German submarine U-23 (1936)
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-23 |
| Ordered: | 2 February 1935 |
| Builder: | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 553 |
| Laid down: | 11 April 1936 |
| Launched: | 28 August 1936 |
| Commissioned: | 24 September 1936 |
| Fate: | Scuttled 10 September 1944, off the coast of Turkey in the Black Sea |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| 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 21st U-boat Flotilla 30th U-boat Flotilla |
| Identification codes: | M 01 984 |
| Commanders: |
|
| Operations: | 16 |
| Victories: |
Seven ships sunk for a total of 11,179 GRT Two warships sunk for a total of 1,410 tons One auxiliary warship of 1,005 GRT damaged One warship of 56 tons damaged Three ships declared a total loss for a total of 18,199 GRT |
German submarine U-23 was a Type IIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, built in Germaniawerft, Kiel. She was laid down on 11 April 1936 and commissioned on 24 September.
Career
At 4:45 am on 4 October 1939, U-23 scored one of the Kriegsmarine's early successes of the war when she torpedoed and sank with gunfire, the merchant ship Glen Farg about 60 nmi (110 km; 69 mi) south-southwest of Sumburgh Head (southern Shetland). 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 training boat with the 21st U-boat Flotilla from July 1940 until September 1942. U-23 was then refitted and transported overland to the Black Sea port of Konstanza, Romania, with the 30th U-boat Flotilla until September 1944.
Fate
U-23 was scuttled by her crew on 10 September 1944, off the coast of Turkey in the Black Sea at position 41°11′N 30°00′E / 41.183°N 30.000°ECoordinates: 41°11′N 30°00′E / 41.183°N 30.000°E to prevent her capture by the advancing Soviets.
On 3 February 2008, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that U-23 had been discovered by Selçuk Kolay, a Turkish marine engineer, in 160 ft (49 m) of water, three miles from the town of Agva.[2][3]
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 October 1939 | Glen Farg |  United Kingdom |
876 | Sunk |
| 8 December 1939 | Scotia |  Denmark |
2,400 | Sunk |
| 11 January 1940 | Fredville |  Norway |
1,150 | Sunk |
| 12 January 1940 | Danmark | Denmark |
10,517 | Total loss |
| 24 January 1940 | Varild | Norway |
1,085 | Sunk |
| 18 February 1940 | HMS Daring |  Royal Navy |
1,375 | Sunk |
| 19 February 1940 | SS Tiberton | United Kingdom |
5,225 | Sunk |
| 22 February 1940 | Loch Maddy | United Kingdom |
4,996 | Total loss |
| 24 August 1943 | Shkval |  Soviet Union |
35 | Sunk |
| 15 October 1943 | TSC-486 Sovetskja Rossiya | Soviet Union |
1,005 | Damaged |
| 23 October 1943 | Tanais | Soviet Union |
372 | Sunk |
| 5 April 1944 | SKA-099 | Soviet Union |
56 | Damaged |
| 29 May 1944 | Smelyj | Soviet Union |
71 | Sunk |
| 1 September 1944 | Oituz |  Romania |
2,686 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Gröner 1985, p. 67.
- ↑ Jasper Copping (3 February 2008). "Adolf Hitler's 'lost fleet' found in Black Sea". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ↑ Andy McSmith (11 February 2008). "Hitler's 'lost fleet' of U-boats found in Black Sea". The Independent. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-23". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
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.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IIB boat U-23". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- ubootwaffe.net webpage about U-23
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 23". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 2014-12-06.
- "U-23". Retrieved 2008-02-05.
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