Type 201

The U-boats of this type were the first to be contructed after WW II with their development beginning in 1995. Still being subject to tonnage limitations of the WEU of 350 t a first flight of 12 U-boats was intended to be built, optimized for operations in the Baltic Sea. From 1961 on contruction of these boats began and on 20 March 1962 the first boat, U 1 was commissioned, U 2 followed on 05 Mai 1962. U 3 was lent to Norway from 10 July 1962 to 16 June 1964 and was used as a trial and training boat under the name of Kobben.

Already the fourth boat of the flight recieved substantial technical enhancements and changes to design and was consequently designated Type 205 with the following boats, limiting the number of Type 201´s boats to only 3. Already a few months after the commissioning considerable defects in then pressure hull´s steel arose. Not only the three boats of type 201 but also 5 boats still in construcion of the newly instituted Type 205 were affected.

After procurement of new, corrosion-resistant and amagnetic steels U 1 and U 2 were retrofitted with it making it de-facto a reconstruction as Type 205, U 3 however was only used a training boats and then de-commissioned after it´s retraction from Norway.