The Marder or “Pine Marten” was not designed as a mature Midget Submarine class like the Molch or the Seehund, but as a manned torpedo. This midget submarine was an advanced design based on the “Neger” submarine. Although the Marders had limited success, the pilots considered them as suicide vessels, often taking Pervitin, a powerful amphetamine before a mission.
Specifications
It was a 5,5 ton vessel with a 360 degree view plexiglas cockpit and about 8 meters long and half a meter wide. While the Neger could not fully submerge, the Marder could reach a depth of 30 meters although it could not stay submerged for a long period. The Marder lacked a periscope, instead the pilot sat in front under the Plexiglas dome giving a view of its surroundings. The Marder had a compass inside the dome for navigation. The pilot wore a rubber suit and used an oxygen mask to avoid carbon dioxide poisoning.
Underneath the vessel one G7e torpedo was attached, after firing the torpedo the pilot could come back to port with the top compartment. Submerged it had a speed of almost 3 km/h, on the surface it could reach 3,5 km/h. It’s operational range was about 55 kilometers, due to its limited reach and diving depth it only saw action in the Mediterranean and the English Channel.
Operational history
The Marder entered service in 1944. It’s first action was on the night between 2 and 3 Augustus 1944, when a group of 58 mixed Neger and Marder manned torpedo’s of the Kriegsmarine attacked the invasion shipping at Coureulles-sur-Mer, France. The manned torpedo’s sank an Allied liberty ship, a mine sweeper and a destroyer and damaged a cruiser and transport ship during the attack. But the toll on the midget submarines was arguable, only 17 of the 58 returned to port.
