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12 May, 2008
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Type	IIB
Ordered	2 Feb, 1935
Laid down	11 Apr, 1936	Germaniawerft, Kiel (werk 553)
Launched	28 Aug, 1936
Commissioned	24 Sep, 1936
Commanders	1 Sep, 1936 - 3 Jan, 1938   KrvKpt. Eberhard Godt 1936/37 - 30 Sep, 1937   Hans-Günther Looff 1 Oct, 1937 - 1 Apr, 1940   Kptlt. Otto Kretschmer (Knights Cross) 8 Apr, 1940 - 19 May, 1940   Kptlt. Heinz Beduhn 20 May, 1940 - 30 Sep, 1940   Heinrich Driver 1 Oct, 1940 - 20 Mar, 1941   Kurt Reichenbach-Klinke 21 Mar, 1941 - 23 Sep, 1941   Ernst-Ulrich Brüller 24 Sep, 1941 - 26 Mar, 1942   Ulrich Gräf 27 Mar, 1942 - 19 Jun, 1944   Kptlt. Rolf-Birger Wahlen 20 Jun, 1944 - 10 Sep, 1944   Oblt. Rudolf Arendt
Career	16 patrols	1 Sep, 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 - 30 Sep, 1942  21. Flottille (school boat) 1 Oct, 1942 - 10 Sep, 1944  30. Flottille (front boat)
Successes	7 ships sunk for a total of 11.179 GRT 2 warships sunk for a total of 1.410 tons 1 auxiliary warship damaged for a total of 1.005 GRT 1 warship damaged for a total of 56 tons 3 ships a total loss for a total of 18.199 GRT
Fate	Scuttled at 2210hrs on 10 Sept, 1944 off the coast of Turkey in the Black Sea in position 41.11N, 30.00E.

See the 14 ships hit by U-23 - View the 16 war patrols

Attacks 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.

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-23 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.

Letzter Befehl: Versenken Arendt, Rudolf Buy this title at amazon.de

Books dealing with this subject include: German U-Boat Losses During World War II, Niestle, Axel, 1998 Letzter Befehl: Versenken, Arendt, Rudolf, 1998 Okrety plyna po ladzie, Piwowoñski, Jan, 1959 U-Boat Adventures, Wiggins, Melanie, 1999 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 ... see more Naval books

There was another U-23 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 12 Apr, 1913 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 11 Sep, 1913. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 23 during WWI.