U-Boat U9

12. to 13. October 2024

One highlight of the Technik Museum Speyer is an original German Navy submarine, which visitors to our museum can also view from the inside. The U9 submarine was built by Howaldtswerke in Kiel and put into service on 11 April 1967. It belongs to submarine class 205, making it part of the third generation of German submarines. It weighs 466 tonnes, is 46m long, 5m wide and had a draught of 4m. The nominal dive depth was 100m and it was armed with eight bow torpedo tubes. In addition to the U9, many small submarines can also be seen in the museum.

Information about the U9 submarine
The U9 dates from 1966 and was put into service in Kiel's Tirpitzhafen harbour. It was decommissioned in 1993 as part of the reduction in military capacity. During its service, the U9 travelled 174,850 nautical miles, which is equivalent to eight trips around the world. The ship spent 16,478 hours and 11 minutes submerged, which corresponds to a year and 11 months spent underwater. The exhibit on display in Speyer was registered with Nato as S-188. Thanks to the special shape of its hull, the U9 travelled faster underwater than above the surface. The 21 crew members were able to stay underwater for days with the modern underwater location system and snorkelling facilities. The submarine was powered by two MB four-stroke diesel engines and two propulsion generators.

After an extraordinary voyage of 1,000 kilometres, the former German Navy U9 submarine arrived in Speyer on 20 August 1993. The endeavour had begun in the Wilhelmshaven naval arsenal, where the boat had been located since it was taken out of service on 3 June 1993. The deep-sea tug boat Apollo, under the leadership of Captain Rypkema, was attached to the submarine with a hook and towed it through the North Sea to Rotterdam. North of the island of Wangerooge, the tug had to turn around at wind force 9 and sail back to Wilhelmshaven. The attempt then started on 13 August 1993, three days late. The 280 nautical miles to Rotterdam needed to be covered. After 36 hours of travel time, the tug arrived at the Dutch naval port of Rotterdam. Loading the 420-tonne submarine onto the "Lastdrager 14" pontoon was a feat. The pontoon was lowered into the harbour basin and two tugs towed the submarine on top of it.

Divers adjusted the U9 submarine for "swimming into" the transport saddles, which were specially manufactured and attached to the pontoon. After this, the pontoon and cargo resurfaced, with a total weight of 1,875 tons, and the ballast water was bailed. Then the 606-kilometre journey to Speyer began. The Dutch special ship "Sirius" pushed the "Lastdrager" with the submarine in front of it. 1,500 tonnes needed to be moved. Some of the transport also took place over night due to time pressure. Once arrived in Speyer, the submarine was taken on a special low-loader at walking pace along the main road to the museum. Thousands of people came out for the transport and gave the U9 an "escort", so to speak. It took five weeks until U9 was ready for exhibition and accessible to visitors.