All hands lost (See below for names)

Commanders of U-7 include:

SIEGFRIED KOITSCHKA (225-+-1986)

NOTE – Sharkhunters Member’s names appear in bold capital letters followed by their Membership Number

The first Skipper of U-7 was Kapitänleutnant Kurt Freiwald but the first combat commander was Kapitänleutnant Walter Heidel who later commanded U-55 where he was killed in action. 13 January 1940, command passed to Kapitänleutnant Schrott who later commanded U-551 where he was killed in action.

U-7 was attached to the 1st U-Bootflottille which was then based in Kiel. She made Feindfahrten (war patrols) over 24 August through 8 September and also 18 September through 3 October of 1939; then 13 through 28 January 1940 and other patrols covering 3 March to 18 May of 1940. During one of these latter Feindfahrten, the crew of U-7 occupied a Norwegian lighthouse on Marsten Island.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-7 (Heidel commanding)

U-7 was transferred to the 21st U-Bootflottille as a schulboot (school boat) and the Commanders who trained aboard her are listed above.

Men lost on U-7

Deepest thanks to our friends at the U-Bootskameradschaft Kiel for allowing us to bring their sacred book containing the names of all 28,863 U-Bootfahrer who were lost in action during World War II here to the USA where we carefully copied all the names of the fallen and list them here on our site.  Ours is the only website in the world that lists all these names.

Conning tower emblem U-9

Much of this information, the data, the photos etc. comes directly from the veterans, the veterans’ organizations and is the most accurate available anywhere …much of this information is not even known elsewhere.

U-9 pre-war	U-9 at sea early in the war

No men lost

Commanders of U-9 include:

Lüth

NOTE – Sharkhunters Member’s names and Membership Number appear in bold capital letters.

*  Wolfgang Lüth was the second most successful combat submarine commander of World War II and he earned the Knights Cross with Oak Leaf, Crossed Swords and Diamonds.  He was the first U-Bootfahrer to earn this very high award.  More than a week after the end of the war, he was walking from the headquarters of Großadmiral Karl Dönitz in the naval academy at Flensburg/Mürwick late at night.  In the dark, the sentry challenged for the password. Deep in thought, Lüth did not hear the sentry and so did not return the password. Following the standing orders put in place by Lüth himself – the sentry fired, killing Wolfgang Lüth instantly. A Board of Inquiry quickly cleared the sentry of any wrongdoing. A rumor persisted that Lüth was so despondent at the crushing defeat of the Third Reich that he deliberately did not return the password, thereby wanting to be shot dead. Korvettenkapitän REINHARD HARDEGEN (102-LIFE-1985) knew Lüth quite well and he told us that this was not true – Lüth did not want to die; he was just so deep in thought that he did not hear the sentry. It was one of those terrible wartime accidents known as ‘Friendly Fire‘.

**  When Deecke was in command of U-584, he put four agents ashore in June 1942 at Ponte Vedre Beach, Florida (by Jacksonville) as the second half of Operation PASTORIUS, the plan to disrupt aluminum and aircraft production in the USA.

U-9 was initially attached to U-Bootflottille Weddigen then to the 1st U-Bootflottille based then in Kiel.  She had several mine laying operations in the North Sea – in particular off Cromarty Firth on 10 February 1940.  She operated off Norway in April 1940 during the Norway Invasion.  She operated off Holland in May 1940 then in October 1942, she was decommissioned, disassembled and taken by truck over the Autobahn then by barge down the Donau (Danube) river to Romania where she was rebuilt, recommissioned on 28 October 1942 and attached to the 30th U-Bootflottille operating in the Black Sea.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-9 (Lüth commanding)

FLANDRIA	SIGURD FAULBAUMS

*    SAN TIBURCO struck a mine in the field laid by U-9 over the night 9/10 February 1940.
**  SIGURDS FAULBAUMS was a German ship that had been captured by the British.
She was en route to England as a Prize of War when she was sunk by Lüth.

