U-32 was built by the German Submarine Consortium at the shipyards of Thyssen Nordseewerke of Emden and Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft at Kiel. She was launched on 4 December 2003, and was commissioned in a joint ceremony with her sister ship U-31 by the German Minister of Defence, Peter Struck, in Eckernförde on 19 October 2005. U-32 is propelled by one diesel engine and an electric motor driven by two fuel cells and features a cavitation-free screw, making her virtually undetectable.