U-32

Type

VIIA

 
Ordered1 Apr 1935
Laid down15 Mar 1936 AG Weser, Bremen (werk 913)
Launched25 Feb 1937
Commissioned15 Apr 1937Kptlt. Werner Lott
Commanders
15 Apr 1937 - 15 Aug 1937  Kptlt. Werner Lott
16 Aug 1937 - 11 Feb 1940  KrvKpt. Paul Büchel
12 Feb 1940 - 30 Oct 1940  Oblt. Hans Jenisch (Knights Cross)
Career
9 patrols
15 Apr 1937-31 Aug 1939  2. Flottille (front boat)
1 Sep 1939-31 Dec 1939  2. Flottille (front boat)
1 Jan 1940-30 Oct 1940  2. Flottille (front boat)
Successes20 ships sunk for a total of 116,836 GRT
4 ships damaged for a total of 32,274 GRT
1 warship damaged for a total of 8,000 tons
Fate

Sunk 30 Oct, 1940 north-west of Ireland, in position 55.37N, 12.19W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Harvester and HMS Highlander. 9 dead and 33 survivors.

See the 25 ships hit by U-32 - View the 9 war patrols

Wolfpack operations

U-32 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
   Prien (12 Jun 1940 - 17 Jun 1940)

General notes on this boat

28 Oct 1940. U-32 sank the largest ship sunk in the U-boat war when she sank the 42,350-ton liner Empress of Britain on 28 Oct, 1940 only 2 days before she herself was sunk.

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-32 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.


We have an emblem for this boat!

You can view it here. (The emblem on the left is not the emblem for this boat).



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


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Books dealing with this subject include:

The Floating Inferno. Seamer, Robert, 1990.
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.
Single or Return?. Wentzel, Fritz, 1954. (transl.)
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-32 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 28 Jan 1914 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 3 Sep 1914. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 32 during WWI.