German World War II submarine
U-38 and its crew
History
Nazi Germany
Name U-38
Ordered 29 July 1936
Builder DeSchiMAG AG Weser , Bremen
Yard number 943
Laid down 15 April 1937
Launched 9 August 1938
Commissioned 24 October 1938
Fate Scuttled 5 May 1945 west of Wesermünde and broken up in 1948.
General characteristics
Class and type Type IXA submarine
Displacement
1,032 t (1,016 long tons ) surfaced
1,153 t (1,135 long tons) submerged
Length
Beam
6.51 m (21 ft 4 in) o/a
4.40 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Height 9.40 m (30 ft 10 in)
Draught 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in)
Installed power
4,400 PS (3,200 kW; 4,300 bhp) (diesels)
1,000 PS (740 kW; 990 shp) (electric)
Propulsion
Speed
18.2 knots (33.7 km/h; 20.9 mph) surfaced
7.7 knots (14.3 km/h; 8.9 mph) submerged
Range
10,500 nmi (19,400 km; 12,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced
65–78 nmi (120–144 km; 75–90 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth 230 m (750 ft)
Complement 4 officers, 44 enlisted
Armament
Service record
Part of:
Identification codes:
M 20 675 Commanders:
Kptlt. Heinrich Liebe
24 October 1938 – 22 July 1941
K.Kapt. Heinrich Schuch
15 July 1941 – 6 January 1942
Oblt.z.S. Ludo Kregelin
1943
Oblt.z.S. Helmut Laubert
5 January – 22 August 1943
Oblt.z.S. Paul Sander
23 August – 14 December 1943
Oblt.z.S. Goske von Möllendorff
16 December – December 1943
Oblt.z.S. Herbert Kühn
January – 14 April 1944
K.Kapt. Georg Peters[ 1]
15 April 1944 – 5 May 1945
Operations:
11 patrols:[ 1]
1st patrol:
19 August – 18 September 1939
2nd patrol:
14 November – 16 December 1939
3rd patrol:
26 February – 5 April 1940
4th patrol:
8 – 27 April 1940
5th patrol:
6 June – 2 July 1940
6th patrol:
1 August – 3 September 1940
7th patrol:
25 September – 24 October 1940
8th patrol:
18 December 1940 – 22 January 1941
9th patrol:
9 April – 29 June 1941
10th patrol:
6 August – 14 September 1941
11th patrol:
a. 15 October – 21 November 1941
b. 23 – 29 November 1941
Victories:
35 merchant ships sunk (188,967 GRT )
1 merchant ship damaged (3,670 GRT )[ 2]
German submarine U-38 was a Type IXA U-boat of Nazi Germany 's Kriegsmarine that operated during World War II.[ 1]
Her keel was laid down on 15 April 1937, by DeSchiMAG AG Weser of Bremen as yard number 943. She was launched on 9 August 1938 and commissioned on 24 October with Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Liebe in command.[ 1]
U-38 conducted eleven patrols, as part of several flotillas. During her career, she sank more than 30 enemy vessels and damaged a further one. U-38 ranks as one of the most successful U-boats in World War II.[ 3] She was scuttled west of Wesermünde (Modern Bremerhaven) on 5 May 1945. Throughout the war, the U-Boat suffered no losses among her crew.[ 1]
^ a b c d e f Helgason, Guðmundur. "U-38" . German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net . Retrieved 1 April 2010 .
^ Cite error: The named reference Hit
was invoked but never defined (see the help page ).
^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Most Successful U-boats" . German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net . Retrieved 29 March 2010 .