page_title: U-boat
section_title: Post–World War II and Cold War (after 1945)
hierarchical_section_title: U-boat / Post–World War II and Cold War (after 1945)
caption_attribution_description: English: Submarine Typ 212 in Docks at HDW/Kiel (Germany). Picture taken by my own. This picture may have usage restrictions.
context_page_description: U-boat is an anglicised version of the German word U-Boot, a shortening of Unterseeboot, literally "undersea boat". While the German term refers to any submarine, the English one refers specifically to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role and enforcing a naval blockade against enemy shipping. The primary targets of the U-boat campaigns in both wars were the merchant convoys bringing supplies from Canada and other parts of the British Empire, and from the United States to the United Kingdom and to the Soviet Union and the Allied territories in the Mediterranean. German submarines also destroyed Brazilian merchant ships during World War II, causing Brazil to declare war on both Germany and Italy on 22 August 1942.
  Austro-Hungarian Navy submarines were also known as U-boats.
context_section_description: From 1955, the West German Bundesmarine was allowed to have a small navy. Initially two sunken Type XXIIIs and a Type XXI were raised and repaired. In the 1960s, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) re-entered the submarine business. Because West Germany was initially restricted to a 450 tonne displacement limit, the Bundesmarine focused on small coastal submarines to protect against the Soviet Union (Russian) threat in the Baltic Sea. The Germans sought to use advanced technologies to offset the small displacement, such as amagnetic steel to protect against naval mines and magnetic anomaly detectors.
  The initial Type 201 was a failure because of hull cracking; the subsequent Type 205, first commissioned in 1967, was a success, and 12 were built for the German navy. To continue the U-boat tradition, the new boats received the classic U designation starting with the U-1.
  With the Danish government's purchase of two Type 205 boats, the West German government realized the potential for the submarine as an export, developing a customized version Type 207. Small and agile submarines were built during the Cold War to operate in the shallow Baltic Sea and attack Warsaw Pact resulting in the Type 206. Three of the improved Type 206 boats were later sold to the Israeli Navy, becoming the Type 540. The German Type 209 diesel-electric submarine was the most popular export-sales submarine in the world from the late 1960s into the first years of the 21st century. With a larger 1,000–1,500 tonne displacement, the class was very customizable and has seen service with 14 navies with 51 examples being built as of 2006. Germany would continue to reap successes with derivations or on the basis of the successful type 209, as are the Type 800 sold to Israel and the TR-1700 sold to Argentine.
  Germany would continue to succeed as an exporter of submarines as the Klasse 210 sold to Norway, considered the most silent and maneuverable submarines in the world. This would demonstrate its capacity and put its export seal on the world.
  Germany has brought the U-boat name into the 21st century with the new Type 212. The 212 features an air-independent propulsion system using hydrogen fuel cells. This system is safer than previous closed-cycle diesel engines and steam turbines, cheaper than a nuclear reactor and quieter than either. While the Type 212 is also being purchased by Italy and Norway, the Type 214 has been designed as the follow-on export model and has been sold to Greece, South Korea, Turkey, and based on it would get the Type U 209PN sold to Portugal.
  In recent years Germany introduced new models such as the Type 216 and the Type 218 the latter being sold to Singapore.
  In 2016, Germany commissioned its newest U-boat, the U-36, a Type 212.
caption: Type 212 submarine with air-independent propulsion of the German Navy in dock at HDW/Kiel
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