SHIPS ATTACKED BY U-9 (Petersen commanding)

+        Small fishing boat sunk by 20mm gunfire
++    Fired GNAT and observed large explosion after two minutes thirty-one seconds in a small convoy. There was a heavy oil smell in the area the next day.  Postwar records indicate that this was probably the Torpedoboat ZASCITNIK (T-411) but it is possible that it was a damaging hit of the Torpedoboat STORM.
+++   U-9 saw one torpedo hit and explode on the bow of the ship. No confirmation.

On 25 May 1944, they fired at a large ship of 9,000 tons and heard an explosion after eleven and a half minutes. There was no confirmation and this was probably an end-of-run detonation.

Conning tower emblem U-10

Much of this information, the data, the photos etc. comes directly from the veterans, the veterans’ organizations and is the most accurate available anywhere …much of this information is not even known elsewhere.

No men lost

Commanders of U-10 include:

       
SCHULZ (162-+-1986)           Mützelberg

NOTE – Sharkhunters Member’s names appear in bold capital letters followed by their Membership Number.

*  GEORG WILHELM SCHULZ (162-+-1986) was known as ‘Vatti‘ Schulz (Papa Schulz) by the men of the U-Bootwaffe because he was well liked and highly respected.  He is probably best known for his ‘Edelweißboot‘ (U-124) but in addition, he trained many of the best U-Boat Skippers – REINHARD HARDEGEN (102-LIFE-1985), Werner Henke, Joachin Mohr to name just a few.

**  We note that Rolf Mützelberg was killed with U-203, not killed in action (KIA) because he was not killed in combat.  In a safe area with a calm sea, Mützelberg stopped the boat and allowed his men to swim off the boat.  He dived off the bridge and failed to take into account the wide saddle tanks of the Type VII boat – he struck his head on the tank, killing himself in a sad accident.

From 9 September 1935, U-10 was attached to a training flotilla as a schulboot (training boat).  When war broke out, she assigned to a Front-Bootflottille as a Frontboot (combat boat) where she operated in the North Sea and the North Atlantic until June of 1940.  She was then transferred to the 21st U-Bootflottille based in Pillau as a permanent schulboot.  U-10 was decommissioned 1 August 1944 and was broken up for scrap after the war.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-10 (Preuss commanding)

KVERNASS in port	AMELAND in port	the end of AMELAND

Deepest thanks to our friends at the U-Bootskameradschaft Kiel for allowing us to bring their sacred book containing the names of all 28,863 U-Bootfahrer who were lost in action during World War II here to the USA where we carefully copied all the names of the fallen and list them here on our site.  Ours is the only website in the world that lists all these names.

No men lost

Commanders of U-11 include:

  
RÖSING (313-+-1987)                  Schütze

NOTE – Sharkhunters Member’s names appear in bold capital letters followed by their Membership Number.

U-11 was temporarily attached to the 1st U-Bootflottille then based in Kiel then quickly sent to a training flotilla as a schulboot (training boat).  She saw no combat, made no attacks, was decommissioned at Kiel, surrendered to the Allies in May 1945 and later broken up for scrap

Deepest thanks to our friends at the U-Bootskameradschaft Kiel for allowing us to bring their sacred book containing the names of all 28,863 U-Bootfahrer who were lost in action during World War II here to the USA where we carefully copied all the names of the fallen and list them here on our site.  Ours is the only website in the world that lists all these names.

No men lost – all captured

Commanders of U-12 include:

U-12 was on maneuvers 15 through 17 May 1939 then she went on operational patrol in the English Channel.  This Feindfahrt (patrol) was to run from 25 August 1939 through 20 October 1939.  This probably would have consisted of more than one Feindfahrt due to the length of time.  Type II boats near their home waters did not experience war patrols of two months duration.  The boat apparently struck a mine 8 October 1939 and was lost with all hands.

According to Oberleutnant zur See ERNST SCHMIDT (10-+-1983), an officer who served aboard U-345 and U-821, informed us that von der Ropp’s body washed ashore at Dunkirk soon after the sinking.  Perhaps a calculation of the tides and currents at the time could be used to determine the position of the wreck.

U-12 made no attacks and sank no ships during her brief time in the war.

