The Type 201 was Germany's first U-boat class built after World War II.
Design
They were built out of amagnetic steel to counter the threat of magnetic naval mines, but the material had been insufficiently tested and proved to be problematic in service with the Bundesmarine. Microscopic cracks in the pressure hull forced the cancellation of nine of the twelve ordered submarines and the rebuilding of the first two boats as Type 205 submarines. Responsible for the design and construction was the Ingenieurkontor Lübeck (IKL) headed by Ulrich Gabler.
The price per unit was around 12 million Deutsche Mark.
List of boats PennantnumberNameShipyardLaid downLaunchedCom-missionedDecom-missionedfateS180 U-1 Howaldtswerke8 June 19602 October 196120 March 196222 June 1963scrapped 1967S181 U-2 Howaldtswerke1 September 196025 January 19623 May 196215 August 1963scrapped 1967S182 U-3 Howaldtswerke12 October 19607 May 196220 June 196415 September 1967intentionally destroyed in trials in high pressure chamber "Dock C" (Marinearsenal Kiel 1971), scrapped
U-3 was loaned to the Royal Norwegian Navy and served under the name Kobben from between 10 July 1962 and 20 June 1964 before being commissioned in the German Navy.
Citations
References
Further reading
Taucher.net (in German)