WWI U-boats

U 37

 

Type

U 31

Shipyard Germaniawerft, Kiel  (Werk 197)
Ordered 12 Jun 1912 Laid down 2 Jan 1913 
Launched 25 Aug 1914 Commissioned 9 Dec 1914 
Commanders
9 Dec 1914 - 30 Apr 1915   Erich Wilcke
Career 1 patrols
start date unknown - 30 Apr 1915 II Flotilla
Successes2 ships sunk for a total of 2,811 tons.
1 ship damaged for a total of 3,459 tons. 
Fate 30 Apr 1915 - Mined while homebound near the Sandettie Bank (Straits of Dover area). 32 dead (all hands lost). 

Suggestions that this wreck is U 31 are incorrect. U 31 was not assigned to operate near or through the Straits of Dover and was lost in any case before the Royal Navy laid mines near the Sandettie Bank.

See the 3 ships hit by U 37


There was another U 37 in World War Two
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 14 May 1938 and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on 4 Aug 1938. Take a look at the U 37 from WWII.

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