Type II U-boat (German)

The Type II U-boat was designed by Nazi Germany as a coastal U-boat, modeled after the CV-707 submarine, which was designed by the Dutch dummy company NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw den Haag (I.v.S) (set up by Germany after World War I in order to maintain and develop German submarine technology and to circumvent the limitations set by the Treaty of Versailles) and built in 1933 by the Finnish Crichton-Vulcan shipyard in Turku, Finland. It was too small to undertake sustained operations far away from the home support facilities. Its primary role was found to be in the training schools, preparing new German naval officers for command. It appeared in four sub-types.

Germany was stripped of her U-boats by the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World War I, but in the late 1920s and early 1930s began to rebuild her armed forces. The pace of rearmament accelerated under Adolf Hitler, and the first Type II U-boat was laid down on 11 February 1935. Knowing that the world would see this step towards rearmament, Hitler reached an agreement with Britain to build a navy up to 35% of the size of the Royal Navy in surface vessels, but equal to the British in number of submarines. This agreement was signed on 18 June 1935, and U-1 was commissioned 11 days later.

The defining characteristic of the Type II was its tiny size. Known as the Einbaum (“dugout canoe”), it had the advantages over larger boats of the ability to work in shallow water, diving more quickly, and being more difficult to spot due to the low conning tower. However, it had a shallower maximum depth, short range, and cramped living conditions, and could carry fewer torpedoes.

The boat had a single hull, with no watertight compartments. There were three torpedo tubes forward (none aft), with space for another two torpedoes inside the pressure hull for reloads. A single 20 mm anti-aircraft gun was provided, but no deck gun was mounted.

Space inside was limited. The two spare torpedoes extended from just behind the torpedo tubes to just in front of the control room, and most of the 24-man crew lived in this forward area around the torpedoes, sharing 12 bunks. Four bunks were also provided aft of the engines for the engine room crew. Cooking and sanitary facilities were basic, and in this environment long patrols were very arduous.

Most Type IIs only saw operational service during the early years of the war, thereafter remaining in training bases. Six were stripped down to just a hull, transported by river and truck to Linz (on the Danube), and reassembled for use in the Black Sea against the Soviet Union.

In contrast to other German submarine types, few Type IIs were lost. This, of course, reflects their use as training boats, although accidents accounted for several vessels.

These boats were a first step towards re-armament, intended to provide Germany with experience in submarine construction and operation and lay the foundation for larger boats to build upon. Only one of these submarines survives to this day; the prototype CV-707, renamed Vesikko by the Finnish Navy which later bought it.

On 3 February 2008, The Telegraph reported that U-20 had been discovered by Selçuk Kolay, a Turkish marine engineer in 80 feet (24 m) of water off the coast of the Turkish city of Zonguldak. The paper also reported that Kolay knows where U-23 and U-19 are, scuttled in deeper water near U-20.

Comparison of Finnish Crichton-Vulcan CV-707(U2A) to German Type II
Characteristic		CV-707	Type IIA U1-U6
Launched		11 May 1933	1939–1940
Displacement (tonnes)	Surfaced	254	254
	Submerged	303	303
	Total	381	381
Size (meters)	Length	40.90	40.90
	Beam	4.10	4.10
	Draft	4.20	3.80
Speed (knots)	Surfaced	13	13
	Submerged	8	6.9
Range (nautical miles)	Surfaced	1,350 nmi (2,500 km; 1,550 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)	1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
	Submerged	40 nmi (74 km; 46 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph)	35 nmi (65 km; 40 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph)
Propulsion	Engine	Diesel-electric	Diesel-electric
	Diesel	2 × MWM Diesel 700 PS (690 shp; 510 kW)	2 × MWM Diesel 700 PS (690 shp; 510 kW)
	Electric	2 × SSW Electric 360 PS (360 shp; 260 kW)	2 × SSW Electric 402 PS (397 shp; 296 kW)

The Type IIA was a single hull, all welded boat with internal ballast tanks. Compared to the other variants, it had a smaller bridge and could carry the German G7a, G7e torpedoes as well as TM-type torpedo mines. There were two periscopes in the conning tower; aerial (navigation) periscope at the front of the tower, and attack periscope in the middle of the tower. There were serrated net cutters in the bow. The net cutters were adopted from World War 1 boats but were quickly discontinued during World War 2.

