24th U-boat Flotilla

24. Unterseebootsflottille
Active	November 1939–March 1945
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Kriegsmarine
Type	U-boat flotilla
Commanders
Notable; commanders	FrgKpt. Karl-Friedrich Merten

Last updated March 05, 2019

24th U-boat Flotilla ("24. Unterseebootsflottille") was a training flotilla ("Ausbildungsflottille") of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

Nazi Germany is the common English name for Germany between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party (NSDAP) controlled the country through a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany was transformed into a totalitarian state that controlled nearly all aspects of life via the Gleichschaltung legal process. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich until 1943 and Großdeutsches Reich from 1943 to 1945. Nazi Germany is also known as the Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", the first two being the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and the German Empire (1871–1918). The Nazi regime ended after the Allies defeated Germany in May 1945, ending World War II in Europe.

The Kriegsmarine was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war Reichsmarine (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches, along with the Heer (Army) and the Luftwaffe of the Wehrmacht, the German armed forces from 1933 to 1945.

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Unit history

The flotilla was founded at Danzig in November 1939 under the command of Korvettenkapitän Hannes Weingärtner as the Unterseebootsausbildungsflottille ("U-boat Training Flotilla"). It was redesignated 1. Unterseebootsausbildungsflottille in April 1940, and then 24. Unterseebootsflottille in June 1940.^[1]

Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast. With a population of 464,254, Gdańsk is the capital and largest city of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the capital of Kashubia. It is Poland's principal seaport and the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.

Korvettenkapitän, short: KKpt / in lists: KK, is the lowest senior officer rank in the German Navy / armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr).

The flotilla trained new U-boat commanders in attack techniques in the Kommandantenschiesslehrgang ("Commanders shooting training course"). The course lasted four weeks and trained 10 to 12 officers each time. The flotilla was disbanded in March 1945.^[1]

Bases

Danzig (November 1939–June 1940)
Memel (June 1940–June 1941)
Trondheim (June–September 1941)
Memel (September 1941–October 1944)
Gotenhafen (October 1944–February 1945)
Eckernförde (February–March 1945)

Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County.

Trondheim is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It has a population of 193,501, and is the third-most populous municipality in Norway, although the fourth largest urban area. Trondheim lies on the south shore of Trondheim Fjord at the mouth of the River Nidelva. The city is dominated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF), St. Olavs University Hospital and other technology-oriented institutions.

Gdynia(listen) is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and a seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea. Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia has a population of 246,232 making it the twelfth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the voivodeship after Gdańsk. It is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the Tricity (Trójmiasto), with a population of over a million people.

Flotilla commanders

Korvettenkapitän Hannes Weingärtner (November 1939–July 1942)
Kapitän zur See Rudolf Peters (July 1942–January 1943)
Fregattenkapitan Karl-Friedrich Merten (March 1943–May 1944)
Korvettenkapitän Karl Jasper (May–July 1944)
Fregattenkapitan Karl-Friedrich Merten (July 1944–March 1945)

Karl-Friedrich Merten commanded the U-boat U-68 in Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Merten was credited with the sinking of 27 ships for a total of 170,151 gross register tons (GRT) of Allied shipping. Merten joined the Reichsmarine in 1926. He served on the light cruisers Karlsruhe and Leipzig during the Spanish Civil War patrols.

Assigned U-boats

Fifty-three U-boats were assigned to this flotilla during its service.

U-8
U-9
U-14
U-18
U-19
U-28
U-29
U-30
U-34
U-38
U-46
U-52
U-56
U-71
U-72
U-80
U-96
U-101
U-103
U-121
U-142
U-143
U-148
U-151
U-152
U-236
U-251
U-287
U-351
U-393
U-554
U-555
U-560
U-579
U-612
U-704
U-747
U-748
U-749
U-750
U-763
U-821
U-982
U-999
U-1007
U-1008
U-1161
U-1162
U-1192
U-1193
U-1195
U-1207
U-D4

The German submarine U-8 was a Type IIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, based at Kiel during World War II. It was one of the smaller versions, and was first launched on 16 July 1935. Its first commander was Harald Grosse. U-8 would have 18 commanders over the course of its service, the last being Jürgen Kriegshammer.

German submarine U-9 was a Type IIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid down on 8 February 1935, by Germaniawerft in Kiel as yard number 543. She was launched on 30 July 1935 and commissioned on 21 August, with Korvettenkapitän Hans-Günther Looff in command.

German submarine U-28 was a Type VIIA U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

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References

1 2 "uboat.net - Boats - Flotillas - 24th Flotilla". uboat.net. Archived from the original on 7 February 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2010.

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[uboatnet-1] 1 2 "uboat.net - Boats - Flotillas - 24th Flotilla". uboat.net. Archived from the original on 7 February 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2010.