Eisvogel-class icebreaker

Eisvogel laid up in Wilhelmshaven
Class overview
Builders	Hitzler Werft
Operators	German Navy
In commission	1961-2006
Completed	2
Retired	2
General characteristics
Displacement	560 tonnes
Length	38.85 m (127 ft 6 in)
Beam	9.7 m (31 ft 10 in)
Draft	3.72 m (12 ft 2 in)
Ice class	140 tonne Hitzler pitching device (for icebreaking)
Propulsion	2 × Maybach MD655 diesel engines, generating 1,765 kW at 1400 rpm One controlled-pitch propeller, 3 m diameter
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h)
Range	2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	16 civilians
Sensors and processing systems	Navigation radar only
Armament	Fitted for one Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun

The Eisvogel class icebreakers (Type 721) was a two ship class built for the German Navy by the Hitzler Werft shipyard of Lauenburg/Elbe.

The Eisvogel was in service for the Naval Base Command Kiel and sold to private owners after decommissioning. Since 2010 she is operated as a civil tugboat in Trieste.

The Eisbär was based along the German North Sea coast. After decommissioning she was laid up in Wilhelmshaven later sold to the Netherlands.

List of Ships

Pennant number	Name	Call sign	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Fate/Base
A 1401	Eisvogel		April 28, 1960	March 11, 1961	March 3, 2006	Sold to Italy
A 1402	Eisbär		June 9, 1969	November 1, 1961	October 30, 1997	Sold to the Netherlands

The ships are named after the European kingfisher (Eisvogel) and polar bear (Eisbär), both names contain the German word for ice.

See also

• Icebreaker Eisvogel—an unrelated vessel

External links

• Special Vessels - Hitzler Werft's webpage about special ships built by them, including the Eisvogel class

Further reading

• Gerhard Koop/Siegfried Breyer: Die Schiffe, Fahrzeuge und Flugzeuge der deutschen Marine von 1956 bis heute, Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1996, ISBN 3-7637-5950-6 (German)