German submarine U-25 (1936)

U-25 in about 1936, (note the number on the conning tower which was removed at the beginning of the war)
Career (Nazi Germany)
Name:	U-25
Ordered:	17 December 1934
Builder:	DeSchiMAG AG Weser Bremen
Yard number:	903
Laid down:	28 June 1935
Launched:	14 February 1936
Commissioned:	6 April 1936
Fate:	Lost around 1 August 1940, in the North Sea north of Terschelling. 49 dead[1]
General characteristics [2]
Displacement:	862 t (848 long tons) surfaced 982 t (966 long tons) submerged Official displacement was 712 tons standard
Length:	72.39 m (237 ft 6 in) o/a
Beam:	6.21 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a
Draft:	4.3 m (14 ft 1 in)
Propulsion:	Diesel-electric 2 × MAN M8V40/46 8-cylinder diesel engines with 2,900–3,080 shp (2,160–2,300 kW) 2 × BBC GG UB720/8 double-acting electric motors with 1,000 shp (750 kW)
Speed:	18.6 knots (34.4 km/h; 21.4 mph) surfaced 8.3 knots (15.4 km/h; 9.6 mph) submerged
Range:	7,900 nmi (14,600 km; 9,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 78 nmi (144 km; 90 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth:	200 m (660 ft)
Complement:	4 officers, 39 enlisted
Armament:	6 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes, 4 bow, 2 stern 14 × torpedoes 28 × TMA mines 1 × 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK C/32 naval gun 1 × 2 cm (0.79 in) AA gun

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.

Service history

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:

Fate

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.^[1]

Wolfpacks

U-25 took part in one wolfpack, namely.

• Prien (12–17 June 1940)

Summary of raiding career

Date	Name of Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate[3]
31 October 1939	Baoulé	France	5,874	Sunk
17 January 1940	Enid	Norway	1,140	Sunk
17 January 1940	Polzella	United Kingdom	4,751	Sunk
18 January 1940	Pajala	Sweden	6,873	Sunk
22 January 1940	Songa	Norway	2,589	Sunk
3 February 1940	Armanistan	United Kingdom	6,805	Sunk
13 February 1940	Chastine Mærsk	Denmark	5,177	Sunk
13 June 1940	HMS Scotstoun	Royal Navy	17,046	Sunk
19 June 1940	Brumaire	France	7,638	Damaged

References

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. 
• Williamson, Gordon (2005). Wolf Pack: The Story of the U-Boat in World War II. Osprey Publishing Limited. 

External links

• Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IA boat U25". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 6 December 2014. 
• ubootwaffe.net webpage about U-25
• Hofmann, Markus. "U 25". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 2014-12-06. u0025.html u-boot-archiv.de webpage for U-25]

Coordinates: 54°14′N 5°7′E / 54.233°N 5.117°E / 54.233; 5.117