U-37

Type

IX

 
Ordered29 Jul 1936
Laid down 15 Mar 1937 AG Weser, Bremen (werk 942)
Launched14 May 1938
Commissioned4 Aug 1938Kptlt. Heinrich Schuch
Commanders
4 Aug 1938 - 24 Sep 1939   Heinrich Schuch
25 Sep 1939 - 6 May 1940  KrvKpt. Werner Hartmann (Knights Cross)
6 May 1940 - 26 Oct 1940  Kptlt. Victor Oehrn (Knights Cross)
26 Oct 1940 - 2 May 1941  Kptlt. Asmus Nicolai Clausen (Knights Cross)
3 May 1941 - 15 Nov 1941  Kptlt. Ulrich Folkers (Knights Cross)
16 Nov 1941 - 30 Jun 1942  Oblt. Gustav-Adolf Janssen
1 Jul 1942 - 3 Jan 1943  Oblt. Albert Lauzemis
4 Jan 1943 - 19 Nov 1943   Hinrich Kelling
20 Nov 1943 - 8 Jan 1944  Oblt. Peter Gerlach
9 Jan 1944 - 21 Dec 1944  Oblt. Wolfgang Seiler
22 Dec 1944 - 8 May 1945  Kptlt. Eberhard von Wenden
Career11 patrols 1 Apr 1938 - 31 Aug 1939  6. Flottille (front boat)
1 Sep 1939 - 31 Dec 1939  6. Flottille (front boat)
1 Jan 1940 - 30 Apr 1941  2. Flottille (front boat)
1 May 1941 - 31 Mar 1942  26. Flottille (school boat)
1 Apr 1942 - 30 Jun 1944  22. Flottille (school boat)
1 Jul 1944 - 3 May 1945  4. Flottille (trial boat)(eb)
Successes53 ships sunk for a total of 200,124 GRT
2 warships sunk for a total of 2,404 tons
1 ship damaged for a total of 9,494 GRT
Fate

Scuttled on 8 May, 1945 in Sonderburg Bay, in position 54.55N, 09.47E, later broken up.

See the 56 ships hit by U-37 - View the 11 war patrols

Attacks on this boat

3 Nov 1939
The boat suffered slight damage after an air attack.

24 Aug 1940
The boat was hit by both surface escorts and aircraft and forced to abort to France. Date is an approximate. (Sources: Blair, vol 1, page 180)

2 recorded attacks on this boat.

General notes on this boat

8 Feb 1941. The boat spotted the convoy HG 53 late on Feb 8, 1941. She attacked on the 9th and sank 3 ships during the next 2 days but she also brought in Condor aircraft from 2/KG 40 which attacked on the 9th that sank 5 more ships. The heavy cruiser Hipper is also vectored in to the scene but only finds a straggler on the 11th, sinking her.

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-37 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.


We have an emblem for this boat!

You can view it 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:

Feind im Fadenkreuz. Hartmann, Werner, 1942.
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.
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.
U-Boats at War. Showell, Jak P. Mallmann, 2001.


There was another U-37 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 25 Aug 1914 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 9 Dec 1914. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 37 during WWI.