U-25 is a large ocean-going German Type I submarine from World War II - the first of two built. The order for the construction of the boat was given on December 17, 1934 . The boat was laid at the shipyard of the AG Weser shipbuilding company in Bremen on June 28, 1935 under serial number 903. Launched on February 14, 1936 . April 6, 1936, under the command of Captain-Lieutenant Eberhard Godt became part of the 2nd Flotilla "Salzwedel" .
| U-25 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ship history | |
| Flag state |  Germany |
| Launching | February 14, 1936 |
| Withdrawn from the fleet | around August 1, 1940 |
| Current status | sunk |
| Main characteristics | |
| Type of ship | large oceanic submarine |
| Project designation | type I |
The boat made five military campaigns, in which it sank 8 vessels (50,255 gross ) and damaged one ship (7,638 gross ).
Content
Service History
Until 1940 , the U-25 was used primarily as a training ship , and was used by the Third Reich government for propaganda purposes. During the campaigns, it was found that type IA submarines are difficult to control, due to their poor stability and low diving speed. In early 1940 , due to the insufficient number of completed submarines, the boat was recalled for military service.
January 17, 1940 , 10 miles (16 km ) north of Mackle Flagg ( Shetland Islands ) U-25 torpedoed SS Polzella . SS Enid (Captain Vyb) from Norway at that time, neutral on the way to Dublin, came to the rescue of SS Polzella . After that, the U-25 caused severe damage to the SS Enid , whose crew escaped on lifeboats, and were rescued by the approaching SS Kina ( Denmark ) and the fishing trawler Granada ( Great Britain ). SS Enid was flooded by the HMS Firedrake team ( Great Britain ). None of the SS Polzella team survived.
January 18, 1940 at 16:25, the boat torpedoed and sank MV Pajala . All 35 people of the team were rescued by her escort - auxiliary cruiser HMS Northern Duke ( Great Britain ), which returned fire at 17:26 to make the U-25 sink, and dropped deep bombs . It was announced that the felling fell and the sinking of the enemy, but in fact the U-25 left without damage. [one]
Fate
Around August 1, 1940, the U-25 , after hike from Wilhelmshaven with the aim of laying mines near Norway , stumbled on the number 7 British minefield barrage north of Terschelling and sank with the entire crew, 49 people died.
Sunken ships
| Title | Type of | Affiliation | date | Tonnage ( gross tonnage ) | Cargo | Fate | A place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS Baoulé | cargo ship | France | October 31, 1939 | 5874 | palm kernels, cotton, cocoa, coffee, rubber | sunk | |
| SS Polzella | cargo ship | Great Britain | January 17, 1940 | 4751 | iron ore | sunk | |
| SS Enid | cargo ship | Norway | January 17, 1940 | 1140 | cellulose | heavily damaged, flooded | |
| MV Pajala | cargo ship | Sweden | January 18, 1940 | 6873 | 9150 tons of grain and livestock feed | sunk | |
| SS Songa | cargo ship | Norway | January 22, 1940 | 2589 | general cargo , including empty barrels, sponges, car tires, copper, beans, coffee, cotton and tin | sunk | |
| SS Armanistan | cargo ship | Great Britain | February 3, 1940 | 6805 | 8,300 tons of general cargo , including sugar, zinc, chemicals and iron rails | sunk | |
| MV Chastine Mærsk | cargo ship | Denmark | February 13, 1940 | 5177 | phosphoric fertilizers | sunk | |
| HMS Scotstoun | commercial auxiliary cruiser | Great Britain | June 13, 1940 | 17046 | - | sunk | |
| SS Brumaire | tanker | France | June 19, 1940 | 7638 | ? | damaged, flooded the next day by German aircraft |
Notes
Footnotes
- ubootwaffe.net webpage about U-25
- u-boot-archiv.de webpage for U-25
- Gordon Williamson Wolf Pack: The Story of the U-Boat in World War II , Osprey Publishing Limited, 2005.
Sources
- ↑ The Type IA boat U-25 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net . Date of treatment March 3, 2013. Archived March 11, 2013.