WWI U-boats

U 12

 

Type

U 9

Shipyard Kaiserliche Werft, Danzig  (Werk 7)
Ordered 15 Jul 1908 Laid down  
Launched 6 May 1910 Commissioned 13 Aug 1911 
Commanders
1 Aug 1914 - 9 Feb 1915   Walter Forstmann
10 Feb 1915 - 10 Mar 1915   Hans Kratzsch
Career 4 patrols
start date unknown - 10 Mar 1915 I Flotilla
1 Aug 1914 - 10 Mar 1915 II Flotilla
Successes1 ship sunk for a total of 1,005 tons.
1 warship sunk for a total of 810 tons. 
Fate 10 Mar 1915 - Rammed and shelled by destroyer off Fife Ness then scuttled. 20 dead and 10 survivors. 

The wreck of U 12 was found by a local dive team lead by Martin Sinclair and Jim MacLeod based upon research by Kevni Heath in January 2008. The wreck is some 18 miles from where U 12 was previously listed as being sunk.

See the 2 ships hit by U 12

On 11 November, 1914 the gunboat HMS Niger was sunk near the Deal Light Vessel by U 12 while operating from the harbour of Zeebrugge. This was the first U-boat victim of German operations originating from a Belgian port.


There was another U 12 in World War Two
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 11 Sep 1935 and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on 30 Sep 1935. Take a look at the U 12 from WWII.

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