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List of successful U-boats contains lists of the most successful German U-boats in the two World Wars based on total tonnage.
This list contains the 5 most successful German U-boats during the First World War based on total tonnage. Only sunk commercial vessels are included, not military (warships) nor damaged ships.
| Boat | Type | Commissioned | Total tonnage | Ships sunk | Patrols | Fate | Captains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SM U-35 | Type U 31 | 3 November 1914 | 505,121 | 220 | 17 | Surrendered, 26 November 1918 | Waldemar Kophamel Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière Ernst von Voigt Heino von Heimburg |
| SM U-39 | Type U 31 | 13 January 1915 | 404,774 | 149 | 19 | Surrendered, 22 March 1919 | Hans Kratzsch Walter Forstmann Heinrich Metzger |
| SM U-38 | Type U 31 | 15 December 1914 | 287,811 | 134 | 17 | Surrendered, 23 February 1919 | Max Valentiner Wilhelm Canaris Hans Heinrich Wurmbach Clemens Wickel |
| SM U-34 | Type U 31 | 5 October 1914 | 257,652 | 119 | 17 | Missing, 9 November 1918 | Claus Rücker Wilhelm Canaris Johannes Klasing |
| SM U-53 | Type U 51 | 22 April 1916 | 224,314 | 87 | 13 | Surrendered, 1 December 1918 | Hans Rose Otto von Schrader |
This list contains the 10 most successful German U-boats during the Second World War based on total tonnage. Both commercial and military vessels (warships) are included but only sunk ships are included, not damaged ships.
| Boat | Type | Commissioned | Total tonnage | Ships sunk | Patrols | Fate | Captains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U-48 | VIIB | 22 April 1939 | 300,537 | 51 | 12 | Scuttled, 3 May 1945 | Herbert Schultze Hans-Rudolf Rösing Heinrich Bleichrodt |
| U-99 | VIIB | 18 April 1940 | 244,658 | 38 | 8 | Scuttled, 17 March 1941 after depth charging by HMS Walker. | Otto Kretschmer |
| U-103 | IXB | 18 April 1940 | 237,596 | 45 | 11 | Decommissioned March 1944. Sunk by bombs in Kiel, 15 April 1945. | Viktor Schütze Werner Winter |
| U-124 | IXB | 11 June 1940 | 225,637 | 48 | 11 | Lost with all hands, 2 April 1943 after depth charging by HMS Stonecrop and HMS Black Swan. | Georg-Wilhelm Schulz Johann Mohr |
| U-123 | IXB | 30 May 1940 | 222,705 | 44 | 12 | Decommissioned 17 June 1944. Scuttled in port, 19 August 1944. Refloated and taken into French service as Blaison. | Karl-Heinz Moehle Reinhard Hardegen Horst von Schroeter |
| U-107 | IXB | 8 October 1940 | 217,786 | 39 | 13 | Lost with all hands 18 August 1944 after depth charging by a Sunderland of 201 Squadron RAF. | Günter Hessler Harald Gelhaus Volker Simmermacher Karl-Heinz Fritz |
| U-37 | IX | 4 August 1938 | 202,467 | 55 | 11 | Scuttled, 8 May 1945 | Heinrich Schuch Werner Hartmann Victor Oehrn Asmus Nicolai Clausen Ulrich Folkers |
| U-66 | IXC | 20 March 1940 | 200,021 | 33 | 9 | Sunk 6 May 1944 by Grumman F4F Wildcats and Grumman TBF Avengers of USS Block Island, rammed by destroyer escort USS Buckley. | Richard Zapp Friedrich Markworth Paul Frerks Gerhard Seehausen |
| U-68 | IXC | 11 February 1941 | 197,998 | 33 | 10 | Sunk 10 April 1944, depth charges and rockets fired by F4F Wildcats and TBM Avengers of USS Guadalcanal. | Karl-Friedrich Merten Albert Lauzemis Ekkehard Scherraus Gerhard Seehausen Albert Lauzemis |
| U-47 | VIIB | 17 December 1938 | 191,919 | 31 | 10 | Missing with all hands, on or about 7 March 1941 while patrolling south of Iceland between 59 deg and 62 deg north. Reason behind her sinking is still unknown with theories ranging from attacks by corvettes HMS Camellia and HMS Arbutus, mines, mechanical failure, and possibly becoming victim of her own torpedoes. | Günther Prien |
German submarine U-47 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down on 25 February 1937 at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel as yard number 582 and went into service on 17 December 1938 under the command of Günther Prien.
