German submarine U-32 (S182)

For other ships with the same name, see German submarine U-32.
U-32 at sea
U-32 at sea
History
Germany
NameU-32
Builder
LaunchedDecember 4, 2003
CommissionedOctober 19, 2005
StatusIn active service
General characteristics
Class and typeType 212
Typesubmarine
Displacement
  • 1,450 tonnes (1,430 long tons) surfaced
  • 1,830 tonnes (1,800 long tons) submerged
Length
  • 56 m (183.7 ft)
  • 57.2 m (187.66 ft) (2nd batch)
Beam7 m (22.96 ft)
Draft6 m (19.68 ft)
Installed power1 x MTU-396 16V (2,150 kW); 1 x Siemens Permasyn electric motor Type FR6439-3900KW (2,850 kW)
Propulsion
Speed20 knots (37 km/h) submerged, 12 knots surfaced[3]
Range
  • 8,000 nmi (14,800 km, or 9,196 miles) at 8 knots (15 km/h) surfaced
  • 3 weeks without snorkeling, 12 weeks overall
EnduranceSurface 14,800 km at 15 km/h, Subsurface 780 km at 15 km/h, 3,000 nmi at 4 kn,
Test depthover 700 m (2,296 ft)[4]
Complement5 officers, 22 men
Sensors and
processing systems		CSU 90 (DBQS-40FTC), Sonar: ISUS90-20, Radar: Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 I-band nav.,
Electronic warfare
& decoys		EADS FL 1800U suite
Armament6 x 533 mm torpedo tubes (in 2 forward pointing groups of 3) with 13[5] DM2A4, A184 Mod.3, Black Shark Torpedo, IDAS missiles and 24 external naval mines (optional)

U-32 (S182) is a Type 212A submarine of the German Navy, the second of her class to enter service.

U-32 was built by the German Submarine Consortium at the shipyards of Thyssen Nordseewerke of Emden and Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft at Kiel. She was launched on 4 December 2003, and was commissioned in a joint ceremony with her sister ship U-31 by the German Minister of Defence, Peter Struck, in Eckernförde on 19 October 2005. U-32 is propelled by one diesel engine and an electric motor driven by two fuel cells and features a cavitation-free screw, making her virtually undetectable. U-32 was the first non-nuclear submarine to stay submerged for two weeks.

Korvettenkapitän Michael Bornholt is U-32's commanding officer.

In March 2013, U-32 crossed the Atlantic Ocean to participate in exercises on the east coast of the United States. During the journey, the submarine remained submerged for 18 days, the longest of any German submarine at the time.[6]

  1. ^ "MTU 16V 396 diesel engine". Archived from the original on 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2006-10-08.
  2. ^ Holger Naaf: Die Brennstoffzelle auf U 212 A (PDF, German). Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau, Wehrtechnische Dienststelle für Schiffe und Marinewaffen Eckernförde, 23. September 2008.
  3. ^ "Uboote Klasse 212A". Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  4. ^ "Deutsche Marine TV-Interview" (in German). Retrieved 2007-04-17.
  5. ^ "Dette er ubåtsjefens våte drøm - nyheter". Dagbladet.no. 2010-11-18. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
  6. ^ "Den Atlantik bezwungen - "U 32" und Tender "Main" erreichen Florida". 2013-03-20. Retrieved 2013-06-07.