German submarine U-121 (1940)

U-9, a typical Type IIB boat
History
Nazi Germany
Name	U-121
Ordered	28 September 1937
Builder	Flender Werke, Lübeck
Yard number	269
Laid down	16 April 1938
Launched	20 April 1940
Commissioned	28 May 1940
Fate	Scuttled 5 May 1945 at Bremerhaven Raised and scrapped, 1950
General characteristics
Class and type	Type IIB coastal submarine
Displacement	279 t (275 long tons) surfaced 328 t (323 long tons) submerged
Length	42.70 m (140 ft 1 in) o/a 27.80 m (91 ft 2 in) pressure hull
Beam	4.08 m (13 ft 5 in) (o/a) 4.00 m (13 ft 1 in) (pressure hull)
Height	8.60 m (28 ft 3 in)
Draught	3.90 m (12 ft 10 in)
Installed power	700 PS (510 kW; 690 bhp) (diesels) 410 PS (300 kW; 400 shp) (electric)
Propulsion	2 shafts 2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) surfaced 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) submerged
Range	1,800 nmi (3,300 km; 2,100 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) surfaced 35–43 nmi (65–80 km; 40–49 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth	80 m (260 ft)
Complement	3 officers, 22 men
Armament	3 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes 5 × torpedoes or up to 12 TMA or 18 TMB mines 1 × 2 cm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft gun
Service record
Part of:	U-boat School Flotilla 28 May – 30 June 1940 21st U-boat Flotilla 1 July 1940 – 25 March 1942 24th U-boat Flotilla 26 March – 15 May 1942 21st U-boat Flotilla 16 May 1942 – 16 March 1945 31st U-boat Flotilla 17 March - 5 May 1945
Identification codes:	M 01 240
Commanders:	Oblt.z.S. / Kptlt. Karl-Ernst Schroeter 28 May 1940 - 30 March 1941 Oblt.z.S. Otto Harms October - 5 November 1940 Oblt.z.S. Adalbert Schnee 6 - 27 November 1940 Oblt.z.S. Egon-Reiner von Schlippenbach 31 March - 8 July 1941 Kptlt. Gert Hetschko 9 July 1941 - 25 March 1942 Lt.z.S. / Oblt.z.S. Ernst von Witzendorff 26 March - 19 April 1942 Lt.z.S. / Oblt.z.S. Otto Westphalen 16 May 1942 - 8 February 1943 Lt.z.S. Otto Hübschen September - December 1942 Oblt.z.S. Ewald Hülsenbeck 9 February 1943 - 22 February 1944 Oblt.z.S.d.R Friedrich Horst 23 February 1944 - 5 May 1945
Operations:	No patrols
Victories:	No ships sunk or damaged

German submarine U-121 was a long-lived Type IIB U-boat built during World War II for service in Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. U-121 spent the entire war as a training vessel and was scuttled at the end of the conflict.

U-121 was one of two Type II U-boats built at Flender Werke in Lübeck. Like her sister boat U-120 (also built in Lübeck), she was originally constructed for export to China. The advent of World War II and the increased training needs of the U-Boot-Waffe led the German high command to assign U-120 and U-121 to the training command instead.^[1]