  {|    |} the type 540 gal class submarine is a slightly modified variant of the german hdw type 206 submarine class (which includes the distinctive dome, or bulge, in the front of the boat), modified for israeli requirements. the gal class submarines were built to israeli specifications at the vickers shipyards type 540 at barrow in furness in the uk rather than germany for political reasons. "gal" (×× - hebrew for "wave") was the name of the son of abraham (ivan) dror, 3rd commander of the squadron and head of the project. the gal class of submarines were the first israeli navy submarines built to israeli navy specifications. they supplant previous generations of submarines employed from 1958 by the israeli navy which were refurbished and upgraded boats of the british s class and t class; submarines whose hull designs dated back to the decade before world war ii. since entering service in the late-1970s, these small but agile and sophisticated submarines were continuously upgraded with newer systems to maintain their technological edge. they were somewhat unique in that all boats of the class were at one point equipped with six tube retractable blowpipe surface to air missile launchers controlled from inside the boat, though these were later removed.http://www.whq-forum.de/cms/39.0.html the israeli newspaper maariv reports that gal class submarines were active in the 1982 lebanon war.
Barrow-built_ships Submarine_classes