German Submarine Seehund Banner
Submarine Seahund Panorama (Click here)
Seehund Interior (Click for the galleries) Click here for an aft view panorama of the Seahund Seahund Bussing NAG Engine (Click for the galleries)
 
   

Click here for a bow panorama of the Submarine Seahund

 

Seehund German Coastal Defense Submarine

The Seehund (or Seahund) is a German Type 127 Coastal Defense Submarine. The sub's specs are:

Length: 39 feet
Beam: 5 feet
Crew: 2
Displacement: 15 tons surfaced, 17 tons submerged
Max Speed: 7 knots (8 miles per hour)
Range: 300 Nautical Miles
Fuel Capacity: 1/2 ton of diesel fuel
Armament:
 2 21 inch G7 Torpedoes externally, one on each side
Power Plant: 6 cylinder 60hp Bussing Nag Diesel driving a 25hp electric motor with a single screw
Total Production: 138
Total Shipping Sunk by Seehunds: 8 ships, 17,000 tons total
Number of Sorties: 140
Number of Seehunds lost to enemy action: 35

The Submarine Seehund (which translates from German as Sea Dog or Seal) is a 39 foot long 2 man Kreigsmarine WWII coastal defense submarine. The sub carried one torpedo on each side externally, one on either side of the hull. Towards the end of the war they were quite successful, sinking over 120,000 tons of allied shipping. The torpedo rails on the starboard side are missing but on the port side the rails are mostly intact. This Seehund has seen some abuse and the conning tower is badly rusted. Surprisingly some of the Seahund tail section is constructed of wood, which in places is really deteriorating. I'm curious whether the engineers decision to use wood was a cost saving measure or done deliberately to properly trim the Seahund when in neutral buoyancy. I really wish they could get this sub and the other exhibits indoors. That would do the most to check the deterioration.

What I really liked was that the plexiglas ports let you see inside the Seehund. You can see that the museum's volunteers have done a great job of cleaning up and painting the interior. There is not a lot of room inside and it must have been incredibly loud when the Bussing-Nag engine was running during surface cruising or during the charging of the main batteries. It's not a big sub by any means but it is downright spacious compared the the Kaiten next to it. The Seahund commander's seat is nothing more than a flat piece of sheet metal and there are no other signs of any kind of seating for the other crew member. Although the bank of batteries is gone it appears that most of the interior fittings and equipment are still on board. I wish that some of the components were labeled as there are a lot of levers and valves visible through the view ports in the side of the hull.

If you know the story of how this Submarine Seahund got to the US then found it's way to the USS Ling museum, drop me a note. I'd love to hear the story. You can visit this sub at the NJ Naval Museum in Hackensack, New Jersey along with the United States Navy Fleet Sub USS Ling, the Japanese Kaiten Suicide Sub, and Vietnam Era Patrol Boat Riverine.

Another German WWII Midget Submarine, a Molch can be found at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

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Other Submarine Museums and Exhibits
John Holland's Submarine Fenian Ram Japanese Type A Midget Submarine USS Nautilus Japanese Kaiten Suicide Submarine USS Lionfish USS Ling