U-31

Type

VIIA

 
Ordered1 Apr 1935
Laid down 1 Mar 1936 AG Weser, Bremen (werk 912)
Launched25 Sep 1936
Commissioned28 Dec 1936Kptlt. Rolf Dau
Commanders
28 Dec 1936 - 8 Nov 1938   Rolf Dau
8 Nov 1938 - 11 Mar 1940  Kptlt. Johannes Habekost
8 Jul 1940 - 2 Nov 1940   Wilfried Prellberg
Career7 patrols 28 Dec 1936 - 31 Aug 1939  2. Flottille (front boat)
1 Sep 1939 - 31 Dec 1939  2. Flottille (front boat)
1 Jan 1940 - 12 Mar 1940  2. Flottille (front boat)
8 Jul 1940 - 2 Nov 1940  2. Flottille (Fb)
Successes11 ships sunk for a total of 27,751 GRT
2 auxiliary warships sunk for a total of 160 GRT
1 warship damaged for a total of 33,950 tons
Fate

Sunk on March 11, 1940 in Jadebusen by British Bristol Blenheim aircraft (RAF Bomber Command). 58 dead (all hands lost).

She was raised in March 1940, repaired and returned to service.

Sunk again on November 2, 1940 NW of Ireland by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Antelope. 2 dead and 44 survivors.

See the 14 ships hit by U-31 - View the 7 war patrols

Attacks on this boat

29 Sep 1940
An unknown enemy submarine fired two torpedoes at U-31. The boat escaped by the narrowest of margins.

20 Oct 1940
A British submarine fired torpedoes at U-31 off Lorient, but without success.

2 recorded attacks on this boat.

General notes on this boat

16 Sep 1939. This boat, under Kptlt. Habekost, attacked the first convoy in the war on 16 Sept, 1939 when she sank the British steamer Aviemore from convoy OB-4.

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-31 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-31 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 7 Jan 1914 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 18 Sep 1914. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 31 during WWI.