WWI U-boats

U 53

Type U 51
ShipyardGermaniawerft, Kiel (Werk 235)
Ordered 23 Aug 1914
Laid down 17 Mar 1915
Launched 1 Feb 1916
Commissioned 22 Apr 1916
Commanders
22 Apr 1916 - 17 Aug 1918 Kptlt. Hans Rose (Pour le Mérite)
18 Aug 1918 - 29 Nov 1918 Kptlt. Otto von Schrader (Royal House Order of Hohenzollern)
Career 13 patrols
31 May 1916 - 11 Nov 1918 II Flotilla
Successes87 ships sunk with a total of 224,314 tons.
10 ships damaged with a total of 46,339 tons.
1 warship sunk with a total of 1,050 tons. (View ships hit by U 53)
Fate 1 Dec 1918 - Surrendered. Broken up at Swansea in 1922.

There was another U 53 in World War Two
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 6 May 1939 and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on 24 Jun 1939. Take a look at U 53 from WWII.


Back to the U-boat index