Type XXVII Seehund (Seal)

History of the Type XXVII Seal (Seal)

The Seehund (or "Seal") was the most successful of the various attempts by the Nazi Navy to perfect the "dwarf" submarine. Small submarines were popular during World War II and were used in conflicts by almost all major powers. The naturally small midget-class submarines make them nearly invisible to the unaided eye of patrols, and the manoeuvres devised by their crews often allow these ships to dive into minefields or avoid enemy depth charges. In short, small submarines can be used for covert operations that larger submarines are afraid of.

The Seehund became a famous German subordinate submarine class and appeared in 1944. It is also known by the more formal German naval designations "XXVII B5" and "Type 127".

Yet despite their useful offensive capabilities, SEALs were used in the final months of World War II in a "gunboat" role - helping to supplement the poor stranded on the coast as the Allies pushed inland dwindling supplies of the German garrison.

Externally, the seals mimic much of the appearance of their larger submarine brethren. The hull is tubular, the bow is tapered, the sides are curved, and the stern is tapered. The bow was largely featureless, while a short conning tower was installed amidships for crew access.

Steering controls are visible aft, just behind the three-bladed propeller assembly. It is powered by a 60 hp diesel engine. Diesel engines are used to propel the boat along the water. A separate electric motor was used when the boat was submerged and running at 25 horsepower.

Like other submarines of the time, the Seehund had to surface to recharge its batteries and oxygen supply, and it was during this operation that the ship was most vulnerable.

The Seehund small submarine has an underwater displacement of 17 tons, is manned by two people and is equipped with two G7e torpedoes. Some Seehund boats have additional fuel storage to allow for ranges in excess of 300 miles.

The boats can reach speeds of 7 knots on the surface and 3 knots underwater, the latter for a limited distance of 63 miles.

Like other small submarines that fought during the war, the Seehund proved to be a successful design, with a total of 142 deployments in the final months of the conflict. Her class sank some 120,000 tons of Allied ships in the North Sea.

However, this success came at a fatal price, as some 35 Seehund ships were killed in action - mostly by Allied aircraft.

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