Biber (German for "beaver") was a German midget submarine of the Second World War. Armed with two externally mounted 53-centimetre (21 in) torpedoes or mines, they were intended to attack coastal shipping. They were the smallest submarines in the Kriegsmarine.
Two G7e(TIIIc) torpedoes or two Torpedomine Typ B (TMB)
The Biber was hastily developed to help meet the threat of an Allied invasion of Europe. This resulted in basic technical flaws that, combined with the inadequate training of their operators, meant they never posed a real threat to Allied shipping, despite 324 submarines being delivered. One of the class's few successes was the sinking of the cargo ship Alan-A-Dale.
Several survive in museums, including one in operational condition.
Construction of the first prototype began in February 1944 and was completed in less than 6 weeks.[5] The initial prototype, officially titled Bunteboot (but better known as Adam), was heavily influenced by the British Welman submarine.[5] It differed from the final design in a number of respects such as being nearly 2 m (6 ft 7 in) shorter.[5] Following testing on the Trave river on 29 May twenty four Bibers were ordered.[5]
DesignEdit
The instruments and controls of a Biber submarine
The propeller and wooden control surfaces
The hull was built in three sections composed of 3 millimetres (0.12 in) thick steel with an aluminium alloy conning tower bolted to the top.[4] The conning tower contained armoured glass windows to allow the pilot to see out.[4] The hydroplanes and rudder were made of wood and trying to control them while tracking the depth gauge, compass and periscope made the craft hard to handle.[4] Adding to the pilot's difficulties, the craft lacked compensating and trimming tanks, making staying at periscope depth a near impossibility.[4] The Biber had two diving tanks, one in the bow section and one in the stern.[2]
The submarine could be armed with either two TIIIc torpedoes with neutral buoyancy (achieved by limiting the number of batteries on board), mines, or a mixture of the two.[6] The torpedoes or mines were accommodated in semi-circular recesses in the side of the hull. These reduced the overall width of the loaded craft, making land transport easier and also reduced drag in the water, but at the cost of weakening the hull.[7]
The Biber was powered on the surface by a 32 hp (24 kW) Otto Blitz petrol engine, which was used despite concerns about the risks posed by the carbon monoxide the engine gave off.[2] The engine had the advantage of being cheap and available in large numbers.[2] Propulsion while submerged was provided by a 13 horsepower (9.7 kW) electric motor, supplied by three Type T13 T210 battery troughs.[2]
OperationEdit
A Biber captured by the British Army near Arras, France, after being abandoned by the retreating Germans (1944)
Biber operations were carried out under the auspices of the K-Verband,[3] a German naval unit which operated a mixture of midget submarines and explosive speedboats. The training of Biber operators was originally planned to take eight weeks, but the initial group of pilots was rushed through in just three weeks.[8] Planning also called for flotillas of 30 boats and pilots with just under 200 shore support crew.[8]
Operations generally lasted from one to two days with pilots either using a drug known as D-IX to stay awake on longer missions or caffeine-laced chocolate.[9] The poor quality of the Biber's periscope meant that night attacks had to be carried out on the surface.[10]
Fécamp harbourEdit
The first Biber operation was launched on 30 August 1944 from Fécamp harbour. Twenty-two boats were launched but only fourteen were able to leave the harbour and of those fourteen only two managed to reach their operational area. The Bibers were then withdrawn to Mönchengladbach.[9]
Operations in the Scheldt EstuaryEdit
In December 1944 it was decided to deploy Bibers against traffic to Antwerp in the Scheldt Estuary.[10] The force was based at Rotterdam with forward bases at Poortershaven and Hellevoetsluis.[10] The first attack took place on the night of the 22/23 of December.[10] Eighteen Biber were involved of which only one returned. The only allied loss caused by the operation was Alan-A-Dale.[10] Further operations between the 23rd and the 25th achieved no success and none of the 14 submarines deployed survived.[10] On the 27th the accidental release of a torpedo in the Voorneschen resulted in the sinking of 11 Bibers (although they were later recovered).[11] The three undamaged Bibers later sailed again; none returned.[11] An operation on the night 29/30 January resulted in damage to (much of it due to ice) or loss of most of the remaining Bibers.[10] Losses combined with RAF bombing prevented attacks from being mounted in February 1945.[10] The bombing had damaged the cranes used to move the Bibers into and out of the water.[12] Reinforcements allowed operations to continue until April 1945 but no successes were achieved and the Biber flotillas continued to take a very high rate of losses.[10] The last Biber mission was an attempt at mine laying and took place on the night of 26 April.[13] Of the four Bibers that took part, one ran aground and three were attacked by Thunderbolts, which sank two of them.[13]
