German submarine U-18 (1935)
For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-18.
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-18 |
| Ordered: | 2 February 1935 |
| Builder: | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 548 |
| Laid down: | 10 July 1935 |
| Launched: | 7 December 1935 |
| Commissioned: | 4 January 1936 |
| Fate: | Scuttled 25 August 1944 at Constanţa in the Black Sea[1] |
| General characteristics [2] | |
| Class and type: | IIB |
| Type: | Coastal submarine |
| Displacement: | 279 t (275 long tons) surfaced 328 t (323 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 42.70 m (140 ft 1 in) |
| Beam: | 4.08 m (13 ft 5 in) |
| Draft: | 3.90 m (12 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × propeller shafts 2 × MWM four-stroke diesel engines, 700 shp (520 kW) 2 × Siemens-Schuckert electric motor, 360 shp (270 kW) |
| Speed: | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) surfaced 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 1,800 nautical miles (3,300 km; 2,100 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) surfaced 35–43 nmi (65–80 km; 40–49 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
| Test depth: | 80 m (260 ft) |
| Complement: | 3 officers, 22 men |
| Armament: |
|
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
Kriegsmarine: 1st U-boat Flotilla 3rd U-boat Flotilla 24th U-boat Flotilla 30th U-boat Flotilla |
| Identification codes: | M 23 452 |
| Commanders: |
|
| Operations: | 14 |
| Victories: |
Two ships sunk for a total of 1,500 GRT One auxiliary warship of 400 GRT sunk One ship damaged of 7,745 GRT One warship of 56 tons damaged |
German submarine U-18 was a Type IIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. It was laid down 10 July 1935 and commissioned on 4 January 1936. It served in many U-boat flotillas during its service.
Fate
While a training boat, U-18 sank at 0954 hrs on 20 November 1936 in Lübeck Bay, after a collision with T-156. Eight men died and 12 survived. It was raised on 28 November 1936. It returned to service on 30 September 1937 when it served in the 30th U-boat Flotilla, after being transported overland and via the Danube to the Black Sea.
On 20 August 1944, in a Soviet air raid on the Romanian harbor of Constanţa in the Black Sea, U-18 was damaged and as a result was deemed not seaworthy and was scuttled on the 25th.[1]
The boat was raised by the USSR in late 1944. It was sunk for target practice by the Soviet submarine M-120 on 26 May 1947 off Sevastopol (also sunk that day was the former U-24).
Service history
- 4 January – 20 November 1936: 1st U-boat Flotilla (front boat)
- 30 September 1937 – 1 November 1939: 3rd U-boat Flotilla (front boat)
- 1 November 1939 – 1 June 1940: U-Training Flotilla (front boat, then training)
- 1 July – 17 December 1940: 24th U-boat Flotilla (training)
- 6 May 1943 – 25 August 1944: 30th U-boat Flotilla (front boat)
Commanders
- Hans Pauckstadt, 4 January – 20 November 1936
- Kapitänleutnant Heinz Beduhn, 30 September – 31 October 1937
- Kptlt. Max-Hermann Bauer, 1 November 1937 – 24 November 1939
- Oberleutnant zur See Ernst Mengersen (Knights Cross), 24 November 1939 – 2 September 1940
- Kptlt. Hans-Heinz Linder, 3 September – 17 December 1940
- Kptlt. Ernst Vogelsang, 18 December 1940 – 6 May 1941
- Oblt.z.S. Hans-Achim von Rosenberg-Gruszcynski, 7 May 1941 – 31 May 1942
- Oblt.z.S. Friedrich-Wilhelm Wissmann, 1 June – 18 August 1942
- Oblt.z.S. Karl Fleige (Knights Cross), 3 December 1942 – 25 August 1944
- Oblt.z.S. Hans-Jürgen Bartsch, 2–25 May 1944
- Oblt.z.S. Rudolf Arendt, 25 May – 7 June 1944
- Oblt.z.S. Friedrich Baumgärtel, 22 December 1944 – 6 February 1945
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kemp 1999, p. 215.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, p. 67.
Bibliography
- Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945. Der U-Boot-Krieg (in German) IV (Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler). ISBN 3-8132-0514-2.
- Gröner, Erich (1985). U-Boote, Hilfskreuzer, Minenschiffe, Netzleger, Sperrbrecher. Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815-1945 (in German) III (Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe). ISBN 3-7637-4802-4.
- Kemp, Paul (1999). U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. London: Arms & Armour. ISBN 1-85409-515-3.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IIB boat U-18". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- "U-18". U-Boat Operations. Kriegsmarine and U-Boat history, ubootwaffe.net. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 18". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 2014-12-06.
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