U-20

Type

IIB

 
Ordered2 Feb 1935
Laid down1 Aug 1935 F. Krupp Germaniawerft AG, Kiel (werk 550)
Launched14 Jan 1936
Commissioned1 Feb 1936Kptlt. Hans Eckermann
Commanders
1 Feb 1936 - 30 Sep 1937  Kptlt. Hans Eckermann
1 Oct 1937 - 17 Jan 1940  Kptlt. Karl-Heinz Moehle (Knights Cross)
17 Jan 1940 - 15 Apr 1940  Kptlt. Harro von Klot-Heydenfeldt
2 Apr 1940 - 15 Apr 1940  Oblt. Heinrich Driver
16 Apr 1940 - 7 Jun 1940  Oblt. Hans-Jürgen Zetzsche
8 Jun 1940 - 5 Jan 1941  Oblt. Ottokar Arnold Paulssen
6 Jan 1941 - 19 May 1941  Kptlt. Herbert Schauenburg
20 May 1941 - 4 Dec 1941  Oblt. Wolfgang Sträter
5 Dec 1941 - 27 Mar 1942   Kurt Nölke
7 May 1942 - 26 Sep 1942  Oblt. Clemens Schöler
27 May 1943 - 31 Oct 1943  Kptlt. Clemens Schöler
1 Nov 1943 - 10 Sep 1944  Oblt. Karl Grafen
Career
16 patrols
1 Feb 1936-1 Aug 1939  3. Flottille (front boat)
1 Sep 1939-31 Dec 1939  3. Flottille (front boat)
1 Jan 1940-30 Apr 1940  1. Flottille (front boat)
1 May 1940-30 Jun 1940  1. U-Ausbildungsflottille (school boat)
1 Jul 1940-30 Sep 1942  21. Flottille (school boat)
1 Oct 1942-10 Sep 1944  30. Flottille (front boat)
Successes13 ships sunk for a total of 30,067 GRT
1 ship damaged for a total of 1,846 GRT
2 ships a total loss for a total of 8,446 GRT
Fate

Scuttled at 2130hrs on 10 Sept, 1944 off the coast of Turkey in the Black Sea in position 41.10N, 30.47E.

See the 16 ships hit by U-20 - View the 16 war patrols

Attacks on this boat

26 Jun 1943
The boat unsuccessfully tried to attack a Soviet submarine hunter off Tuapse, but was attacked itself with 8 depth charges and then kept submerged by aircraft for 4 hours. Afterwards the boat had to return to base due to mechanical failures. (Sources: Ritschel)

1 recorded attack on this boat.

General notes on this boat

7 Feb 2008. The 3 boats, U-19, U-20 and U-23, scuttled in September 1944 off the Turkish coast have been located. They are reported to be in excellent condition.

27 Dec 2009. The boat was dived on and photographed by Mr. Taner Aksoy. See our U 20 in the Black Sea gallery.

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-20 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.


We have emblem entries for this boat!

You can view the emblems here. (The emblem on the left is not the emblem for this boat).



U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 2
Wynn, Kenneth


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Books dealing with this subject include:

German U-Boat Losses During World War II. Niestle, Axel, 1998.
Hitler's U-boat War. Blair, Clay, 1996.
Hitler's U-boat War, Vol II. Blair, Clay, 1998.
Okrety plyna po ladzie. Piwowoñski, Jan, 1959.
U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 1. Wynn, Kenneth, 1998.
U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 2. Wynn, Kenneth, 1998.


There was another U-20 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 18 Dec 1912 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 5 Aug 1913. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 20 during WWI.