| Career (Nazi Germany) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-23 |
| Ordered: | February 2, 1935 |
| Builder: | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 553 |
| Laid down: | April 11, 1936 |
| Launched: | August 28, 1936 |
| Commissioned: | September 24, 1936 |
| Fate: | Scuttled September 10, 1944 off the coast of Turkey in the Black Sea. |
| Class and type: | Type II U-boat |
| Service record | |
| Part of: | Kriegsmarine: 1st U-boat Flotilla 21st U-boat Flotilla 30th U-boat Flotilla |
| Identification codes: | M 01 984 |
| Commanders: | Eberhard Godt Hans-Günther Looff Otto Kretschmer Heinz Beduhn Heinrich Driver Kurt Reichenbach-Klinke Ernst-Ulrich Brüller Ulrich Gräf Rolf-Birger Wahlen Rudolf Arendt |
| Operations: | 16 |
| Victories: | 7 ships sunk for a total of 11,179 gross register tons (GRT) 2 warships sunk for a total of 1.410 tons 1 auxiliary warship damaged for a total of 1,005 GRT 1 warship damaged for a total of 56 tons 3 ships a total loss for a total of 18,199 GRT |
German submarine U-23 was a Type IIB U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine, built in Germaniawerft, Kiel, laid down on April 11, 1936 and commissioned on September 24, 1936.
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At 4:45 am on October 4, 1939, U-23 scored one of the early successes of the Kriegsmarine in the war when she torpedoed and sank by gunfire the merchant ship Glen Farg about 60 miles south-southwest of Sumburgh Head. One person died, while 16 survivors were picked up by HMS Firedrake and landed at Kirkwall the next day.
In 16 patrols U-23 sank seven ships for a total of 11,179 gross register tons (GRT) including two warships, as well as damaging a warship and an auxiliary warship.
Over the course of her service with the Kriegsmarine U-23 had ten commanding officers, the most famous of whom was Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer, who went on to become the top scoring U-boat ace. After service in the Atlantic with the 1st U-boat Flotilla, U-23 served as a school boat with the 21st U-boat Flotilla from July, 1940 until September, 1942. U-23 was then refit and transported overland to the Black Sea port of Constanţa, Romania, with the 30th U-boat Flotilla until September, 1944.
U-23 was scuttled by her crew on September 10, 1944 off the coast of Turkey in the Black Sea at position to prevent capture by the advancing Soviets.
On February 3, 2008, the Telegraph newspaper reported that U-23 had been discovered by Selçuk Kolay, a Turkish marine engineer, in 160 feet of water, three miles from the town of Agva. [1] [2]
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