Zeedier-class submarine

The Zeedier-class non-nuclear submarine is a 76 metre long diesel-electric submarine. It was commissioned during the Vogels administration as the first real Knootian combat submarine and – for a long time – it was the only submarine in service for the Marine of the Knootian Defence Force.

Crewed by 49 men and women, the Zeedier-class submarines had much better crew facilities than classes of comparable size. A new Diesel-electric engine design gave the boat a decent underwater range, and made it sufficiently silent underwater for effective use in reconnaissance and escort missions. The engine gave the submarine a speed of 12 knots when surfaced and 21 knots submerged. Its maximum depth exceeded 300 metres.

If the boat carried a full complement of underwater mines she could carry 19 torpedoes. With a hydraulic torpedo reload system it could reload all four tubes in less than 10 minutes. The submarine was also capable of firing medium-range missiles. It had no deck gun.

The historic KDF Dolfijn.was for a long time the first and only Knootian submarine, and it is currently on display in a museum in Den Helder. The Zeedier-class was extensively used to patrol the Reich coast as part of the cold war between the Reich and SATO. Nowadays the class is being taken out of rotation but it still finds it use as a Battleship Battlegroup escort until a sufficient number of nuclear submarines has been built to replace them.