WWI U-boats

U 31

Type U 31
ShipyardGermaniawerft, Kiel (Werk 191)
Ordered 29 Mar 1912
Laid down 12 Oct 1912
Launched 7 Jan 1914
Commissioned 18 Sep 1914
Commanders
1 Aug 1914 - 13 Jan 1915 Oblt. Siegfried Wachendorff
Career 1 patrol
unknown start - 13 Jan 1915 IV Flotilla
SuccessesNo successes
Fate 13 Jan 1915 - Final fate unknown. Possibly mined off E coast of UK. The wreck of U 31 was located and identified in the North Sea in 2015. Date of loss is approximate.. 31 dead (all hands lost).

There was a wartime rumor that the British had found this boat on the surface with the all the crew dead (from gas poisoning) and then towed the boat to a British base. This rumor is not true.

There was another U 31 in World War Two
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 25 Sep 1936 and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on 28 Dec 1936. Take a look at U 31 from WWII.


Back to the U-boat index