WWI U-boats

U 77

Type UE 1
ShipyardVulcan, Hamburg (Werk 59)
Ordered 9 Mar 1915
Launched 9 Jan 1916
Commissioned 10 Mar 1916
Commanders
10 Mar 1916 - 8 Jul 1916 Kptlt. Erich Günzel
Career 2 patrols
29 Jun 1916 - 8 Jul 1916 I Flotilla
SuccessesNo successes
Fate 8 Jul 1916 - Lost while laying mines off Kinnaird Head, Scotland. 33 dead (all hands lost).

The Royal Navy destroyed nine mines laid by U 77 off Kinnaird Head in late July 1916. In 2020, Kevin Heath and Michael Lowrey were able to identify a wreck in the UKHO wreck database in U 77’s minelaying area that likely was Günzel’s boat. The wreck was determined to be a submarine using a dropcam in September 2021 with the identification as U 77 confirmed by divers in August 2024. More information is available here: https://www.buchandivers.com/wrecks/u-77

Previously recorded fate
Lost in a minehandling accident off Dunbar, Scotland. The wreck at that location is undoubtedly that of U 74.

There was another U 77 in World War Two
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 23 Nov 1940 and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on 18 Jan 1941. Take a look at U 77 from WWII.


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