Taiwan) allocated NT$412.1 billion to buy eight diesel-electric submarines for theRepublic of China Navy . Most countries that build submarines for export, such asGermany , cannot deal with Taiwan without harming their relations with thePeople's Republic of China , so many analysts expect theUnited States to either sell the plans for the "Barbel" class, or to actually build an update version of the Barbel-class.General characteristics
* Displacement: 1745 tons light, 2316 tons full, 2644 tons submerged
* Length: 66.5 m (218 ft 1 in)
* Beam: 8.8 m (29 ft)
* Draft: 8.9 m (29 ft 3 in)
* Armament: six 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (bow), 18 torpedo capacity including 6 loaded
* Propulsion: three Fairbanks-Morse 38d(8 1/8)×10 3150 shp (2.3 MW) diesel engines, two General Electric 4800 shp (3.6 MW) motors
* Speed: 15 knots (28 km/h) surfaced, 12 knots (22 km/h) snorkeling, 21 knots (39 km/h) on battery
* Endurance: 0.5 hour at full speed, 102.0 hours at 3 knots (6 km/h)
* Range: 19,000 miles (31,000 km) without refueling
* Depth: 712 ft (217 m)
* Complement: 85 officers and menReferences
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