The BIBER (BEAVER) was one of several SPECIAL ASSAULT craft - ‘K CRAFT’ or ‘KLEIN KAMPFMITTEL’ produced for local defense during WW II. With the new MOLCH (SALAMANDER) it was the smallest of the seven midgets put into production, being designed for one-man operation.

The BIBER was inspired by the British WELMAN craft, one of which was captured after an abortive attack on BERGEN in November, 1943. Work began at the Flender Yard, Lubeck, in March 1944 on a prototype nick-named the ‘BUNTE’ boat, after the head of the shipyard; its code name was ‘ADAM’. Between may and November, 326 BIBERs were built by various firms.

The first operational use of the BIBER was on the night of August 29/30, 1944 against the ALLIED invasion fleet lying off Normandy, but it produced little result. Further attacks were made during the winter of 1944-45 in the Den Helder area. In the Schelot Estuary, they claimed to have damaged 95,000 tons of shipping between December 1944 and May 1945, but in fact they inflicted relatively little damage while sustaining heavy losses themselves. According to British records BIBER and MOLCH craft made 102 sorties, sank no ships and damaged none, although their mines accounted for seven ships sunk and two damaged, totaling only 16,000 tons in all. To achieve this, 70 BIBERs and MOLCHs were sunk.

On January 5, 1945 three TYPE VII-C U-Boats left Harstadt with BIBERs on deck in an unsuccessful attempt to attack the Russian battleship ARKANGHELSK (formerly HMS ROYAL SOVEREIGN) which had recently arrived in Murmansk.

When running on the surface the BIBER was driven by a petrol motor at a speed of 6-1/2 knots, and could run for 13 hours. When submerged the electric motor drove it at 5-1/4 knots for 2-1/4 hours. The armament comprised two conventional G7E torpedoes slung below the hull.

Other designs were planned, BIBER II & BIBER III with two operators and larger hulls; and BIBER III in particular, had a range of 1,100 miles on the surface, which would have made it more formidable weapon. Neither was built.

Displacement 6.3 tons
Dimensions 29’ 6” x 5’ 3” (beam) x 4’ 9”
Machinery single shaft petrol/electric
Power (petrol) 32hp
Power (electric) 13hp

ROBERT, many thanks for this information. GERRY RICHTER (214-LIFE-1986), after riding U-81 as Oberfunkmaat for several patrols (during one of which your boat sank the aircraft carrier HMS ARK ROYAL and badly damaged the battleship HMS MALAYA), you were a BIBERFAHRER. What can you tell us of your experiences with this one-man submarine?

Operation Caesar: German Biber