LAUNCHED: Sep. 24, 1914
COMMISSIONED: Jan. 13, 1915
COMMANDERS: Hans Kratzsch, Jan. 13, 1915 - Feb. 9, 1915; Walter Forstmann, Feb. 11, 1915 - Oct. 14, 1917; Heinrich Metzger, Oct. 15, 1917 - May 18, 1918
CAREER: 19 patrols
TORPEDOES: 6 (2 bow / 2 stern tubes)
DECK GUN: 105mm with 300 rounds
CREW: 35 men
MAX DEPTH: 50 meters (164 feet)
U-39 patrolled the Mediterranean Sea and by the end of the war was the second most successful U-boat, participating in the sinking of 157 ships. Walther Forstmann, its longest serving captain was awarded the Tour le Mérite during his command.
On May 18, 1918, U-39 was captured at Cartagena, Spain after being damaged by Allied escorts and aircraft. It was later towed to France in March 1919 and later broken up at Toulon in 1923.
U-35
LAUNCHED: Apr. 18, 1914
COMMISSIONED: Nov. 13, 1914
COMMANDERS: Waldemar Kophamel, Nov. 3, 1914 - Nov. 12, 1915; Kptlt. Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, Nov. 13, 1915 - Mar. 16, 1918; Ernst von Voigt, Mar. 17, 1918 - Aug. 13, 1918; Heino von Heimburg, Oct. 14, 1918 - Nov. 11, 1918
CAREER: 17 patrols
TORPEDOES: 6 (2 bow / 2 stern tubes)
DECK GUN: 105mm with 300 rounds
CREW: 35 men
MAX DEPTH: 50 meters (164 feet)
Operating in the Mediterranean Sea during WWI, U-35, was the most successful U-boat of the war, sinking a total of 224 ships sunk.
Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, its longest serving captain, is famous for allowing the crews of enemy merchant ships to board their lifeboats and giving them directions to the nearest port before sinking their ships. Under his command, U-35 sunk 195 ships. The fourth commander, Captain Heimburg surrendered the boat on Nov. 26, 1918. After the war ended, U-35 was transferred to England and docked in Blyth from 1919 to 1920 where it was then broken up.
U-9
LAUNCHED: Feb. 22 1910
COMMISSIONED: Apr. 18 1910
COMMANDERS: Otto Weddigen. Aug. 1, 1914 - Jan. 11, 1915; Johannes Spieß, Jan. 12, 1915 - Apr. 19, 1916
CAREER: 7 patrols
TORPEDOES: 6 (2 bow / 2stern tubes)
DECK GUN: 105mm with 300 rounds
CREW: 35 men
MAX DEPTH: 50 meters (164 feet)
On July 16, 1914, U-9 was the first ever to perform the extremely difficult exercise of reloading torpedoes while submerged. This would pay off only a few months later. On September 22, 1914, U-9 sunk three British cruisers in under an hour: the HMS Aboukir, the Hogue and the Cressy. This attack evidenced for the first time, the capabilities of submarines in warfare.
In total, U-9 sunk 5 warships and 13 merchant ships. No other boat during WWI sunk more warships. On Nov. 26, 1918 the U-9 surrendered and was later broken up at Morecambe, England in 1919.
U-21
LAUNCHED: Feb. 8, 1913
COMMISSIONED: Oct. 22, 1913
COMMANDERS: Otto Hersing, Aug. 1, 1914 - Aug. 31, 1918; Friedrich Klein, Sep. 1, 1918 - Nov. 11, 1918
CAREER: 11 patrols
TORPEDOES: 6 (2 bow / 2 stern tubes)
DECK GUN: 105mm with 300 rounds
CREW: 35 men
MAX DEPTH: 50 meters (164 feet)
Successes: 37 ships sunk; 1 ship damaged; 3 warships sunk
On September 5, 1914 the small British cruiser HMS Pathfinder was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by U-21. This was the first warship to be sunk by a German U-boat during the war. Later, while on passage to surrender, U-21 was sunk in an accident on Feb. 22, 1919.
