U-59

Type

IIC

 
Ordered17 Jun 1937
Laid down5 Oct 1937 Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel (werk 258)
Launched12 Oct 1938
Commissioned4 Mar 1939Oblt. Harald Jürst
Commanders
4 Mar 1939 - 17 Jul 1940  Kptlt. Harald Jürst
18 Jul 1940 - 10 Nov 1940   Joachim Matz
11 Nov 1940 - 16 Apr 1941  Kptlt. Freiherr Siegfried von Forstner (Knights Cross)
17 Apr 1941 - Dec, 1941  Oblt. Günter Gretschel
Dec, 1941 - 15 Jul 1942   Günter Poser
16 Jul 1942 - 10 Jun 1943  Oblt. Karl-Heinz Sammler
11 Jun 1943 - 30 Jun 1944  Oblt. Hans-Jürgen Schley
Jul, 1944 - Apr, 1945  Ltn. Herbert Walther
Career
13 patrols
4 Mar 1939-31 Dec 1939  5. Flottille (training)
1 Jan 1940-31 Dec 1940  1. Flottille (front boat)
1 Jan 1941-30 Jun 1944  22. Flottille (school boat)
1 Jul 1944-1 Apr 1945  19. Flottille (school boat)
Successes17 ships sunk for a total of 34,130 GRT
2 auxiliary warships sunk for a total of 864 GRT
1 ship damaged for a total of 8,009 GRT
1 ship a total loss for a total of 4,943 GRT
Fate

Stricken in April 1945 at Kiel. Scuttled in the Kiel Arsenal. Wreck broken up in 1945.

See the 21 ships hit by U-59 - View the 13 war patrols

Attacks on this boat

5 May 1940
The boat was attacked by a submarine in the North Sea and observed a torpedo track that passed about 100 metres behind the stern.

1 recorded attack 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-59 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.
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-59 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 20 Jun 1916 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 7 Sep 1916. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 59 during WWI.