# All of Germany's submarines are currently down



## Colin Parkinson (19 Dec 2017)

https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2017/10/20/all-of-germanys-submarines-are-currently-down/



COLOGNE, Germany ― The German Navy’s six-strong fleet of submarines is completely out of commission after the only operational sub had an accident off the coast of Norway on Sunday.

The U-35 was moved into ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems’ shipyard in Kiel after a rudder blade was damaged during a diving maneuver, the newspaper Kieler Nachrichten reported. The submarine was scheduled to participate in exercises in the Skagerrak, the strait between southern Norway, southeast Sweden and Denmark.

The U-35 is a 212A-class boat, the same type that TKMS will build for Norway under a multibillion-dollar deal announced early this year. Italy also operates two boats of the class.


Exactly how long the U-35 will be out of service was still unknown on Friday. Service officials hope to make an assessment next week about the extent of the damage.

The submarine joins three ships already being overhauled at the Kiel shipyard. German military news service Augen Geradeaus, citing sea service data, reported that the U-31 will be in the yard until December, and the U-33 and U-36 are undergoing maintenance until February 2018 and May 2018, respectively. Additionally, the U-32 and U-34 are out of service and awaiting maintenance spots at the shipyard.

Navy officials blame bottlenecks in the procurement of spare parts for the submarines’ downtime. While a comprehensive package of spare parts was a key aspect of any new acquisition during the Cold War, cost-saving measures adopted since then have resulted in parts no longer being kept in reserve, German Navy spokesman Capt. Johannes Dumrese told the newspaper group SHZ.

According to a statement by the sea service, the most recent acquisitions of the U-35 and U-36 will usher in improved maintenance policies. Irrespective of the U-35′s fate, the Germany Navy expects to have three or four submarines ready for service in mid-2018.


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## NavyShooter (19 Dec 2017)

Sooo....Canada has more operational subs than Germany?  

Who would have ever seen that one coming?


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## Oldgateboatdriver (19 Dec 2017)

Yep! They should have bought used ones from the Brits.  ;D


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## Eye In The Sky (19 Dec 2017)

Colin P said:
			
		

> Navy officials blame bottlenecks in the procurement of spare parts for the submarines’ downtime. While a comprehensive package of spare parts was a key aspect of any new acquisition during the Cold War, cost-saving measures adopted since then have resulted in parts no longer being kept in reserve, German Navy spokesman Capt. Johannes Dumrese told the newspaper group SHZ.



Nice (in a bad way?) to see we aren't the only country letting the military waddle around wanting for the things we need to do our jobs properly.


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## Rifleman62 (19 Dec 2017)

Not a good title for an article about subs: "down".


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## medicineman (20 Dec 2017)

Rifleman62 said:
			
		

> Not a good title for an article about subs: "down".



Agreed.

MM


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## tomahawk6 (20 Dec 2017)

I wonder if this is related to the loss of the Argentine submarine ?


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## Eye In The Sky (20 Dec 2017)

Colin P said:
			
		

> COLOGNE, Germany ― The German Navy’s six-strong fleet of submarines is completely out of commission after the only operational sub had an accident off the coast of Norway on Sunday.
> 
> The U-35 was moved into ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems’ shipyard in Kiel after a rudder blade was damaged during a diving maneuver, the newspaper Kieler Nachrichten reported. The submarine was scheduled to participate in exercises in the Skagerrak, the strait between southern Norway, southeast Sweden and Denmark.



Based on the parts in yellow, I am not seeing much similarity.  Reports indicate there was damage to the X rudder (this happened in late October).    

*The German Navy’s fifth Type 212A submarine ‘U35’ has damaged one of the blades on her X-shaped rudder during deepwater tests off the coast of Norway.

The U35 is now at the TyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) shipyard in Kiel where it is being assessed for damages.

According to the German Navy, the accident happened on October 15 while the U35 was conducting tests in the challenging waters off the coast of Kristiansand.*

This is the location on Google Maps.  Nice area to fly, you get to see a few different coastlines in a pretty short time.


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