Attempted attack on Vaenga BayEdit
In January 1945 an attempt was made to mount an attack on Vaenga Bay in the Kola Inlet.[14] The hope was either to attack one of the convoys that stopped there to refuel and take on ammunition or to attack the Soviet battleship Arkhangelsk (HMS Royal Sovereign on loan to the USSR).[14] As it happened neither the battleship nor a convoy were in the port at the time of the planned attack.[14] The plan was for U-boats to carry the Bibers within range of the harbour.[14]U-295, U-318 and U-716 set off from Harstad on 5 January with Bibers mounted on their casings.[14] Vibrations from the U-boats’ engines caused the Bibers stern glands to leak allowing water to reach the machinery space and as a result the mission was abandoned.[14]
Attack on Nijmegen road bridgeEdit
On 12 January 1945 Biber submarines were used in a night attack on the road bridge across the River Waal at Nijmegen.[1] The attack first involved releasing 240 mines into the river to clear defensive netting.[1] The Bibers then attacked in two waves.[1] The first was a group of 20 that fired their torpedoes at the bridge.[1] The second was a group of 4 towing explosive charges.[1] The attack was unsuccessful at least in part due to the level of allied artillery fire.[1]
Further developmentsEdit
Planning for two man versions (Biber II and Biber III) began but never got off the drawing board.[2]
Surviving examplesEdit
There are 22 known surviving Biber midget submarines around the world, including:
This craft was displayed at the Imperial War Museum, London. Currently displayed at IWM Duxford. It was one of three Bibers launched from the canal at Hellevoetsluis in late December 1944.[11] It was found sinking 49 miles (79 km) NE of Dover on 29 December 1944, its crewman had failed to properly close the engine exhaust system and died from resultant carbon monoxide poisoning. The minesweeper HMS Ready took it in tow and, even when it sank close to Dover harbour entrance, the Royal Navy still raised it and subjected it to extensive trials. One oddity discovered during the initial search of the boat was:
a bottle hidden under the seat and inside was a document in English, which, romantic as it read, appeared to have some bearing upon the capture of the submarine, and possibly the explanation of why the pilot met his end.[11]
That is all that the report says about that finding; any further details appear to have been lost.[11]
This Biber held by the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport.[16] It is in a working condition and believed to be the only fully operational World War 2 submarine in existence.[17] The submarine was restored to working condition by apprentices from Fleet Support Limited on a sandwich course in 2003 under the guidance of Ian Clark.[18] The restoration featured in the third series of Channel 4's television programme, Salvage Squad,[18][19] during which the craft was successfully test-dived in a flooded dry dock.
This example was discovered in 1990 during dredging operations in the Nieuwe Waterweg, in the Netherlands. It has since been restored.
Three more Bibers can be seen in the Netherlands; one in Vlissingen, at Fort Rammekens, and another at the Overloon War Museum. The third Biber is privately owned and displayed outdoors at the entrance to Siegerpark in Amsterdam, it has been painted red and white and serves as an advertising sign.[21]
About 130 Bibers were left in Norway at the time of the German surrender. Today, 5 of these are kept in original or restored condition at various museums: One at the Royal Norwegian Navy Museum, one at the Haakonsvern naval base, one at Kvalvik coastal fortress outside Kristiansund,[23] one at Tellevik coastal fortress[citation needed] outside Bergen and one at Søgne vicary outside Søgne.[24]
Other examples are displayed at the Blockhaus d'Éperlecques in Northern France, and at the Potts Park amusement park in Minden, Germany.
ReferencesEdit
NotesEdit
^ abcdefghBullen, John (1989). "The German Biber submarine". Imperial War Museum Review. 4: 79–86.
^Seeney, Brian (1 March 2004). . Museum News Archive. Royal Navy Submarine Museum. Archived from the original on 28 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
^ ab. maritime journal. Mercator Media Ltd. 1 December 2003. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2009.
^. (Refurbishment of the Biber's electric motor, with pictures.). Drives & Controls magazine. March 2004. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
Paterson, Lawrence (2006). Weapons of Desperation: German Frogmen and Midget Submarines of World War II. Barnsley, UK: Chatham Publishing. ISBN978-1-86176-279-5.
