U-3
Type | IIA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ordered | 2 Feb, 1935 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laid down | 11 Feb, 1935 | Deutsche Werke, Kiel (werk 238) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launched | 19 Jul, 1935 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commissioned | 6 Aug, 1935 | Oblt. Hans Meckel | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commanders |
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| Career | 5 patrols | 1 Aug, 1935 - 1 Sep, 1939 U-Bootschulflottille (school boat) 1 Sep, 1939 - 1 Oct, 1939 U-Bootschulflottille (front boat) 1 Oct, 1939 - 1 Feb, 1940 U-Bootschulflottille (school boat) 1 Mar, 1940 - 1 Apr, 1940 U-Bootschulflottille (front boat) 1 May, 1940 - 30 Jun, 1940 U-Bootschulflottille (school boat) 1 Jul, 1940 - 31 Jul, 1944 21. Flottille (school boat) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successes | 2 ships sunk for a total of 2.348 GRT | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fate | Stricken 1 Aug, 1944 at Gotenhafen (Gdynia, Poland). Scrapped in 1945. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
See the 2 ships hit by U-3 - View the 5 war patrols
Attacks on this boat
30 Sep, 1939
The British submarine HMS H-34 fired two torpedoes at U-3 15 miles north of Kinnaird Head. The torpedoes missed their target. (Sources: Rohwer)
16 Apr, 1940
The British submarine HMS Porpoise fired six torpedoes at U-3 about 10 miles southwest of Egersund, Norway and heard a detonation, which was a G7a torpedo from the U-boat that missed the submarine and detonated at the end of its run.This attack was for a long time believed to have caused the sinking of U-1 but was in fact against U-3 which was not damaged.
2 recorded attacks on this boat.
Men lost from U-boats
Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-3 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.
 | We have emblem entries for this boat! You can view the emblems here. (The emblem on the left is not the emblem for this boat). |
 German U-Boat Losses During World War II Niestle, Axel Buy this title at amazon.co.uk See more sellers |
Books dealing with this subject include: German U-Boat Losses During World War II, Niestle, Axel, 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-3 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 27 Mar, 1909 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 29 May, 1909. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 3 during WWI.