Men lost on U-12

No men lost – all captured

Commanders of U-13 include:

Wolfgang Lüth

U-13 had several Feindfahrten (war patrols) off the northeast coast of Scotland from September 1939 through April of 1940, including one mine-laying mission off Orfordness, England on 4 September 1939 and in the Firth of Tay on 12 December 1939.  another war patrol was taken in the area of the Orkney Islands in April 1940.

On 12 September 1939, U-13 rescued the crew of a downed German aircraft in the North Sea.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-13 (Daublesky commanding)

MAGDAPUR	the end of MAGDAPUR	CAIRNMONA

*     MAGDAPUR struck a mine in the field laid down on 4 September 1939
**   CITY OF PARIS struck a mine in the field laid down 4 September 1939; was damaged, not sunk.
***  PHRYNE struck a mine in the field laid down on 4 September 1939

SHIPS SUNK BY U-13 (Scheringer commanding)

+   ANU struck a mine in the field laid down 12 December 1939

SHIPS SUNK BY U-13 (Schulte commanding)

X     Claimed a 4,000 ton steamer damaged by torpedo – no confirmation
XX   Claimed damage to an un-named destroyer of 1,870 tons – no confirmation
XXX Schulte saw one hit on the bow of a freighter of approximately 4,000 tons which blew off
the forecastle.  The ship sank in less than one minute.  No name was learned for this ship.

Additionally, on 28 April 1940 U-13 (Schulte) damaged the 6,999 ton British tanker SCOTTISH AMERICAN.

tanker SCOTTISH AMERICAN

No men lost

Commanders of U-14 include:

      
Victor Oehrn                         Herbert Wolhfarth                   Gerhard Bigalk                   Walter Kohntopp

*  Walter Kohntopp was accused of not being aggressive enough when he commanded U-995, was busted from Kapitänleutnant to ordinary seaman and was put on an anti-aircraft gun aboard a minesweeper.

U-14 was initially based at Memel (Klaipeda) when the war broke out and operated in the Baltic.  In September 1939, U-14 operated off Scapa Flow and later in September 1939, off the northeast coast of Scotland then back there again in February 1940.  Over January and February of 1940, U-14 patrolled off the coast of Holland, then off Norway in April 1940 during the Norway Action.

Wellner claimed sinking two submarines, one on 3 September 1939 and the other on 24 September 1939.  No confirmation.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-14 (Wohlfarth commanding)

SS ABBOTSFORD

All hands lost – 23 men. See below for names.

Commanders of U-15 include:

On 5 September 1939, U-15 laid mines off Flamborough Head (England) then on 17 November she laid a minefield off Lowestoft.  In between these mine-laying operations, U-15 conducted Feindfahrten (war patrols) along the French coast and also in the English Channel over September and October of 1939.

U-15 departed Wilhelmshaven on 30 January 1940 with the German torpedoboat ILTIS as her escort.  There was an accidental collision between the two vessels resulting in the loss of U-15 and her entire crew.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-15 (Bucholz commanding)

NOTE – Both GOODWOOD and ORSA ran onto mines planted by U-15 off Flamborough Head on 5 September 1939.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-15 (Frahm commanding)

NOTE – RESEARCHO ran onto a mine in the field planted by U-15 off Lowestoft on 17 November 1939.

Men lost on U-15

All hands lost – 28 men. See below for names

Commanders of U-16 include:

On 5 September 1939, U-16 conducted a mine-laying patrol off Tees Bay, England and a combat patrol off the Norwegian coast in September 1939.  She was on another mine-laying mission off Dover when she was lost.

Above Photos, left and right: HMS PUFFIN

According to one report, U-16 was attacked on 23 October 1939 by HMS PUFFIN and HMS CAYTON WYKE while she was on her mine-laying patrol but was not sunk.  It appears that one of her own mines detonated while being deployed on 24 October.

The wreck was discovered stranded on Goodwins Sands on 25 October by the Royal Army.  An attempt was made to board the boat at low tide but weather prevented this so a diving team came out the next day.  The boat appeared to have been slightly damaged down the portside and more extensively in the bows.  The casing abaft the conning tower was undamaged.  Two officers boarded the boat and found the conning tower hatch to be closed but not secured. Lieutenant Commander Furze climbed down until the water reached his shoulders, and he was able to bring up a variety of odds and ends but nothing of importance.  The tide began rising and no further progress could be made.  Weather prevented further access and it was 2 November 1939 before the boat could be approached again and by this time, the angle of list was rapidly increasing and the boat was silting up badly.  Nothing more was attempted and the boat was swallowed up in the sands.

