U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role and enforcing a naval blockade against enemy shipping. The primary targets of the U-boat campaigns in both wars were the merchant convoys bringing supplies from Canada and other parts of the British Empire, and from the United States, to the United Kingdom and to the Soviet Union and the Allied territories in the Mediterranean. German submarines also destroyed Brazilian merchant ships during World War II, causing Brazil to declare war on both Germany and Italy on 22 August 1942.
Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them. The use of Q-ships contributed to the abandonment of cruiser rules restricting attacks on unarmed merchant ships and to the shift to unrestricted submarine warfare in the 20th century.
HMS Seraph was an S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in 1942, she carried out multiple intelligence and special operations activities during World War II, the most notable of which was Operation Mincemeat.
The Austro-Hungarian U-boat fleet was created in the decade prior to the First World War. They were built to a variety of designs, many under licence from Germany. They served throughout the war against Italian, French and British shipping in the Mediterranean Sea with some success, losing eight of the twenty eight boats in service in return. They were reinforced by the Imperial German Navy’s Pola Flotilla, mainly comprising coastal U-boats transported by rail from Germany's northern shipyards to the Austrian ports on the Adriatic Sea. Following the end of the war in 1918, all Austrian submarines were surrendered to the Entente powers, who disposed of them individually. As both Austria and Hungary became landlocked in the aftermath of the war, no Austrian or Hungarian submarines have been commissioned since.
Foreign U-boats was the title for a special section created by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that adopted 13 captured enemy submarines and a single Turkish vessel into the U-boat corps. Beginning in 1939 and lasting until the end of World War II in 1945, the Kriegsmarine modified a total of 13 captured enemy submarines, then deployed them into combat with German crews. The special corps was not especially successful, as only ten enemy ships were destroyed by Foreign U-boats through the entire war. Eight of these were destroyed by UA, which was a modified Type IX U-boat originally built for the Turkish Navy. However, some were effective as minelayers.
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.
SM U-14 or U-XIV was a U-boat or submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the First World War. She was launched in 1912 as the French Brumaire-class submarineCurie, but captured and rebuilt for service in the Austro-Hungarian Navy. At war's end, the submarine was returned to France and restored to her former name.
German submarine U-106 was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that operated during World War II. She was laid down on 26 November 1939 at DeSchiMAG AG Weser in Bremen as yard number 969, launched on 17 June 1940 and commissioned on 24 September. She was armed with six torpedo tubes and a 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun. U-106 was assigned to the 2nd U-boat Flotilla on 24 September 1940, in which she would serve for nearly three years.
Favorite was an Aurore-class submarine of the French Navy. The boat was captured by the German in June 1940 and renamed UF-2 on 13 May 1941.
HMS Sickle was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1942, she made her initial war patrol off the Norwegian coast. Sickle then sailed to Gibraltar, from where she conducted one patrol, then to Algiers, French North Africa. From 10 May to 10 October, the boat patrolled the Gulf of Genoa five times and sank a German submarine as well as three minesweepers and an escort ship. She then moved to Beirut, French Lebanon, and conducted two patrols in the Aegean Sea, sinking three caïques and a merchant ship, in addition to landing resistance operatives in Greece.
Astrée was an Aurore-class submarine of the French Navy.
The Aurore class was a class of fifteen coastal submarines designed for the French Navy. The prototype – Aurore – was authorised in 1934, the next four in 1937, a further four in 1938, two in 1938, and a final four subsequently. Some of the ships were captured by Nazi Germany after the Fall of France, most of them in an unfinished state; two were intended to be completed for the German Navy, Africaine becoming UF-1 and Favorite becoming UF-2, but only the first was completed during the War, the second reverting to French control while still uncompleted.
UF-1 is the name/designation of:
SM U-28 or U-XXVIII was a U-27-class U-boat or submarine for the Austro-Hungarian Navy. U-28, built by the Austrian firm of Cantiere Navale Triestino (CNT) at the Pola Navy Yard, was launched in January 1917 and commissioned in June.
The U-boat Campaign from 1914 to 1918 was the World War I naval campaign fought by German U-boats against the trade routes of the Allies. It took place largely in the seas around the British Isles and in the Mediterranean. The German Empire relied on imports for food and domestic food production and the United Kingdom relied heavily on imports to feed its population, and both required raw materials to supply their war industry; the powers aimed, therefore, to blockade one another. The British had the Royal Navy which was superior in numbers and could operate on most of the world's oceans because of the British Empire, whereas the Imperial German Navy surface fleet was mainly restricted to the German Bight, and used commerce raiders and unrestricted submarine warfare to operate elsewhere.
SM U-21 was a U-boat built for the Imperial German Navy shortly before World War I. The third of four Type U-19-class submarines, these were the first U-boats in German service to be equipped with diesel engines. U-21 was built between 1911 and October 1913 at the Kaiserliche Werft in Danzig. She was armed with four torpedo tubes and a single deck gun; a second gun was added during her career.
The French submarine fleet of World War II was one of the largest in the world at that time. It saw action during the war but had a chequered service history due to France's position at that time. During the conflict, 59 submarines, more than three-quarters of the fleet, were lost.
German submarine U-471 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 25 October 1941 by Deutsche Werke, Kiel as yard number 302, launched on 6 March 1943 and commissioned on 5 May 1943 under Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich Kloevekorn.
German submarine U-432 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
UD-3 was an O 21-class submarine. The boat was laid down as the Dutch submarine HNLMS K XXV and renamed HNLMS O 25 but was captured during the German invasion of the Netherlands in World War II and commissioned in the Kriegsmarine.
France
Nazi Germany