Type | IIB | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ordered | 2 Feb 1935 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Laid down | 24 Sep 1935 | Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel (werk 250) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Launched | 15 Feb 1936 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Commissioned | 7 Mar 1936 | Kptlt. Werner von Schmidt | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Commanders |
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| Career 5 patrols |
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| Successes | 3 ships sunk, total tonnage 4,532 GRT | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Fate |
Sank 30 January 1940 in the North Sea north of Heligoland, in position 54.24,7N, 07.50,7E, after a collision with the German torpedo boat Iltis. 25 dead (all hands lost). | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Loss position | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The sinking of U-15: During the night of 29/30 January 1940 the German torpedo boats Iltis, Luchs and Wolf were proceeding at high speed in bad visibility due to snow squalls when U-15 was spotted close to the starboard bow of Iltis, which immediately took evasive action but could not avoid a collision. At 0305hrs the U-boat was rammed behind the conning tower and quickly sank by the stern. No survivors were found despite a search carried out by the three torpedo boats until 0428hrs.
Men lost from U-boats
Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-15 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.
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There was another U-15 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 18 Sep 1911 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 7 Jul 1912. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about SM U 15 during WWI.
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