According to official British reports we read:”Following detection of a submarine by the Loop indicator Station at St. Margaret’s Bay at about 1225Z on 24 October HMS PUFFIN and HMS CAYTON WYKE carried out a number of attacks between 1341Z and 1657Z with a limited number of depth charges set to fifty feet. After the last attack, a small amount of oil was seen. This was in approximate position 51º 10’N x 01º 29’E.  The ships remained in the area until dark but nothing further was seen. On the morning of 25 October 1939, U-16 was found stranded nearby on the Goodwins Sands. An officer who led a party out to inspect the submarine found the conning tower hatch open but owing to bad weather they did not enter the boat.  On the 26th, U-16 was sucked into the Sands where I suspect she remains today.  There is no evidence as to the fate of the crew and no bodies were found.”

Additional reports state:  “U-16 entered Kiel on 5 October 1939 and was taken over by the entire crew of U-14 which had to go into dock for major refit.  U-16 sailed on 16 October to lay mines off Dover.  The last report came from the boat at 0450 hours German time on 25 October saying ‘Seriously damaged; must scuttle’.  British records suggest there had been a contact at about noon of the 24th with HMS PUFFIN (LtCdr W. F. Hollins) and a few hours later with the trawler HMS CAYTON WYKE(Cdr. R. H. B. Hammond-Chambers) of the 1st Anti-Submarine Flotilla.  It is not certain whether the damage to U-16 resulted from depth charge attacks or from a mine.  However, during the morning of 25 October, five hours after sending her last message, U-16 was observed from a coastal station to be stranded on the Goodwins Sands.  An attempt to get aboard that evening proved too difficult and a diving boat was towed out early the next day.  A number of bodies in life jackets were washed up in Britain and France and one as far away as the island of Ameland.”

The wreck was located in April 1960 by four amateur divers.  Two of them, Ronald McCaig and Thomas Hatton entered the wreck through the open conning tower hatch.  They got as far as the engine area but could not go onward due to a blockage.  On returning for another attempt the following day, the diving team was unable to find the wreck again.

EDITOR NOTE – All this makes one wonder if there was any loss of life at all aboard U-16 during the attack and sinking.  Apparently, all (or most) got off the boat safely only to perish later in the sea.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-16 (Weingärtner commanding)

SHIPS SUNK BY U-16 (Wellner commanding)

<th”>TYPEGRT

NOTE – Ste. CLAIR ran onto a mine in the field planted by U-16.

Men lost on U-16

No men lost

Commanders of U-17 include:

U-17 was attached to the U-Bootflottille Weddigen and had several Feindfahrten (war patrols) in the North Sea as well as a mine laying operation off Dover on 5 September 1939.  On 26 April 1940 U-17 rescued the crew of a downed German plane off Norway.  In May 1943 U-17 was transferred to the 22nd U-Bootflottille, a training flotilla, and was a schulboot (school boat) for the rest of the war.

On 2 May 1945, she was scuttled by her own crew in Wilhelmshaven in Operation Regenbogen (Rainbow) against orders.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-17 (Behrens commanding)

SS RIJNSTROOM	SS GRUTTO

Conning tower emblem U-18

 1st sinking – 8 Men Lost.  (names not listed because it was pre-war)

 2nd sinking – No men lost.

Commanders of U-18 include:

U-18 was initially attached to the U-Bootflottille Lohs.  On 20 November 1936, she was sunk in a collision with the German torpedoboat T-156 and eight men were lost.  she was salvaged the following year and returned to service in 1937.

She had patrols in the Baltic over August and September of 1939 which included an engagement with a Polish submarine on 3 September 1939 with no outcome.  She patrolled in the North Sea periodically from September 1939 to January 1940 which included one patrol off Northern Scotland in October 1939.

