The ''Clase Tiburón'' submarines (in English ''Shark''-class), was a mini submarines class of the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigat ...

built in 1964. Only two units were built. Currently, ''Tiburón-I'' (SA-51) is conserved as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small num ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

and ''Tiburón-II'' (SA-52) in Cartagena.

Design

With a crew of five men, ''Tiburon''-class submarines were intended to carry out week-long missions, would be ideal for operating in shallow waters and carrying

special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

behind the enemy lines. They were equipped with a greater accommodation than the preceding ''Foca-''class, with a bathroom and two bunk beds, which allowed the crew to rest in "hot bed" shifts. The design was based upon the German minisubmarine ''Hai''-class. The submarines had two diesel engines (115 HP) and two electric engines (110 HP). The armament was two torpedoes. The sail was larger than the previous class which helps in the surveillance tasks. The submarines were armed with two 533 mm tubes capable of carrying G7a or

G7e 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 ...

torpedoes.

History and current status

The ''Tiburón''-class had only two units, SA-51 and SA-52, but despite an improved version of the previous class, never got to join the

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

. The submarines were in the Naval Week of Barcelona in 1966, one of them, SA-52, arrive from Cartagena on her own. On May 9, 1986, the SA-51 submarine was donated to the

La Caixa La Caixa, also known as the "La Caixa" Foundation ( es, Fundación ”la Caixa”), is a not-for-profit banking foundation based in Catalonia. Originally a savings bank (''caja''), it reorganized in the 2000s and 2010s: Its commercial assets ar ...

Foundation for its science museum, now called "CosmoCaixa". The submarine is on display in front of the museum entrance. The SA-52 remains on display at the ''Isaac Peral'' Naval Base in Cartagena.

References

Sources

* {{cite book, last1=Busquets i Vilanova, first1=Camil, last2=Campanera i Rovira, first2=Albert, last3=Coello Lillo, first3=Juan Luis, title=Los Submarinos Españoles, date=2002, publisher=Cultural, S.A. de Ediciones, location=Móstoles, Spain, isbn=978-84-8055-952-2 Ships built in Cartagena, Spain Submarines of the Spanish Navy 1964 ships Midget submarines Museum ships in Spain

Design

History and current status

See also

References

Sources