History | |
---|---|
Russian Empire | |
Name | Forel |
Builder | Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel, Germany |
Launched | 8 June 1903 |
Acquired | 24 May 1904 |
Commissioned | 21 August 1904 |
Decommissioned | 31 May 1910 |
Fate | Sunk 17 May 1910 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement |
|
Length | 13.1 m (43 ft 0 in) |
Beam | 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) |
Draft | 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) |
Propulsion | 1 electric motor, 1 shaft, 60 shp (45 kW) |
Speed | 5.5 knots (10.2 km/h; 6.3 mph) |
Range | 25 nm (9.8×10−7 in) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
Test depth | 30 m (98 ft) |
Complement | 4 |
Armament | 2 x 18 in (457 mm) external torpedo tubes (bow) |
Forel (Russian: Форель, German: Forelle - Trout) was a midget submarine designed by Raimundo Lorenzo de Equevilley Montjustín and built by Krupp in Kiel, Germany.[1] The design was an experimental design built as a private venture by Krupp in hopes of attracting a contract from the Imperial German Navy. Although the design proved moderately successful, the submarine did not attract German naval attention.[1] She was purchased by the Imperial Russian Navy (IRN) in 1904 and served with the IRN until she was lost in a diving accident in 1910. She had the distinction of being the first submarine to have been built in Germany, preceding SM U-1. Forel was succeeded in service by the Krab class (one ship).