Ernst Mengersen	Ernst Vogelsang	Karl Fleige

After combat in the early years of World War II, U-18 was reassigned to the 24th and 22nd U-Bootflottille as a schulboot (school boat) for another year.  Some of the Skippers listed here were training aboard U-18.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-18 (Mengersen commanding)

*  WIGMORE was listed as part of an Icelandic fishing convoy.

U-18 was one of the six Type II-B boats that were disassembled in Germany, moved via rivers and autobahns to Rumania where they were rebuilt and recommissioned in Galati, Romania on 6 May 1943 as the 30th U-Bootflottille in the Black Sea.  She had seven Feindfahrten (war patrols) in the Black Sea until her crew scuttled her off Costanzia.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-18 (Fleige commanding)

*  LENINGRAD was hit after a torpedo run of two and a half minutes
**   A “Q-Ship” is an ASW ship disguised as an old freighter to lure the submarine in close, a U-Boat trap
***   They fired through an open ASW net and observed a sinking ship

The unusually high number of “unknowns” and rounded off tonnage would indicate that there was no visual observation of ship sinkings and no confirmation from B-Dienst or other sources.

Under Fleige, U-18 concentrated her attacks in the area of the Batumi roadstead harbor. and off Tuapse in late 1943.  The conning tower emblem shown above was used when Fleige was commanding.

On 10 September 1944 U-18 was scuttled by her own crew off Costanzia as the Red Army closed in.

Front of conning tower U-19   Rear of conning tower U-19
                       

Another tower emblem         Mützenabzeichen (cap badge) of U-19

No men lost *

Commanders of U-19 include:

U-19 was initially attached to the U-Bootflottille Weddigen and the 1st U-Bootflottille then based at Kiel. In June 1940, she was transferred to the 24th and 22nd U-Bootflottille as a Schulboot (school boat) until April 1942.  This was one of the six Type II-B boats that were decommissioned and disassembled then shipped by rivers and autobahn to the Rumanian coast.  U-19 and the other five were reconstructed and recommissioned into the 30th U-Bootflottille based out of Costanzia, Rumania to attack Soviet shipping on the Black Sea.

 U-19 on patrol. Photos courtesy of a crew member of U-19

While with the 1st U-Bootflottille, U-19 had several patrols in the North Sea including mine laying off Yarmouth, England over the night of 16-17 October 1939 and again off Orfordness on 18 November 1939.

U-19 was recommissioned in the 30th U-Bootflottille on the Black Sea and patrolled there against Soviet shipping until the Red Army was closing in on their base.  This boat was sailed across the Black Sea and the crew scuttled her off the Turkish coast near Erekli.  The Skipper and three crewmen were interned in Turkey.  There is no record what happened to the other crewmen but apparently, they were repatriated.

Victor Schutze	Joachim Schepke

SHIPS SUNK BY U-19 (Meckel commanding):

NOTE – the three ships above ran onto mines laid by U-19 on 17 October 1939.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-19 (Schepke commanding):

*  NOTE – LOUVAIN flew the Belgian Flag but was actually the Latvian ship EVERNE

BALTANGLIA	MINSK
CHARKOW	VIKING

On 20 February 1940, Schepke fired at the 5,000 ton British tanker DAGHESTAN (photo right) but the torpedo detonated prematurely a few yards from the side of the ship, merely damaging her.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-19 (Gaude commanding)

On 23 March 1943, they observed one hit on a Soviet freighter of about 2,000 tons but could not observe further.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-19 (Ohlenberg commanding):

*  One of the crewmen of U-19 was killed in March 1945 in an accident months after the boat was scuttled. He was Obermaschinist Walter Schmidt, born 12 March 1916.

   

Conning tower emblems of U-20.  The Olympic Rings signify that one of the Skippers was from Naval Class 1936.

No men lost

Commanders of U-20 include:

U-20 was initially attached to the U-Bootflottille Lohs and the 1st U-Bootflottille then based at Kiel.  In June 1940, she was transferred to the 21st U-Bootflottille based in Pillau as a Schulboot (school boat) until September 1942.  This was one of the six Type II-B boats that were decommissioned and disassembled then shipped by rivers and autobahn to the Rumanian coast.  U-20 and the other five were reconstructed and recommissioned into the 30th U-Bootflottille based out of Costanzia, Rumania to attack Soviet shipping on the Black Sea.

