The first Schnellboot designs began as experimental craft in 1929-1930 rather than a settled wartime class. The first six were sold to Spain in 1936 and served the Nationalist side during the Spanish Civil War. German development continued through the first diesel-powered S 6 and the improved S 7 form. Some early boats were converted into fast submarine hunters during the war. Survivors later passed to Britain, Norway, and the Soviet Union, giving the experimental line a long afterlife across former enemy fleets.
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Schnellboot prototypes in Spain and post-war fleets
The early Schnellboot line served as an export and technology-transfer story as well as a German design programme, beginning with sales to Nationalist Spain and ending in several Allied navies.