German submarine U-56 (1938)
Encyclopedia
German submarine U-56 was a Type IIC U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
of the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
that served in the Second World War. She was produced by Deutsche Werke AG
Deutsche Werke
Deutsche Werke was a German shipbuilding company founded in 1925 when Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and other shipyards were merged. It came as a result of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I that forced the German defence industry to shrink...
, Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, and was commissioned on 26 November 1938.
Wartime Activity
Following her commissioning, the U-56 joined five other new Type IIC U-boats to form 5th U-boat Flotilla for training purposes. On December 31, 1939 she was re-assigned to 1st U-boat Flotilla for a front-line combat role. The U-56 made twelve war patrols under Wilhelm Zahn (August 1939 – January 1940) and Otto Harms (January–September 1940). For all patrols, U-56 is credited with a total of . Her most notable success was the August 10, 1940 sinking of the armed merchant cruiser for .The U-56 was one of the first U-boats to arrive in Lorient
Lorient
Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...
after the signing of the armistice with France. Increased training needs led the German high command to assign U-56 to the training command in October 1940, where she spent the remainder of the war.
In an unusual twist, three of U-56s former captains were captured by the Allies during World War II: Werner Pfeifer, Otto Harms and Wolfgang Römer. The U-56 was sunk at Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
by British aircraft on April 28, 1945.
Raiding Career
| Date | Ship | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 December 1939 | Eskdene |  United Kingdom |
3,829 | Damaged |
| 3 December 1939 | Rudolf |  Sweden |
2,119 | Sunk |
| 23 January 1940 | Onto |  Finland |
|1,333 | Sunk* |
| 5 August 1940 | Boma | United Kingdom |
5,408 | Sunk |
| 12 February 1940 | United Kingdom |
16,923 | Sunk | |