German submarine U-37 was a Type IXA U-boat of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 15 March 1937 at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser yard in Bremen, launched on 14 May 1938, and commissioned on 4 August 1938 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Schuch as part of the 6th U-boat Flotilla.
German submarine U-99 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down on 31 March 1939 at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel as yard number 593. She was launched on 12 March 1940 under the command of Korvettenkapitän Otto Kretschmer and was assigned to the 7th U-boat Flotilla based in Kiel and later in St Nazaire.
German submarine U-83 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
German submarine U-30 was a Type VIIA U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that served during World War II. She was ordered in April 1935 in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, which prevented the construction and commissioning of any U-boats for the German navy, and as part of the German naval rearmament program known as Plan Z. She sank the liner SS Athenia (1922) on 3 September 1939, under the command of Fritz-Julius Lemp. She was retired from front-line service in September 1940 after undertaking eight war patrols, having sunk 17 vessels and damaging two others. U-30 then served in a training role until the end of the war when she was scuttled. She was later raised and broken up for scrap in 1948.
SM U-102 or SM Unterseeboot 102 was a German Type U 57 submarine used by the Imperial German Navy in World War I. U-102 was launched on 12 May 1917. She was commissioned to the Imperial Navy on 18 June 1917.
German submarine U-101 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She had a highly successful career.
SM U-73 was one of 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She engaged in the commerce war as part of the First Battle of the Atlantic. U-73 has the distinction of being responsible for planting the underwater mine that later led to the sinking of the largest ship sunk during World War I, the 48,158 tons hospital ship Britannic.
SM U-22 was one of 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. U-22 was engaged in commerce war as part of the naval warfare, during the First Battle of the Atlantic.
SM U-24 was one of 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She was engaged in commerce warfare during the First Battle of the Atlantic.
The Type UE II submarines were a class of submarines built by the German Empire during World War I as long-range mine-layers.
German submarine U-453 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 4 July 1940 by Deutsche Werke in Kiel as yard number 284, launched on 30 April 1941 and commissioned on 26 June 1941 under Kapitänleutnant Egon-Reiner von Schlippenbach.
German submarine U-409 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine in World War II. She was laid down on 26 October 1940 by Danziger Werft, Danzig as yard number 110, launched on 23 September 1941 and commissioned on 21 January 1942 under Oberleutnant zur See Hanns-Ferdinand Massmann.
German submarine U-211 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 29 March 1941 by the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft yard at Kiel as yard number 640, launched on 15 January 1942 and commissioned on 7 March under the command of Korvettenkapitän Karl Hause.
German submarine U-435 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 11 April 1940 by F Schichau GmbH in Danzig as yard number 1477, launched on 31 May 1941 and commissioned on 30 August 1941 under Korvettenkapitän Siegfried Strelow.
German submarine U-118 was a Type XB minelaying U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
German submarine U-563 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She carried out eight patrols and sank three ships, totalling 14,689 gross register tons (GRT), as well as one warship of 1,870 tons. Two ships were damaged, totalling 16,266 GRT. She was a member of nine wolfpacks, and was sunk by Allied aircraft in the Bay of Biscay on 31 May 1943.
German submarine U-578 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
German submarine U-870 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service during the Second World War. She was ordered on 25 August 1941, and laid down on 29 April 1943 at Bremen, Germany. She was launched on 29 October 1943 and commissioned on 3 February 1944.