HDMS Narhvalen (S320)

History

During the turbulent Cold War period (1947-1991), in order to strengthen its coastal patrolling capabilities, the Royal Danish Navy invested in indigenous-class submarines, known as the "Dolphin-class" (see details for details elsewhere on this site). The group includes a total of four ships, all designed, engineered and built in Denmark (the last was funded by the US to reduce procurement costs).

These submarines were in service from 1961 to 1990, after which they were all retired, representing the last submarines of Danish origin.

To enhance these underwater capabilities at a time when the vaunted Soviet navy was the enemy at the time, the country absorbed two more ships, dubbed the "Narvaren class", and stationed in West Germany 205" boat in the "Coast Patrol Assault U" (detailed elsewhere on this site). The Danes have signed a licensing deal with West German manufacturer IKL to build two Type 205s locally by Howaldtswerke Group's naval shipyard in Copenhagen.

The ships were modified to suit the requirements of the local Danish Navy, culminating in the completion and commissioning of HDMS Narhvalen and HDMS Nordkaperen.

The class was built from 1965 to 1966 and put on the market from 1968 to 1969. The HDMS Narhvalen (S320) is the leading boat in this class, laid on 16 February 1965. She was launched on September 10, 1968 for evaluation and testing purposes, and finally commissioned on February 27, 1970.

This compact vessel with a crew of only 22 (including 4 officers) carried passive and active sonar equipment and used more conventional/conventional 8 x 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes. The ship can also be used to transport mines if needed.

Internally, propulsion comes from a twin marine diesel/single electric motor propulsion unit with a surface speed of 12 knots and a submerged speed of 17 knots. 2 x Mercedes Benz V12 diesel engines each output 600hp for surface cruising and 1 1,300hp SSW electric motor provides the power needed for underwater work.

The maximum range is 4,200 nautical miles. The hull has been tested to a depth of 330 feet (100 meters).

When the Royal Danish Navy received three ex-Kobben-class ships from the Royal Norwegian Navy (these became the "Tumleren-class" in service with the Royal Danish Navy), it was decided to convert the Narhvalen-class ships to the same Combat standard, the work was carried out from It was carried out from 1993 to 1995, resulting in a completely new modern propulsion scheme, new radar, German sonar, French optics on the sails and a British ESM kit.

Narhvalen and her sister served for a short time in the Royal Danish Navy after leasing the former Swedish submarine (later to become the "Kronborg" in service with the Royal Danish Navy) in 2000. The former was fully decommissioned and scrapped on October 16, 2003.

Kronborg was deployed for an equally short period of time, operating from 2001 to 2005, after which she returned to the Swedish Navy.

Specification

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Performance

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