WWI U-boats

U 21

 

Type

U 19

Shipyard Kaiserliche Werft, Danzig  (Werk 15)
Ordered 25 Nov 1910 Laid down 27 Oct 1911 
Launched 8 Feb 1913 Commissioned 22 Oct 1913 
Commanders
1 Aug 1914 - 31 Aug 1918  Kptlt. Otto Hersing
1 Sep 1918 - 11 Nov 1918  Kptlt. Friedrich Klein
Career 11 patrols
start date unknown - 4 Mar 1917 Pola Flotilla
1 Aug 1914 - 5 Jun 1915 III Flotilla
5 Jun 1915 - end date unknown Constantinople Flotilla
4 Mar 1917 - 11 Nov 1918 III Flotilla
Successes36 ships sunk with a total of 79,005 tons.
2 ships damaged with a total of 8,918 tons.
4 warships sunk with a total of 34,575 tons. 
Fate 22 Feb 1919 - Sunk in an accident in position 54.19N, 03.42W while on passage to surrender..  

See the 42 ships hit by U 21

On 5 September, 1914 the small British cruiser HMS Pathfinder was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by U 21. This was the first warship to be sunk by a German U-boat during the First World War.


There was another U 21 in World War Two
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 31 Jul 1936 and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on 3 Aug 1936. Take a look at the U 21 from WWII.

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