Deutsche Werke AG, of Kiel built six Type IIAs in 1934 and 1935.

The prototype built in Finland: Finnish submarine Vesikko.

There were six Type IIA submarines commissioned:

U-1 - U-2 - U-3 - U-4 - U-5 - U-6

The Type IIB was a lengthened version of the Type IIA. Three additional compartments were inserted amidships which were fitted with additional diesel tanks beneath the control room. The range was increased to 1,800 nautical miles at 12 knots. Diving time was also improved to 30 seconds.

Deutsche Werke AG, of Kiel, built four Type IIBs in 1935 and 1936, Germaniawerft, of Kiel, built fourteen in 1935 and 1936, and Flender Werke AG, of Lübeck, built two between 1938 and 1940, for a total of twenty built.

There were 20 Type IIB submarines commissioned:

U-7 - U-8 - U-9 - U-10 - U-11 - U-12 - U-13 - U-14 - U-15 - U-16 - U-17 - U-18 - U-19 - U-20 - U-21 - U-22 - U-23 - U-24 - U-120 - U-121

The Type IIC was a further lengthened version of the Type IIB with an additional two compartments inserted amidships to accommodate improved radio room facilities. The additional diesel tanks beneath the control room were further enlarged, extending the range to 1,900 nautical miles at 12 knots.

Deutsche Werke AG, of Kiel built eight Type IICs between 1937 and 1940.

There were eight Type IIC submarines commissioned:

U-56 - U-57 - U-58 - U-59 - U-60 - U-61 - U-62 - U-63

The Type IID had additional saddle tanks fitted to the sides of the external hull. These saddle tanks were used to accommodate additional diesel storage tanks. The diesel oil would float atop the saddle tanks and as the oil is consumed, sea water would gradually fill the tanks to compensate for the positive buoyancy. The range was nearly doubled to 3,450 nmi (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) and enabled the Type II to operate for longer durations around the British Isles. A further development was the propellers were fitted with Kort nozzles, intended to improve propulsion efficiency.

Deutsche Werke AG, of Kiel built sixteen Type IIDs in 1939 and 1940.

There were 16 Type IID submarines commissioned:

U-137 - U-138 - U-139 - U-140 - U-141 - U-142 - U-143 - U-144 - U-145 - U-146 - U-147 - U-148 - U-149 - U-150 - U-151 - U-152

German submarine U 1 on trials.

U-boat Type II on slip. Note the three torpedo tube hatch (port, lower stem, starboard) arrangement on the bow. Type VIIs (U31 et al) had a continuous stem with two torpedo tubes on each bow - streamlined with rectangular covers.

German Type IIB submarine U-7 in 1935.

U-boat Type IIA U-2 in Kiel, 1935.

German submarine U-9.

Submarine tender Saar and the submarines U8, U9, U10 and U11, 1936.

Four German Type IIA submarines in 1935: U1, U4 and U2. The fourth boat is not identified.

German type IIB submarine U-9 off Kiel, Germany, circa in 1935. Note the Laboe Naval Memorial in the right background.

German type IIB submarine U-9 at Kiel, Germany, in 1939.

German Type IIB submarine U-18 being re-assembled at the Galați shipyard, circa 1942/43. 1935-12-07 launched at Germaniawerft, Kiel; 1936-01-04 commissioned by Kriegsmarine; 1936-11-20 sunk at Lübeck Bay (8 dead); 1942 transported in sections by land and along the Danube to Galați, Romania; 1943 re-assembled at Galați shipyard; 1944-08-20 damaged in Soviet air raid at harbor of Constanţa; 1944-08-25 scuttled off Constanţa; 1944 raised by USSR and laid-up in Sevastopol; 1947-05-26 sunk off Sevastopol by the Soviet submarine M-120 (target practice).

Submarine CV-707 at Crichton-Vulcan shipyard, shortly after sea trial performed by German submarine specialists from Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (IvS); summer 1933.

The Finnish submarine Vesikko surfaces; 1 August 1941.

Finnish submarine Vesikko.

Gunner on the deck of Vesikko with 20mm Madsen anti-aircraft gun; 19 July 1941.

Crew of the submarine Vesikko; circa 1936/44.

Finnish submarine Vesikko; circa 1936/44.

