Type | IIC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ordered | 17 Jun 1937 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laid down | 14 Sep 1937 | Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel (werk 256) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launched | 3 Sep 1938 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commissioned | 29 Dec 1938 | Oblt. Claus Korth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commanders |
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| Career 11 patrols |
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| Successes | 11 ships sunk, total tonnage 48,053 GRT 1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 8,240 GRT 2 ships damaged, total tonnage 10,403 GRT 1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 10,191 GRT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fate | Sank at 0015hrs on 3 Sept, 1940 at Brunsbüttel, in position 53.53N, 09.09E, after an accidental collision with the Norwegian steamship Rona. 6 dead and 19 survivors. Raised in Sept 1940. Repaired and returned to service on 11 Jan, 1941. Scuttled on 3 May, 1945 at Kiel. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Final location | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Attacks on this boat and other events
15 Jul 1940
The British submarine HMS Tetrarch (Lt.Cdr. R.G. Mills, DSC, RN) fired a spread of three torpedoes at U-57 off the entrance to Kors Fjord near Bergen, Norway, none of which found their target.
25 Aug 1940
On the morning of the 25th the boat was located on Asdic by HMS Westcott in the vicinity of convoy HX-65B, which depth charged U-57 twice, but without getting close. U-57 surfaced and chased the convoy until she caught up in the evening, and sank a straggler. She was then depth charged by HMS Westcott and HMS Gladiolus, escaping undamaged after contact was lost following the initial attacks. (Sources: ADM 199/1707)
2 recorded attacks on this boat.
Men lost from the boat
3 Sep 1940
The boat sank after an accidental collision with the Norwegian steamer SS Rona, taking 6 of its crew with her. She was raised shortly afterwards and put into commission as a training boat. [Obermaschinenmaat Bernhard Henz, Maschinengefreiter Kurt Kopf, Matrosengefreiter Hermann Schneider, Funkobergefreiter Kurt Sparschuh,Matrosenobergefreiter Franz Tatzreiter]
Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -
U-boat Emblems
We have 3 emblem entry for this boat! See the emblem page for this boat or view each one below.
 The Running Devil - U-552 |  3 leaf clover inside a horse shoe | Devil catching Churchill inside a net |
Media links
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There was another U-57 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 29 Apr 1916 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 6 Jul 1916. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 57 during WWI.