Rossler, Eberhard (2001). The U-Boat: The Evolution and Technical History of German Submarines. London: Cassell. ISBN0-304-36120-8.
Tarrant, V.E. (1994). The Last Year of the Kriegsmarine. London, Melbourne: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN1-85409-176-X.
biber, submarine, biber, german, beaver, german, midget, submarine, second, world, armed, with, externally, mounted, centimetre, torpedoes, mines, they, were, intended, attack, coastal, shipping, they, were, smallest, submarines, kriegsmarine, example, display. Biber German for beaver was a German midget submarine of the Second World War Armed with two externally mounted 53 centimetre 21 in torpedoes or mines they were intended to attack coastal shipping They were the smallest submarines in the Kriegsmarine Example on display at Technikmuseum Speyer GermanyClass overviewNameBiberBuildersFlender Werke LubeckOperators KriegsmarineCompleted324General characteristics BiberTypeMidget submarineDisplacement5 7 tonnes 2 Length8 9 m 29 ft 3 Beam1 6 m 5 ft 3 in 3 Height1 6 m 5 ft 3 in Propulsion32 hp 24 kW Otto petrol engine 3 13 hp 9 7 kW electric motor 3 Speed6 5 knots 12 0 km h surfaced 5 3 knots 9 8 km h submergedRange100 nautical miles surfaced 1 Test depth20 m maximum 4 Crew1ArmamentTwo G7e TIIIc torpedoes or two Torpedomine Typ B TMB The Biber was hastily developed to help meet the threat of an Allied invasion of Europe This resulted in basic technical flaws that combined with the inadequate training of their operators meant they never posed a real threat to Allied shipping despite 324 submarines being delivered One of the class s few successes was the sinking of the cargo ship Alan A Dale Several survive in museums including one in operational condition Contents 1 Development 2 Design 3 Operation 3 1 Fecamp harbour 3 2 Operations in the Scheldt Estuary 3 3 Attempted attack on Vaenga Bay 3 4 Attack on Nijmegen road bridge 4 Further developments 5 Surviving examples 6 References 6 1 Notes 6 2 Bibliography 7 External linksDevelopment EditConstruction of the first prototype began in February 1944 and was completed in less than 6 weeks 5 The initial prototype officially titled Bunteboot but better known as Adam was heavily influenced by the British Welman submarine 5 It differed from the final design in a number of respects such as being nearly 2 m 6 ft 7 in shorter 5 Following testing on the Trave river on 29 May twenty four Bibers were ordered 5 Design Edit nbsp The instruments and controls of a Biber submarine nbsp The propeller and wooden control surfaces The hull was built in three sections composed of 3 millimetres 0 12 in thick steel with an aluminium alloy conning tower bolted to the top 4 The conning tower contained armoured glass windows to allow the pilot to see out 4 The hydroplanes and rudder were made of wood and trying to control them while tracking the depth gauge compass and periscope made the craft hard to handle 4 Adding to the pilot s difficulties the craft lacked compensating and trimming tanks making staying at periscope depth a near impossibility 4 The Biber had two diving tanks one in the bow section and one in the stern 2 The submarine could be armed with either two TIIIc torpedoes with neutral buoyancy achieved by limiting the number of batteries on board mines or a mixture of the two 6 The torpedoes or mines were accommodated in semi circular recesses in the side of the hull These reduced the overall width of the loaded craft making land transport easier and also reduced drag in the water but at the cost of weakening the hull 7 The Biber was powered on the surface by a 32 hp 24 kW Otto Blitz petrol engine which was used despite concerns about the risks posed by the carbon monoxide the engine gave off 2 The engine had the advantage of being cheap and available in large numbers 2 Propulsion while submerged was provided by a 13 horsepower 9 7 kW electric motor supplied by three Type T13 T210 battery troughs 2 Operation Edit nbsp A Biber captured by the British Army near Arras France after being abandoned by the retreating Germans 1944 Biber operations were carried out under the auspices of the K Verband 3 a German naval unit which operated a mixture of midget submarines and explosive speedboats The training of Biber operators was originally planned to take eight weeks but the initial group of pilots was rushed through in just three weeks 8 Planning also called for flotillas of 30 boats and pilots with just under 200 shore support crew 8 Operations generally lasted from one to two days with pilots either using a drug known as D IX to stay awake on