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U-21

Type

IIB

 
Ordered2 Feb, 1935
Laid down 4 Mar, 1936 Germaniawerft, Kiel (werk 551)
Launched31 Jul, 1936
Commissioned3 Aug, 1936 
Commanders
18 Jul, 1935 - 3 Oct, 1937  Kptlt. Kurt Freiwald
Sep, 1936 - 31 Mar, 1937   Werner Lott
1937 - 1937  Kptlt. Wilhelm Ambrosius
1937 - 1937  Kpt. Erwin Sachs
1 Oct, 1937 - 6 Jan, 1940  Kptlt. Fritz Frauenheim (Knights Cross)
6 Jan, 1940 - 28 Jul, 1940   Wolf-Harro Stiebler
1 Aug, 1940 - 20 Dec, 1940  Oblt. Hans Heidtmann (Knights Cross)
21 Dec, 1940 - 18 May, 1941  Kptlt. Ernst-Bernward Lohse
19 May, 1941 - 3 Jan, 1942   Karl-Heinz Herbschleb
4 Jan, 1942 - 24 Sep, 1942  Oblt. Hans-Heinrich Döhler
25 Sep, 1942 - 28 Jan, 1943   Hans-Ferdinand Geisler
29 Jan, 1943 - 11 May, 1944  Oblt. Rudolf Kugelberg
12 May, 1944 - 5 Aug, 1944  Oblt. Wolfgang Schwarzkopf
Career7 patrols 1 Aug, 1936 - 1 Aug, 1939  1. Flottille (front boat)
1 Sep, 1939 - 31 Dec, 1939  1. Flottille (front boat)
1 Jan, 1940 - 30 Jun, 1940  1. Flottille (front boat)
1 Jul, 1940 - 5 Aug, 1944  21. Flottille (school boat)
Successes5 ships sunk for a total of 10.706 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 605 GRT
1 warship damaged for a total of 11.500 tons
Fate

Stranded on 27 March, 1940 south-east of Mandal, in position 58.01N, 07.29E, after running aground off Oldknuppen Island following a navigational error.

Interned in Norway at Kristiansand-Süd. Released to Germany on 9 April, 1940.

Stricken 5 Aug, 1944 at Pillau. Scrapped in February, 1945.

See the 7 ships hit by U-21 - View the 7 war patrols

Attacks on this boat

9 Sep, 1939
The British submarine HMS Ursula (N 59) (LtCdr G.C. Philipps, RN) fired the first British submarine torpedoes of the war when unsuccessfully attacking U-35 and U-21 with a spread of five torpedoes some 23 miles north of the island of Schiermonnikoog, Netherlands. (Sources: Dr. Jürgen Rohwer)

6 Nov, 1939
HMS Sealion (Lt.Cdr. B. Bryant, RN) fires 6 torpedoes against the German submarine U-21. All torpedoes fired missed their target.

2 recorded attacks on this boat.

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-21 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.



German U-Boat Losses During World War II
Niestle, Axel

Buy this title at
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See more sellers 		Books dealing with this subject include:

German U-Boat Losses During World War II, Niestle, Axel, 1998
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-21 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 8 Feb, 1913 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 22 Oct, 1913. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 21 during WWI.