Unterseeboot 38 (1914)

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Career (German Empire)

Name:	U-38
Ordered:	June 12, 1912
Builder:	Germaniawerft, Kiel
Laid down:	February 25, 1913
Launched:	September 9, 1914
Commissioned:	December 15, 1914
Fate:	Surrendered February 23, 1919.
Class and type:	U 31

Service record
Part of	II Flottille, Kaiserliche Marine
Commanders	Max Valentiner Wilhelm Canaris Hans Heinrich Wurmbach Clemens Wickel
Operations	17
Victories	138 ships sunk for a total of 292.848 tons. 5 ships damaged for a total of 27.112 tons. 1 ship taken as prize for a total of 1.441 tons. 1 warship damaged for a total of 10.850 tons.

Unterseeboot 38 (also known as U-38) was a German Type U 31 U-boat which operated in the Mediterranean Sea during World War I. It ended up being the third most successful u-boat participating in the war sinking 138 ships sunk for a total of 299.985 tons.

Its longest serving captain was Max Valentiner, who was awarded the Pour le Mérite during command on U-38 and responsible for the sinking of SS Persia on December 30, 1915 where he broke international law, Rules of Prize Warfare, and sunk it without warning. The ship sank in five to ten minutes, killing 343 of the 519 aboard.

Later Admiral and head of the Abwehr from 1935 to 1944 Wilhelm Canaris took over from Max Valentiner on U-38.

[edit] Fate

After World War I ended, U-38 was surrendered to France and docked in Brest in 1919 and then broken up.

[edit] References

Eberhard Rössler: Geschichte des deutschen U-Bootbaus - Band 1. Bernhard & Graefe Verlag 1996, ISBN 3-86047-153-8
Bodo Herzog: Deutsche U-Boote 1906-1966. Manfred Pawlak Verlags GmbH, Herrschingen 1990, ISBN 3-88199-687-7