Officers of the Vesikko on the conning tower; circa 1930s.

Maintenance on a torpedo aboard the Vesikko; 27 July 1941.

U-16, 1 January 1939.

Type I U-boat (German)

The Type I U-boat was the first post–World War I attempt by Nazi Germany’s Hocheseeflotte to produce an oceangoing submarine. Only two Type IAs were built, but the decision to halt production on further boats is believed to be because of political decisions and not because of major faults in the Type I design. Although the boats did not have any major design faults, they were known to be difficult to handle due to their poor stability and slow dive rate. The type was based on the design of the Finnish Vetehinen class and the Spanish Type E-1, designed by Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (the company also designed the Soviet S class submarine). The design later served as a basis for the development of other types of boats, primarily the VII and IX classes.

Constructed by Deschimag in Bremen, the first Type IA was launched on 14 February 1936. The two boats produced, U-25 and U-26, were primarily used as training vessels and for propaganda purposes to fly the Nazi flag. In 1940, the boats were called into combat duty due to the shortage of available submarines. Both boats experienced short, but successful combat careers.

German U-boat U-25 (1936)

German submarine U-25 was one of two Type IA ocean-going submarines produced by Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine. Constructed by DeSchiMAG AG Weser in Bremen as yard number 903, U-25 was commissioned on 6 April 1936. It experienced a short, but successful combat career, sinking eight ships and damaging one.

Until 1940, U-25 was primarily used as training vessel and for propaganda purposes by the Nazi government. During its trials it was found that the Type IA submarine was difficult to handle due to its poor stability and slow dive rate. In early 1940, the boat was called into combat duty due to the shortage of available submarines. U-25 participated in five war patrols, sinking eight ships and badly damaging one.

On 17 January 1940, 10 miles north of Shetland, U-25 torpedoed SS Polzella. Enid (Captain Wibe), of then-neutral Norway en route to Dublin, went to assist Polzella. U-25 then shelled and sank Enid. Her crew escaped in their lifeboats. None of Polzella ‘s crew survived.

U-25 sank eight vessels for a total of 50,255 gross register tons (GRT) and damaged one for 7,638 GRT.

Around 1 August 1940, while on a mine-laying mission near Norway, U-25 passed through British mine barrage number seven and struck a mine. The boat sank, taking all hands with it.

U-25 took part in one wolfpack, Prien (12–17 June 1940).

German Submarine U-26 (1936)

German submarine U-26 was one of the two Type IA ocean-going U-boats produced by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. Constructed in Bremen, U-26 was commissioned in May 1936. She experienced a short, but successful combat career, sinking eleven ships.

Until 1940, U-26 was primarily used as training vessel and for propaganda purposes by the German government.[citation needed] During her trials it was found that the Type IA submarine was difficult to handle due to her poor stability and slow dive rate.

In early 1940, the boat was called into combat duty due to the shortage of available submarines. U-26 participated in six war patrols, sinking eleven ships and badly damaging one other. On her first patrol laying mines, U-26 sank three merchant ships and damaged one British warship. On her second war patrol it became the first U-boat during World War II to enter the Mediterranean Sea. U-26 participated in three other successful patrols, sinking four additional merchant ships.

Construction History

Laid down by DeSchiMAG AG Weser in Bremen as yard number 904 on 1 August 1935, U-26 was launched on 14 March 1936. She was commissioned on 6 May with Kapitänleutnant Werner Hartmann in command.

Operational History

U-26 carried out six patrols between August 1939 and July 1940, during which she sank or damaged 12 ships.

First Patrol

U-26 was one of the first group of German submarines deployed to the Atlantic Ocean prior to the German invasion of Poland. Oberkommando der Marine (OKM) had ordered her loaded with mines and to be ready to put in place a minefield in Portland Harbour. Upon her completion of refit on 28 August, she put to sea with a load of mines and six torpedoes, under the command of Klaus Ewerth. U-26 was positioned off of the western end of the English Channel awaiting final orders. She was deemed unfit for combat duties but was none-the-less to stand ready to engage shipping with torpedoes upon completion of mining operations. OKM conceived of the mission to deny the British a port of embarkation for transporting the British Army to France, but Karl Dönitz opposed the mission as too risky as the port was a major Royal Navy base, including their sonar school, and thus the harbor was bound to be well defended by antisubmarine forces.

