German Shipyard Plans to Enter the Midget Submarine Market with New Design in 2021

21 Agustus 2020

N-310 midget submarine (image and photos : Sutton)

On 6th September 2018 German shipyard Nordseewerke Emden revealed plans to build a new class of midget submarine, with a proposed launch date of 2021. The design appears aimed at the export market, particularly countries with existing relationships with German shipbuilding.

The design is smaller than the 395 ton Type-201 Class which were Germany’s first postwar submarines. Despite the small size the N-310 has a relatively large diameter hull allowing two decks. The design is double-hulled with ballast tanks and torpedo tubes in the outer hull. The torpedo tubes are external to the pressure hull and not provided with reloads. A diver lock-out chamber appears to be located in the bow with a forward-facing payload bay exiting on the starboard side.

N-310 can carry two swimmer delivery vehicles (SDVs) in the saddle position, similar to the arrangement on previous German (and Italian) midget submarines. The SDVs depicted in the model appear to be generic representations of the two-person ’chariot’ layout. Today SDVs in this layout are built by Drass in Italy and Vogo in South Korea.

Vogo SDV 340 (image : Sutton)

Specifications

-Displacement: 310 tons surfaced

-Length: 31.0 meters

-Beam: 6.5 meters

-Crew: TBC

-Speed: TBC

-Range: TBC

-Armament: TBC - provisionally 4 x torpedo tubes (size unclear)

(HI Sutton)