Norway enters 1940 with submarines from another era

Norway's A-class submarines were pre-First World War German designs that were already twenty-six years old in 1940; all were lost during the invasion. Their age was especially troubling for pressure hulls repeatedly stressed by diving cycles. The domestically built B class was newer but still dated, with boats captured, scuttled, or disabled by mechanical failures. Their condition supports the argument that interwar Norway maintained the appearance of defense without funding a credible modern force.