longer missions or caffeine laced chocolate 9 The poor quality of the Biber s periscope meant that night attacks had to be carried out on the surface 10 Fecamp harbour Edit The first Biber operation was launched on 30 August 1944 from Fecamp harbour Twenty two boats were launched but only fourteen were able to leave the harbour and of those fourteen only two managed to reach their operational area The Bibers were then withdrawn to Monchengladbach 9 Operations in the Scheldt Estuary Edit In December 1944 it was decided to deploy Bibers against traffic to Antwerp in the Scheldt Estuary 10 The force was based at Rotterdam with forward bases at Poortershaven and Hellevoetsluis 10 The first attack took place on the night of the 22 23 of December 10 Eighteen Biber were involved of which only one returned The only allied loss caused by the operation was Alan A Dale 10 Further operations between the 23rd and the 25th achieved no success and none of the 14 submarines deployed survived 10 On the 27th the accidental release of a torpedo in the Voorneschen resulted in the sinking of 11 Bibers although they were later recovered 11 The three undamaged Bibers later sailed again none returned 11 An operation on the night 29 30 January resulted in damage to much of it due to ice or loss of most of the remaining Bibers 10 Losses combined with RAF bombing prevented attacks from being mounted in February 1945 10 The bombing had damaged the cranes used to move the Bibers into and out of the water 12 Reinforcements allowed operations to continue until April 1945 but no successes were achieved and the Biber flotillas continued to take a very high rate of losses 10 The last Biber mission was an attempt at mine laying and took place on the night of 26 April 13 Of the four Bibers that took part one ran aground and three were attacked by Thunderbolts which sank two of them 13 Attempted attack on Vaenga Bay Edit In January 1945 an attempt was made to mount an attack on Vaenga Bay in the Kola Inlet 14 The hope was either to attack one of the convoys that stopped there to refuel and take on ammunition or to attack the Soviet battleship Arkhangelsk HMS Royal Sovereign on loan to the USSR 14 As it happened neither the battleship nor a convoy were in the port at the time of the planned attack 14 The plan was for U boats to carry the Bibers within range of the harbour 14 U 295 U 318 and U 716 set off from Harstad on 5 January with Bibers mounted on their casings 14 Vibrations from the U boats engines caused the Bibers stern glands to leak allowing water to reach the machinery space and as a result the mission was abandoned 14 Attack on Nijmegen road bridge Edit On 12 January 1945 Biber submarines were used in a night attack on the road bridge across the River Waal at Nijmegen 1 The attack first involved releasing 240 mines into the river to clear defensive netting 1 The Bibers then attacked in two waves 1 The first was a group of 20 that fired their torpedoes at the bridge 1 The second was a group of 4 towing explosive charges 1 The attack was unsuccessful at least in part due to the level of allied artillery fire 1 Further developments EditPlanning for two man versions Biber II and Biber III began but never got off the drawing board 2 Surviving examples EditThere are 22 known surviving Biber midget submarines around the world including nbsp Biber No 90 on display at the Imperial War Museum 2008 Biber No 90This craft was displayed at the Imperial War Museum London Currently displayed at IWM Duxford It was one of three Bibers launched from the canal at Hellevoetsluis in late December 1944 11 It was found sinking 49 miles 79 km NE of Dover on 29 December 1944 its crewman had failed to properly close the engine exhaust system and died from resultant carbon monoxide poisoning The minesweeper HMS Ready took it in tow and even when it sank close to Dover harbour entrance the Royal Navy still raised it and subjected it to extensive trials One oddity discovered during the initial search of the boat was a bottle hidden under the seat and inside was a document in English which romantic as it read appeared to have some bearing upon the capture of the submarine and possibly the explanation of why the pilot met his end 11 That is all that the report says about that finding any further details appear to have been lost 11 The pilot of the Biber was later identified as Joachim Langsdorff who was the son of Captain Hans Langsdorf of the Admiral Graf Spee 15 The craft was given to the Imperial War Museum 3 April 1946 1 Biber No 105 nbsp Submarine No 105 with a torpedo mounted