While with the 1st U-Bootflottille, U-20 had several patrols in the North Sea, particularly off Northeastern Scotland in October 1939 and also January 1940.  She laid mines off Yarmouth, England over the night of 21 November 1939.

U-20 was recommissioned in the 30th U-Bootflottille on the Black Sea and she had seven Feindfahrten (war patrols) in the Black Sea against Soviet shipping including minelaying off the Caucasus on 20 September 1943 and again on 27 February 1944.  She was with the 30th U-Bootflottille until the Red Army was closing in on their base.  This boat was sailed across the Black Sea and the crew scuttled her off the Turkish coast near Erekli.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-20 (Möhle commanding):

   * IONIAN and WILLOWPOOL ran onto mines laid by U-20 on 22 November 1939.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-20 (von Klot Heydenfeldt commanding):

FREDENBORG	PESTEL

SHIPS SUNK BY U-20 (Schöler commanding):

SHIPS SUNK BY U-20 (Grafen commanding):

No men lost

Commanders of U-21 include:

Fritz Frauenheim	Wolf-Harro Stiebler	Karl-Heinz Herbschleb

U-21 had operations in the Firth of Forth in September 1939. She laid mines off the Firth of Forth over the night of 4 and 5 November 1939.  She had operations off Northeastern Scotland in November 1939 and had two Feindfahrten (war patrols) in the North Sea.  There was a diplomatic incident of some kind when U-21 was damaged in a marine accident in late March 1940 off the Southwestern coast of Norway while deployed in support of the imminent German invasion of Norway. The entire crew of U-21 was interned by the Norwegians until the attacking German forces released them.

U-21 was returned to Germany for overhaul in mid-1940, then attached to the 21st U-Bootflottille based at Pillau t be used as a schulboot (school boat).  U-21 was decommissioned at Neustadt on 5 August 1944 then broken up for scrap in Danzig in February 1945.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-21 (Frauenheim commanding):

   * HMS BAYONET and ROYAL ARCHER ran onto mines laid by U-21 on 4 November 1939.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-21 (Steibler commanding):=

SHIPS DAMAGED BY U-21 (Fraueheim commanding):

HMS BELFAST (seen here as museum ship in London today) ran onto a mine laid by U-21 on 4 November 1939.

All hands lost.

Commanders of U-22 include:

Harald Grosse	Werner Winter	Karl-Heinrich Jenisch

Initially U-22 was a Frontboot (combat boat) attached to U-Bootflottille Lohs then transferred to the 1st U-Bootflottille in Kiel.  When she was based out of Memel, U-22 had operations in the Baltic Sea then to the North Sea where she patrolled off the Moray Firth over November 1939 and then a mine-laying mission off Newcastle on the night of 20 December 1939.

U-22 struck a mine in the Skagerrak and was lost with all hands.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-22 (Grosse commanding):

There was no confirmation – maybe just end of run detonations.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-22 (Jenisch commanding):

*  MARS struck a mine laid down by U-22 on 15 December 1939.
**  LOCH DOON, HANNE and ESTON struck mines laid down by U-22 on 20 December 1939.
      

         HMS EXMOUTH

SHIPS DAMAGED BY U-22 (Jenisch commanding):

The torpedo detonated prematurely some yards off the side of STRATHCLOVA and probably only chipped some paint; no real damage.

U-23 Conning Tower Emblem

No men lost.

Commanders of U-23 include:

KRETSCHMER (122-1985)	Heinrich Driver

NOTE – Sharkhunters Member’s names appear in bold capital letters followed by their Membership Number.

U-23 finished up maneuvers over 13 to 23 September 1939 then she was attached as a Frontboot (combat boat) attached to the U-Bootflottille Weddigen then transferred to the 1st U-Bootflottille in Kiel.  She undertook three Feindfahrten (war patrols) in the North Sea.  She covered Northeastern Scotland September 1939 and February 1940 then in the area of the Orkney and Shetland Islands over December 1939 and January 1940, laid mines in Cromarty Firth on 4 November 1939.

