#German molch mini submarine archive
#German molch mini submarine series
#German molch mini submarine free

The rest of the machines in the kit have only numbers on the tower. The latter and also one grey Biber were also decorated with a shark mouth. The decal sheet brings markings for four overall grey Bibers and one bearing a camouflage scheme consisting of four colours. The A sprue offers the fuselage halves, B sprue has the torpedoes. The Molch was based on torpedo technology, and carried two G7e torpedoes attached externally on either side of the craft. The kit’s components come on two grey styrene sprues and one with clear parts. The kit is 3D designed and injection moulded using metal moulding blocks. Some of the surviving machines have been put to display in museums. Several Biber submarines were captured during the war, but the Allies did not seem to find interest in them and tested them only very briefly. Moreover, the Biber although being rather manoeuvrable and stable on the surface, was clumsy while under the water. The conning tower lacked in height causing the submarine pilot, who was equipped only with wrist compass, difficulties in finding his way to the target. Some trouble also occured due to the exhaust fumes getting into the operator’s station and many Bibers were lost just to this reason. Bibers did not enjoy much success in the torpedo-carrying role, mine-laying missions suited them better. The Molch was based on torpedo technology, and carried two G7e torpedoes attached externally on either side of the craft. The Biber prototype, known also as Adam, was put to tests on 29 March 1944, though the tests were not quite successful and several improvements had to be implemented before German admiral Karl Dönitz approved building of further four prototype Bibers and later also the large scale production, which gave a total of 324 Bibers from Flanderwerke, Ansaldo and Klökner-Humbolt-Deutz plants.īibers were put into so-called K-flottillen numbered 1 to 9, which saw action in the English Channel during the Allied invasion, in the North Sea off Norway, in the Scheldt estuary and also in the river Waal during the attack on the Nijmegen bridge. The hull was so diminutive that its operator (only a crew of one was possible) did not have much space in the conning tower. It could carry either two G7e torpedoes or mines. The Biber could submerge down to 20m, in emergency to 30m. The Biber’s displacement was 6.6 tonnes, on the surface it was powered by a 32 HP Otto Blitz petrol engine and while submerged, the propulsion was provided by a Siemens SSW GL231 electric motor.

#German molch mini submarine free

Original watercolour and gouache on Bockingford 300gsm acid free NOT (Cold Pressed). Allegedly, Bartels was influenced by captured British Welman W46 midget sub. The Molch Artist: Dennis Andrews Subject: German Molch midget submarine. Unlike other midget submarine versions such as the Molch and the Biber which were rushed into service, the Seehund was build from scratch with all lessons learned and ready for action in late 1944. The original idea of the Biber sub came from Korvettenkapitän Robert Bartels and first prototypes were built and the production took place at Flanderwerke in Lübeck, the development being led by Hermann Bunte. German Molch Midget Submarine Hobbyboss 1:35 (HB85508) The Molch or Newt/salamander in German were designed as one man submarines or mini submarines. This German midget submarine named Seehund (Eng: Seal) was the most successful mini-submarine of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine).

#German molch mini submarine series

Along the Neger, Marder and Hai manned torpedoes, also the Biber and Molch midget submarines were to stop the invasion fleet. Molch was an unsuccessful series of one-man midget submarines created during World War II. In 1943 it became clear that the Allied invasion would take place soon somewhere on the Atlantic coast of the continent and the German military began to seek and develop new and rather unorthodox weapons to avert the invasion. , the first really operational vessel was designed, but at this time (spring of 1945) their use was against all odds.The Biber was one of the weapon systems developed during the Second World War at the time when the situation on both fronts was gradually becoming worse and worse for Germany. While the early developments even were unable to dive, the last developments showed some quite advanced boats, but caused by the very short development times, none of them was flawless. Used between early summer of 1944 and the end of the war, those small vessels were a kind of last line of defense at the shorelines and had to operate against advanced allied anti-submarine forces at the French invasion coast.

#German molch mini submarine archive

While other nations like Britain and Italy used such vessels in successful in special operations, their German counterparts were unable to archive similar results.

The History of the German mini-submarines (Kleinkampfmittel) is the one of another desperate attempt to prevent the final outcome of the war. OpenCms - The OpenSource Content Management System