U-14

Type

IIB

 
Ordered2 Feb 1935
Laid down 6 Jul 1935 Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel (werk 249)
Launched28 Dec 1935
Commissioned18 Jan 1936Oblt. Viktor Oehrn (Knights Cross)
Commanders
18 Jan 1936 - 4 Oct 1937  Kptlt. Victor Oehrn (Knights Cross)
5 Oct 1937 - 11 Oct 1939  Kptlt. Horst Wellner
19 Oct 1939 - 1 Jun 1940  Oblt. Herbert Wohlfarth (Knights Cross)
2 Jun 1940 - Aug, 1940  Kptlt. Gerhard Bigalk (Knights Cross)
Aug, 1940 - 29 Sep 1940  Oblt. Hans Heidtmann (in deputize) (Knights Cross) -- acting
30 Sep 1940 - 19 May 1941  Kptlt. Jürgen Könenkamp
20 May 1941 - 9 Feb 1942  Oblt. Hubertus Purkhold
10 Feb 1942 - 30 Jun 1942  Oblt. Klaus Petersen
1 Jul 1942 - 20 Jul 1943   Walter Köhntopp
21 Jul 1943 - 1 Jul 1944  Oblt. Karl-Hermann Bortfeldt
2 Jul 1944 - 6 Mar 1945  Oblt. Hans-Joachim Dierks
Career6 patrols 1 Jan 1936 - 1 Aug 1939  3. Flottille (front boat)
1 Sep 1939 - 31 Oct 1939  3. Flottille (front boat)
1 Nov 1939 - 31 Dec 1939  U-Ausbildungsflottille (training)
1 Jan 1940 - 1 Apr 1940  U-Ausbildungsflottille (front boat)
1 May 1940 - 30 Jun 1940  1. U-Ausbildungsflottille (training)
1 Jul 1940 - 31 Dec 1940  24. Flottille (training)
1 Jan 1941 - 1 Mar 1945  22. Flottille (school boat)
Successes9 ships sunk for a total of 12,344 GRT
Fate

Scuttled on 2 May, 1945 at Wilhelmshaven.

See the 9 ships hit by U-14 - View the 6 war patrols

Attacks on this boat

19 Feb 1940
The British submarine HMS Sunfish (Lt.Cdr. J.E. Slaughter, RN) fired four torpedoes at the German submarine U-14 about 30 nautical miles north-west of Helgoland, Germany in position 54º28'N, 07º11'E. All torpedoes fired missed their target.

1 recorded attack on this boat.

General notes on this boat

3 Sep 1939. U-14 probably attacked the first warship in World War Two when she attacked the Polish submarine Sep (Cdr. Wladyslaw Salamon) on 3 Sept, 1939 at 2022hrs. The torpedo exploded prematurely about 200m from the Polish sub. The German commander (Kptlt. Horst Wellner) found wreckage (from the torpedo) and some oil from Sep's damaged oil tank. Believing he had sunk the boat, he radioed his claim in.

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-14 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.



U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 2
Wynn, Kenneth


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Books dealing with this subject include:

German U-Boat Losses During World War II. Niestle, Axel, 1998.
Hitler's U-boat War. Blair, Clay, 1996.
Hitler's U-boat War, Vol II. Blair, Clay, 1998.
U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 1. Wynn, Kenneth, 1998.
U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 2. Wynn, Kenneth, 1998.


There was another U-14 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 11 Jul 1911 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 25 Apr 1912. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 14 during WWI.