Midget subs and submersible craft

Originally Posted by planeman

Does PLAN have any small subs or submersible fast transport/attack boats?

Just never heard of any in Chinese service which is odd as many navies have something.

Can you give examples of them in other navies? I've never heard of small subs or submersible fast transport/attack boats

The Diesel submarines are small I guess check out the picture they look small to me. Song or Yuan

How small are you thinking? If true to the title, midget subs have proved to be pretty much useless. The IJN used midget subs extensively and they had little to zero impact in WW2.

Well, in world war two British and Italian midget subs had huge strategic impact. So history isn't entirely against them.

North Korea and Iran are prime examples of midget sub operators, and have submersible fast attack/infiltration boats also. But off the top of my head midget subs are also operated by Pakistan, Croatia, Columbia.

Some midget submarines are used as swimmer delivery vehicles whilst others lay mines or carry torpedoes.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midget_submarine for an overview

Originally Posted by planeman

Well, in world war two British and Italian midget subs had huge strategic impact. So history isn't entirely against them.

North Korea and Iran are prime examples of midget sub operators, and have submersible fast attack/infiltration boats also. But off the top of my head midget subs are also operated by Pakistan, Croatia, Columbia.

Some midget submarines are used as swimmer delivery vehicles whilst others lay mines or carry torpedoes.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midget_submarine for an overview

Thank you for the info. A pack of midget subs is perfect for a carrier to protect, but I was thinking of a bigger-sized midget sub with more fire power, preferrabbly the same as the full-fledged submarines. I also imagine them to have the crew inside escape pods that can eject in an emergency, similar to fighter jets.

Originally Posted by planeman

Well, in world war two British and Italian midget subs had huge strategic impact. So history isn't entirely against them.

North Korea and Iran are prime examples of midget sub operators, and have submersible fast attack/infiltration boats also. But off the top of my head midget subs are also operated by Pakistan, Croatia, Columbia.

Some midget submarines are used as swimmer delivery vehicles whilst others lay mines or carry torpedoes.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midget_submarine for an overview

It was also use by columbia druglord to smuggle drugs and prove effective in evading detection.

Does PLAN have any types in this general catagory?

Well, these IMO are quite useful.
Pakistan's Cosmos class
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...stan/mg110.htm

As for China, Dongfeng had a small page on Chinese midget subs back in 2003 I think but is scrapped. China did have small subs for rescue operation(?) or research in that field.... can't find anything now, and not much on google either.

thanks. I've found a few other examples around the world so maybe a "Bluffer's Guide to midget submarines 2007" is on the cards.

If you do do the guide, keep in mind that Croatian navy no longer operates any midget subs - nor does it plan to procure new ones in the future. "Velebit", though relatively young, was retired some time ago, probably due to maintenance costs and some technical issues.