With the war underway, on 4 September, U-26 began to penetrate the harbour but was slowed by antisubmarine patrols which were intense, as Dönitz had feared, and forced the first two attempts to be aborted. It was not until four days later, on his third attempt, that Ewerth found a good position, known as the Shambles, to deploy his TMB mines. After laying all the carried mines, he escaped to deeper water where the crew rested and loaded the six torpedoes in order to continue the patrol. While moving westward, U-26 was hounded by British anti-submarine forces, preventing the boat's resumption of communications. The Admiralty had claimed the sinking of a mine-laying U-boat on 8 September and attempts to contact U-26 went unanswered, leading Dönitz to fear that U-26 and her valuable Enigma machine may have been sunk in shallow waters from which they may be recovered by the British. Consequently, orders were put out by OKM to change all Enigma settings and thereafter that mine-laying boats were not to carry Enigma. U-26 however evaded the British forces and successfully reached the open Atlantic from which she was able to report her success to Dönitz.<[4]

While mine-laying was generally disliked by submariners for many reasons, this first minefield laid by U-boats in the war actually yielded a handsome return. Three freighters totaling 17,414 tons were sunk (one each of Greek, Belgian, and Dutch nationality) and the corvette HMS Kittiwake was damaged severely, though this last result was successfully kept from the Germans.[5]

Fate

The boat was scuttled southwest of Ireland after being badly damaged by depth charges dropped by the British Flower-class corvette HMS Gladiolus and an Australian Sunderland flying boat of No. 10 Squadron RAAF. The crew (48 men), all survived. However, 6 of them were killed on 22 July 1940, along with 2 British servicemen, when a Heinkel He 111 of Kampfgeschwader 26 jettisoned its remaining bombs when returning from an inshore anti-shipping sortie and accidentally hit POW Camp 5 at Duff House, Banff, Scotland.

In Fiction

The U-boat in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark has the number U-26. However, the film's submarine is a Type VIIC U-boat. This is because the boat used was actually a replica of U-96, on loan from the makers of Das Boot. Both movies were filming at the La Rochelle U-boat pens around the same time.

Summary of Raiding History

Date	Name	Nationality	Tonnage (GRT)	Fate
15 September 1939	Alex van Opstal	Belgium	5,965	Sunk (mine)
7 October 1939	Binnendijk	Netherlands	6,873	Sunk (mine)
13 November 1939	Loire	France	4,285	Sunk
22 November 1939	Elena R.	Greece	4,576	Sunk (mine)
12 February 1940	Nidarholm	Norway	3,482	Sunk
14 February 1940	Langleeford	United Kingdom	4,622	Sunk
15 February 1940	Steinstad	Norway	2,477	Sunk
21 April 1940	Cedarbank	United Kingdom	5,159	Sunk
26 June 1940	Frangoula B. Goulandris	Greece	6,701	Sunk
30 June 1940	Belmoira	Norway	3,214	Sunk
30 June 1940	Merkur	Estonia	1,291	Sunk
1 July 1940	Zarian	United Kingdom	4,871	Damaged

 

U-25, a Type I U-boat, in about 1936; the number on the conning tower was removed at the beginning of the war.

A Sunderland flown by Flight Lieutenant W. N. Gibson of No. 10 Squadron, RAAF, makes a second attack on an enemy U26, southwest of the Scilly Isles. The U-boat scuttled itself soon afterwards. 1 July 1940.

Lemnos: Greek Coastal Defense Ship

Lemnos, sometimes spelled Limnos, was a 13,000 ton Mississippi-class battleship originally built by the United States Navy in 1904–1908. As Idaho, she was purchased by the Greek Navy in 1914 and renamed Lemnos, along with her sister Mississippi, renamed Kilkis. Lemnos was named for the Battle of Lemnos, a crucial engagement of the First Balkan War. Armed with a main battery of four 12 in (305 mm) guns, Lemnos and her sister were the most powerful vessels in the Greek fleet.

The ship saw limited action during World War I. Greece’s pro-German monarch, Constantine I opted to remain neutral until October 1916, when pressure from the Triple Entente forced him to abdicate in favor of a pro-Entente government. For the remainder of the war, Lemnos operated solely as a harbor defense ship. In the aftermath of World War I, she saw service during the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922. During the war with Turkey, Lemnos supported Greek landings in Turkey and participated in the final Greek sea-borne withdrawal in 1922. She remained in service until 1932, when she was used as a barracks ship and subsequently disarmed. During the German invasion of Greece in 1941, she and her sister were sunk in Salamis by German Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers. The two ships were ultimately raised and broken up for scrap after the end of the war.

