''23rd U-boat Flotilla'' ("23. Unterseebootsflottille") was a unit of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'' during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The flotilla was first formed in Salamis,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, on 11 September 1941 under the command of ''

Kapitänleutnant ''Kapitänleutnant'', short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( en, captain lieutenant) is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the German Bundeswehr. The rank is rated OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to Hauptmann in the Heer and ...

Fritz Frauenheim Fritz Frauenheim (9 January 1912 – 28 September 1969) was a German U-boat commander of the Second World War. From September 1939 until retiring from front line service in December 1940, he sank 19 ships for a total of , and damaged two others. H ...

. It operated in the eastern

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and sank 12 ships for a total of . In May 1942 the flotilla was merged into ''

29th U-boat Flotilla 29th U-boat Flotilla ("29. Unterseebootsflottille") was formed in December 1941 in La Spezia in Italy under the command of Korvettenkapitän Franz Becker (soldier), Franz Becker. The flotilla operated mostly various marks of the Type VII U-boat an ...

'', based at

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The flotilla was re-founded in September 1943 as a Training Flotilla under the command of ''

Korvettenkapitän () is the lowest ranking senior officer in a number of Germanic-speaking navies. Austro-Hungary Belgium Germany Korvettenkapitän, short: KKpt/in lists: KK, () is the lowest senior officer rank () in the German Navy. Address The offici ...

Otto von Bülow Otto von Bülow (16 October 1911 – 5 January 2006) was a German U-boat commander in World War II, and a captain in the ''Bundesmarine''. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. Family Bülow w ...

, based at Danzig. It trained new U-boat commanders in attack techniques (''Kommandantenschiesslehrgang'', "Commanders shooting training course"). The flotilla was disbanded in March 1945.

Assigned U-boats

Nine U-boats were assigned to this flotilla during its combat service in 1941–1942. * * * * * * * * *

References

{{Uboat 23 Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Salamis Island German occupation of Greece during World War II