The ''Delfinen''-class submarines were the first class of submarines constructed for the
Royal Danish Navy following
World War II. They were designed and built within Denmark, with first three boats of the class financed by Denmark. The fourth was financed by the United States (where it was known as SS-554) under the
Cost Share program. Constructed between 1956 and 1963, the class comprising four submarines (, , and ) entered service in 1961 and the last taken out of service in 1990. Replaced by the Norwegian , three of them were
scrapped
Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...
while a fourth was converted into a
museum ship
A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...
and remains on display at the Aalborg Maritime Museum.
Description
The ''Delfinen'' class had a
standard displacement of and when submerged. They measured long with a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a
draught of . The submarines were propelled by two
shafts powered by two
B&W diesel engines and two
BBC electric motors. The submarines had a maximum speed of both surfaced and submerged and a range of at . The submarines were equipped with passive and active
sonar and a
schnorkel
A submarine snorkel is a device which allows a submarine to operate submerged while still taking in air from above the surface. British Royal Navy personnel often refer to it as the snort. A concept devised by Dutch engineers, it was widely used ...
. The ''Delfinen'' class were armed with four
torpedo tubes located in the
bow. They had a complement of 33.
Ships
Construction and service
Following
World War II, the
Royal Danish Navy which had lost the majority of its fleet during the German invasion, was restocked with ex-British
Royal Navy submarines on loan and salvaged Danish submarines that had been scuttled during the war. Denmark joined
NATO and was assigned the defence of the
Baltic Sea which led to an emphasis on submarines. The ''Delfinen'' class marked the Royal Danish Navy's first new submarines in the post war era. Designed by the Danish and constructed at the Naval Shipyard in
Copenhagen, the first three vessels in the class were paid for the Danish and were constructed between 1956 and 1961. The fourth submarine of the class, ''Springeren'', was financed by the United States and known as SS-554.
The class remained in service until the beginning of the 1980s, when the Royal Danish Navy intended to replace them with former Norwegian s in 1986. Only three ''Kobben''-class units were acquired due to a lack of funds and ''Springeren'' remained in service until 1990. ''Springeren'' is preserved as a museum ship at the Langeland Fortet Museum.
Notes
Citations
References
*
*
* {{cite book , editor-last=Gardiner , editor-first=Robert , editor-last2=Chumbley , editor-first2=Stephen , editor-last3=Budzbon , editor-first3=Przemysław , name-list-style=amp , year=1995 , title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995 , publisher=Naval Institute Press , location=Annapolis, Maryland , isbn=1-55750-132-7
Submarine classes
Ships built in Denmark