Laid down on 12 May 1904, the ship was launched on 9 December 1905 and commissioned into the United States Navy on 1 April 1908 as USS Idaho. She served in the US Navy until 1914, when she and her sister were sold on 30 June 1914. The two ships were transferred to the Greek Navy in Newport News, Virginia the following month. The ship was 382 feet (116 m) long overall and had a beam of 77 ft (23 m) and a draft of 24 ft 8 in (7.52 m). She displaced 13,000 metric tons (13,000 long tons; 14,000 short tons) as designed and up to 14,465 t (14,237 long tons; 15,945 short tons) at full combat load. The ship was powered by two-shaft vertical triple expansion engines and eight coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers rated at 10,000 indicated horsepower (7,500 kW) and a top speed of 17 knots (20 mph; 31 km/h). Lattice masts were installed in 1909. She had a crew of 744 officers and enlisted men.

The ship was armed with a main battery of four 12 in (305 mm) L/45 guns in two twin turrets, one on either end of the superstructure. Eight 8 in (203 mm) L/45 guns were mounted in four twin turrets, two on other side of the vessel amidships. The secondary battery was rounded out with eight 7 in (178 mm) L/45 guns mounted individually in casemates along the length of the hull. Close-range defense against torpedo boats was protected by a battery of twelve 3 in (76 mm) L/50 guns, six 3-pounder guns and two 1-pounder guns. The ship’s armament system was completed by two 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes submerged in her hull. Lemnos and Kilkis were the most powerful vessels in the Greek Navy.

Lemnos and Kilkis quickly left the United States after their transfer in July 1914, due to the rising tensions in Europe following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria the previous month. At the outbreak of World War I in at the end of the month, Greece’s pro-German monarch, Constantine I, decided to remain neutral. The Entente powers landed troops in Salonika in 1915, which was a source of tension between France and Greece. Ultimately, the French seized the Greek Navy on 19 October 1916 (see Noemvriana and National Schism). Lemnos was reduced to a skeleton crew and had the breech blocks for her guns removed to render them inoperable. All ammunition and torpedoes were also removed. Ultimately, a pro-Entente government replaced Constantine and declared war on the Central Powers. Lemnos, however, did not see active service with Greece’s new allies, and instead was used solely for harbor defense until the end of the war.

After the end of World War I, Lemnos joined the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and served with the Crimean Expedition. There, she aided the White Russians against the Communists. She then saw service during the Greco-Turkish War, where she supported landings to seize Ottoman territory. The Ottoman Navy had been interned by the Allies after the end of World War I, and so provided no opposition to the Greek Navy’s activities. Operations came to a close in September 1922 when the Greek Army was forced to evacuate by sea, along with a sizable number of civilians, from Asia Minor. The fleet transported a total of 250,000 soldiers and civilians during the evacuation. In 1932, Lemnos was placed in inactive reserve; sections of her armor plate was removed to build fortifications on the island of Aegina. She was disarmed in 1937 and thereafter used as a barracks ship. The hulk of Lemnos was bombed in Salamis Naval Base by Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers on April 23, 1941, during the German invasion of Greece. The ship was beached to prevent her from sinking; her wreck was broken up after the end of the war.

Greek battleship Lemnos.

 

Greek battleship Lemnos and torpedo boat Dafni at Constantinople (today Istanbul) 1919.

Greek coastal defense ship Lemnos, ex-Mississippi (BB-23), and Greek coastal defense ship Kilkis—the ex-Idaho (BB-24). Sunk in the basin of the Greek naval base of Salamis after aerial attacks of the Luftwaffe, as seen from the pier of the harbor by the advancing German army in April 1941.

Greek coastal defense ship Lemnos, ex-Mississippi (BB-23), at the naval base of Salamis near Athens, Greece as seen from a German Heinkel He 60 seaplane after the occupation of the base by the German army in April 1941.

The inter-war Greek fleet, with Lemnos and Kilkos anchored with the cruiser Georgios Averof.