U-40

Type

IX

 
Ordered29 Jul 1936
Laid down 1 Jul 1937 AG Weser, Bremen (werk 945)
Launched9 Nov 1938
Commissioned11 Feb 1939Kptlt. Werner von Schmidt
Commanders
11 Feb 1939 - 20 Sep 1939  Kptlt. Werner von Schmidt
21 Sep 1939 - 13 Oct 1939  Kptlt. Wolfgang Barten
Career2 patrols 11 Feb 1939 - 31 Aug 1939  6. Flottille (front boat)
1 Sep 1939 - 13 Oct 1939  6. Flottille (front boat)
SuccessesNo ships sunk or damaged
Fate

Sunk 13 Oct, 1939 in the English Channel, in position 50.41,6N, 00.15,1E, by mines. 45 dead and 3 survivors.

View the 2 war patrols

Her wreck might have been located by divers in 1994 in position 50.22,08N, 01.44,17W but this seems a bit too distant from the official location of loss.

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-40 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-40 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 22 Oct 1914 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 14 Feb 1915. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 40 during WWI.