The Barbel class of submarines, the last diesel-electric propelled submarines built by the United States Navy, incorporated numerous, radical engineering improvements over previous classes. They were the first production warships built with the teardrop-shape hull first tested on Albacore (SS_569), and the first to use an "attack center" within the hull rather than a conning tower in the sail.

In mid_2004, Taiwan's government allocated NT$412.1 billion to buy eight diesel-electric submarines for the Taiwanese Navy. Most countries that build submarines for export, such as Germany, cannot deal with Taiwan without harming their relations with China, so many analysts expect the United States to either sell the plans for the Barbel class or to actually build the submarines.

General Characteristics

• Displacement: 1745 tons light, 2316 tons full, 2644 tons submerged
• Length: 66.5 m (218 ft 1 in)
• Beam: 8.8 m (29 ft)
• Draft: 8.9 m (29 ft 3 in)
• Armament: six 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (bow), 18 torpedo capacity including 6 loaded
• Propulsion: three Fairbanks-Morse 38d(8 1/8)×10 3150 shp (2.3 MW) diesel engines, two General Electric 4800 shp (3.6 MW) motors
• Speed: 15 knots (28 km/h) surfaced, 12 knots (22 km/h) snorkeling, 21 knots (39 km/h) on battery
• Endurance: 0.5 hour at full speed, 102.0 hours at 3 knots (6 km/h)
• Range: 19,000 miles (31,000 km) without refueling
• Depth: 712 ft (217 m)
• Complement: 85 officers and men