U-32

Type

VIIA

 
Ordered1 Apr 1935
Laid down 15 Mar 1936 AG Weser, Bremen (werk 913)
Launched25 Feb 1937
Commissioned15 Apr 1937Kptlt. Werner Lott
Commanders
15 Apr 1937 - 15 Aug 1937   Werner Lott
16 Aug 1937 - 11 Feb 1940   Paul Büchel
12 Feb 1940 - 30 Oct 1940  Oblt. Hans Jenisch (Knights Cross)
Career9 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 - 15 Jun 1940)
   Without name (20 Sep 1940 - 22 Sep 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.



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.