No one else is aware that U-23 under OTTO KRETSCHMER (122-1985) was ready to sail into Scapa Flow and attack the battleship HMS ROYAL OAK.  He was quite angry when he and the other Type II-B boats in the North Sea were ordered to stand away from the Orkney Islands to avoid making the Royal Navy aware that an effort was coming to sneak U-47 into the anchorage to sink the battleship. KRETSCHMER knew nothing of this plan even though Günther Prien was a good friend AND it was KRETSCHMER‘s own brother, flying for the Luftwaffe, who did much of the aerial reconnaissance over Scapa Flow for Prien’s mission. Aerial photo of Scapa Flow (right)

U-23 was then assigned to the 21st U-Bootflottille based at Pillau where she was a Schulboot (school boat).  Later U-23 was decommissioned and disassembled, transported via autobahn and rivers to Romania where she was rebuilt and recommissioned in the 30th U-Bootflottille and operated out of Costanzia, Romania against Soviet forces based in the Black Sea.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-23 (KRETSCHMER commanding):

HMS DARING	LOCH MADDY bow (sinking)	LOCH MADDY stern (salved)

LOCH MADDY was initially torpedoed by U-57 (Korth) and abandoned.  U-23 hit her again and she broke apart.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-23 (Wahlen commanding):

*       Fishing boat sunk by gunfire;
**      Minesweeper sunk by gunfire
***    The tanker was beached when U-23 hit her with one more torpedo;
****  Fishing boat sunk with hand grenades; they took three prisoners.

SHIPS DAMAGED BY U-23 (Ahrendt commanding):

Ahrendt fired three torpedoes into Costanzia Harbor through the nets and reported two detonations near the dock of the Romanian destroyer REGELE FERDINAND and one detonation near a 6,000 ton freighter. Actually only OITUZ was hit and damaged but she was already damaged and this torpedo caused her to be a total loss.  The other torpedo hit a dock and damaged it.

      
U-24 Conning Tower Emblems    Mützenabzeichen (hat badge)

No men lost.

Commanders of U-24 include:

Udo Heilmann	Klaus Petersen	Martin Landt-Hayen

U-24 was attached to U-Flottille Lohs and U-Flottille Weddigen from 10 October 1936.  In August 1940 she was transferred to the 21st U-Bootflottille based at Pillau as a Schulboot (school boat) until April 1942. Later U-23 was decommissioned and disassembled, transported via autobahn and rivers to Romania where she was rebuilt and recommissioned in the 30th U-Bootflottille and operated out of Costanzia, Romania against Soviet forces based in the Black Sea.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-24 (Behrens commanding):

There was no confirmation – possibly end of run detonation.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-24 (Jeppner-Haltenhoff commanding):

CARMARTHEN COAST ran onto a mine in the field laid on 27 October 1939.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-24 (Schöler commanding):

SHIPS SUNK BY U-24 (Petersen commanding):

*  U-24 reported one hit on an escort that broke in two and sank quickly.  The Soviets called it a minesweeper.
**  EMBA was already damaged and lying at a repair dock in Suchumi Harbor.  This hit destroyed her.

On 22 August 1943, U-24 claimed sinking a small tugboat and two small landing craft by gunfire and demolition charges.  Six prisoners were taken from the amphibs.  Soviet sources said only two small motorboats were sunk.

31 October 1943 U-24 claimed sinking one PC or minesweeper; Soviet sources indicate two mine sweepers were lost.

On 5 November 1943, they heard their torpedo hit a Soviet tanker but it was a dud.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-24 (Landt-Hayen commanding):

* Claimed sinking a patrol boat near Poti
** Claimed sinking a patrol boat near Batuni
*** Attacked a patrol boat already beached with 20mm cannonfire and set it on fire.

U-24 was scuttled in Costanzia Harbor in the face of the advancing Red Army on 10 September 1944 (possibly as early as 25 August 1944). U-24 was later raised by the Soviets and used for training their submariners.  It is assumed that U-24 was eventually broken up for scrap.