Type 212 submarine

Basic information

Type:

Submarine

Operators:

Italian Navy (Marina Militare)

German Navy (Deutsche Marine)

Country of build:

Builder:

Nordseewerke Emden GmbH (NSWE)

Fincantieri Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW)

Planned:

Completed:

In service:

2005 – present (19 years)

Ship measurements

Displacement:

1,450 t

Submerged displacement:

1,830 t

Length:

57.2 m

Beam:

7 m

Machine

Propulsion:

1 * MTU 16V 396 marine diesel engine
9 * HDW/Siemens PEM fuel cells, 30–40 kW each (U31)
2 * HDW/Siemens PEM fuel cells each with 120 kW (next units)
1 * Siemens Permasyn electric motor 1700 kW
1 * shaft
1 * seven-bladed skewback propeller

Speed:

12 knots

Submerged speed:

20 knots

Test depth:

250 m

Operating depth:

400 m

Range:

8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)

Submerged range:

420 nautical miles at 8 knots

Personnel

Complement:

Combat assets

Electronics:

CSU 90 (STN Atlas DBQS-40FTC) sonar suite:
1. TAS-3 passive low-frequency towed array sonar (deployed from sail)
2. FAS-3 passive low-, and medium-frequency hull-mounted flank array sonar
3. MOA 3070 mine detection sonar
Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 I-band navigation radar
EADS FL 1800U electronic warfare self-protection system
WASS hydrophones
Avio GAUDI autopilot and hydraulic systems
Kongsberg MSI-91 combat system
Torpedo defence system Tau 2000
Carl Zeiss SERO 14, with Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) and optical rangefinder periscope
Carl Zeiss SERO 15, with laser rangefinder periscope

Armament:

6 * 533 millimetres (21 in) torpedo tubes (in 2 forward pointing groups of 3)
13 * DM2A4 Black Shark torpedo
or IDAS missiles
24 * external naval mines (optional)

The German Type 212 class, also Italian Todaro class, is a highly advanced design of non-nuclear submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG (HDW) for the German and Italian navies. It features diesel propulsion and an additional air-independent propulsion (AIP) system using Siemens proton exchange membrane (PEM) compressed hydrogen fuel cells. The submarines can operate at high speed on diesel power or switch to the AIP system for silent slow cruising, staying submerged for up to three weeks without surfacing and with little exhaust heat. The system is also said to be vibration-free, extremely quiet and virtually undetectable.

Type 212 is the first fuel cell propulsion system equipped submarine series.