at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum This Biber held by the Royal Navy Submarine Museum Gosport 16 It is in a working condition and believed to be the only fully operational World War 2 submarine in existence 17 The submarine was restored to working condition by apprentices from Fleet Support Limited on a sandwich course in 2003 under the guidance of Ian Clark 18 The restoration featured in the third series of Channel 4 s television programme Salvage Squad 18 19 during which the craft was successfully test dived in a flooded dry dock Biber at the Fort aan den Hoek van Holland nl 20 Hook of HollandThis example was discovered in 1990 during dredging operations in the Nieuwe Waterweg in the Netherlands It has since been restored Three more Bibers can be seen in the Netherlands one in Vlissingen at Fort Rammekens and another at the Overloon War Museum The third Biber is privately owned and displayed outdoors at the entrance to Siegerpark in Amsterdam it has been painted red and white and serves as an advertising sign 21 nbsp A preserved Biber at Potts Park Minden Germany Other Bibers are displayed at the Deutsches Museum in Munich 22 the Technikmuseum Speyer in Speyer and the Rheinmuseum in Emmerich am Rhein Germany About 130 Bibers were left in Norway at the time of the German surrender Today 5 of these are kept in original or restored condition at various museums One at the Royal Norwegian Navy Museum one at the Haakonsvern naval base one at Kvalvik coastal fortress outside Kristiansund 23 one at Tellevik coastal fortress citation needed outside Bergen and one at Sogne vicary outside Sogne 24 Other examples are displayed at the Blockhaus d Eperlecques in Northern France and at the Potts Park amusement park in Minden Germany References EditNotes Edit a b c d e f g h Bullen John 1989 The German Biber submarine Imperial War Museum Review 4 79 86 a b c d e f Kemp 1996 pp 188 191 a b c d e Tarrant 1994 pp 34 36 a b c d e Paterson 2006 pp 62 63 a b c d Paterson 2006 p 60 Paterson 2006 p 61 Mark Stille 20 June 2014 Axis Midget Submarines 1939 45 Osprey Publishing pp 23 24 ISBN 978 1 4728 0122 7 permanent dead link a b Paterson 2006 pp 64 65 a b Paterson 2006 p 66 a b c d e f g h i Kemp 1996 pp 201 204 a b c d e Paterson 2006 pp 147 151 Tarrant 1994 p 214 a b Tarrant 1994 pp 222 223 a b c d e f Kemp 1996 pp 204 206 Submersible Midget Submarine Biber 90 German Imperial War Museum entry about Biber 90 Archived from the original on 31 December 2013 Retrieved 6 November 2013 Biber Royal Navy Submarine Museum Archived from the original on 2017 02 09 Retrieved 2009 01 13 Seeney Brian 1 March 2004 Our German Submarine has a Starring TV Role Museum News Archive Royal Navy Submarine Museum Archived from the original on 28 December 2008 Retrieved 2009 01 26 a b Submarine Sandwich Course for Portsmouth Apprentices maritime journal Mercator Media Ltd 1 December 2003 Archived from the original on October 13 2008 Retrieved 26 January 2009 Rapid motor refurb helps put WWII sub back in the water Refurbishment of the Biber s electric motor with pictures Drives amp Controls magazine March 2004 Archived from the original on 25 July 2011 Retrieved 18 June 2010 forthvh nl Fedor de Vries German Biber Midget Submarine Archived from the original on 3 October 2011 Retrieved 15 August 2011 Williamson amp White 2001 p 57 Biber enmanns ubat Brunsvika in Norwegian 25 May 2009 Retrieved 5 March 2023 Hitlers hemmelige vapen Sogne Kultur in Norwegian Archived from the original on 5 March 2023 Retrieved 5 March 2023 Bibliography Edit Kemp Paul 1999 Midget Submarines of the Second World War London Caxton Editions ISBN 1 84067 521 7 Kemp Paul 1996 Underwater Warriors London Arms amp Armour Press ISBN 1 85409 228 6 Paterson Lawrence 2006 Weapons of Desperation German Frogmen and Midget Submarines of World War II Barnsley UK Chatham Publishing ISBN 978 1 86176 279 5 Rossler Eberhard 2001 The U Boat The Evolution and Technical History of German Submarines London Cassell ISBN 0 304 36120 8 Tarrant V E 1994 The Last Year of the Kriegsmarine London Melbourne Arms and Armour Press ISBN 1 85409 176 X Williamson Gordon White John 2001 German Seaman 1939 45 Botley UK Osprey ISBN 1 84176 327 6 External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Biber Submarines Extended Biber informationsite Salvage Squad A Biber class submarine No 105 was fully restored by the UK Channel 4 television program Salvage Squad Portal nbsp World War II Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Biber submarine amp oldid 1179340668, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
