(
''Sea Devil'', also known as the (Elephant)) was a two-man
amphibious
Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to:
Animals
* Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water)
* Amphibious caterpillar
* Amphibious fish, a fish ...
midget submarine
A midget submarine (also called a mini submarine) is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, ...
, developed by
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. Only one
prototype was built in 1944, although its testing was relatively successful and negotiations began for another series of three to test the necessary changes before beginning series production in 1945. These plans were cancelled at the beginning of that year when the decision was made to concentrate production on designs already being built.
Background and description
The
Neger
The ''Neger'' (German for ''Negro'') was a torpedo-carrying craft generally described as a human torpedo which could not submerge, but was difficult to see during night operations. The vessel was used by Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' between ...
and
Marder
Marder may refer to:
German military vehicles
* A series of World War II tank destroyers:
** Marder I
** Marder II
** Marder III
* Marder (IFV), a modern infantry fighting vehicle
* Marder (submarine), a World War II midget submarine
People with ...
human torpedo
Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of diver propulsion vehicle on which the diver rides, generally in a seated position behind a fairing. They were used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic concept is still in use.
...
es and the
Biber midget submarines were difficult to
launch from anywhere other than a harbor. The special preparations required to do so limited their operational flexibility and required additional time and resources. Alois Lödige and several of his colleagues of the
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland pe ...
-
Eckernförde
Eckernförde ( da, Egernførde, sometimes also , nds, Eckernför, sometimes also ) () is a German town in Schleswig-Holstein, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, on the coast of the Baltic Sea approximately 30 km north-west of Kiel. The population is a ...
torpedo testing center developed the concept of putting
tracks on a midget submarine to allow it to move on and off a beach under its own power. They designed and built a
proof-of-concept
Proof of concept (POC or PoC), also known as proof of principle, is a realization of a certain method or idea in order to demonstrate its feasibility, or a demonstration in principle with the aim of verifying that some concept or theory has prac ...
vehicle in early 1944 that was tested in March. The one-man (special vessel) was long and
displaced
Displaced may refer to:
* Forced displacement
Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNH ...
without armament. It mounted a pair of
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
es low on the
hull
Hull may refer to:
Structures
* Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle
* Fuselage, of an aircraft
* Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds
* Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship
* Submarine hull
Mathematics
* Affine hull, in affi ...
by the tracks.
The prototype ''Seeteufel'' was developed in four months and was ready for testing in July. A two-man crew controlled the submarine. It had a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
* Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
** Laser beam
* Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...
of and displaced . The submarine was equipped with an
gasoline
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic ...
-fueled
Otto engine
The Otto engine was a large stationary single-cylinder internal combustion four-stroke engine designed by the German Nicolaus Otto. It was a low-RPM machine, and only fired every other stroke due to the Otto cycle, also designed by Otto.
Type ...
provided propulsion on both water (at on the surface using a single
propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
) and land (at ). When submerged, the same
electric motor
An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate forc ...
as used in the ''
Seehund
''Seehund'' (German: "seal"), also known as Type XXVII, was a midget submarine built by Nazi Germany during World War II. Designed in 1944 and operated by two-man crews, it was used by the ''Kriegsmarine'' (German Navy) during the closing month ...
'' (Seal) midget submarine, gave the vessel a cruising speed of . The prototype demonstrated a diving depth of
[Prenatt & Stille, p. 30; Rossler, p. 292]
The ''Seeteufel''s engine was in the
bow
Bow often refers to:
* Bow and arrow, a weapon
* Bowing, bending the upper body as a social gesture
* An ornamental knot made of ribbon
Bow may also refer to:
* Bow (watercraft), the foremost part of a ship or boat
* Bow (position), the rower ...
, directly underneath the fixed
snorkel mast that also contained the
periscope
A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position.
In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...
, a
radio antenna
In radio engineering, an antenna or aerial is the interface between radio waves propagating through space and electric currents moving in metal conductors, used with a transmitter or receiver. In transmission, a radio transmitter supplies a ...
and the
magnetic compass
A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...
. The control room was aft of this with a low-profile
conning tower fitted with the entry hatch. The batteries and the fuel tank were in the middle with the
AEG
Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG; ) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in Berlin as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität'' in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. During the Second World War, A ...
electric motor in the stern. The forward
diving planes were fixed, but the
rudder
A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw a ...
and aft diving planes were governed by the driver with his aircraft-like
control stick
A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...
. The boat was equipped with a special
ballast tank that compensated for the weight of its armament of a pair of standard
G7e torpedo
The G7e torpedo was the standard electric torpedo used by the German ''Kriegsmarine'' submarines in World War II. It came in 20 different versions, with the initial model G7e(TII) in service at the outbreak of the war. Due to several problems, le ...
es and prevented it from breaking the surface when the torpedoes were fired. It could carry four
naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ve ...
s in lieu of the torpedoes. On land it could be equipped with
flamethrower
A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World Wa ...
s or
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifl ...
s.
[
Testing showed that the submarine performed well underwater, but it was considered underpowered on land and the tracks were too narrow. More powerful ]diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...
s were planned for later models, in addition to wider tracks to spread the load and decrease ground pressure
Ground pressure is the pressure exerted on the ground by the tires or tracks of a motorized vehicle, and is one measure of its potential mobility, especially over soft ground. It also applies to the feet of a walking person or machine. Ground p ...
. The prototype was demonstrated to the management of the Borgward
The former Borgward car manufacturing company, based in Bremen, Germany, was founded by Carl F. W. Borgward (1890–1963). It produced cars of four brands, which were sold to a diversified international customer base: Borgward, Hansa, Go ...
factory in Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie H ...
and negotiations began for the production of three preproduction vessels to test the planned changes. The decision by the ( Naval High Command) to focus production on models already being manufactured at the beginning of 1945 caused these plans to be canceled. The prototype was transferred to Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
and destroyed at the end of the war.
Assessment
( Vice Admiral) Hellmuth Heye
Hellmuth Guido Alexander Heye (9 August 1895 – 10 November 1970) was a German admiral in World War II and politician in post-war Germany. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany.
Naval career
Heye graduated ...
, commander of the German Naval Special Forces (german: Kleinkampverbände, lit=Small Combat Units), stated in 1944:
"I consider the Sea Devil a promising weapon for use in commando raids. It is independent of mother craft and base personnel, can land on foreign shores, commit acts of sabotage, and evade pursuit ashore or afloat. It can be taken to site by a mother ship equipped with a large crane. With an engine of higher output than that of the experimental boat, a speed of 8 to 10 knots can be obtained. Speed and radius of action could be further increased by installation of a closed-cycle engine. Intended for use in coastal waters if weather is not too rough, and on rivers, lakes and artificial lakes..."[Moore & Compton-Hall, p. 221]
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{Kriegsmarine midget submarines
Midget submarines
World War II submarines of Germany
1944 ships