German submarine ''U-25'' was one of two

Type IA A Type Ia supernova (read: "type one-A") is a type of supernova that occurs in binary systems (two stars orbiting one another) in which one of the stars is a white dwarf. The other star can be anything from a giant star to an even smaller white ...

ocean-going submarines produced by

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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 ...

''. Constructed by

DeSchiMAG Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau Aktiengesellschaft (abbreviated Deschimag) was a cooperation of eight German shipyards in the period 1926 to 1945. The leading company was the shipyard AG Weser in Bremen. History The Deschimag was founded in 19 ...

AG Weser Aktien-Gesellschaft „Weser" (abbreviated A.G. „Weser”) was one of the major German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1872 it was finally closed in 1983. All together, A.G. „Weser" built about 1,400 ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

as yard number 903, ''U-25'' was commissioned on 6 April 1936. It experienced a short, but successful combat career, sinking eight ships and damaging one.

Service history

Until 1940, ''U-25'' was primarily used as a training vessel. During its trials it was found that the Type IA submarine was difficult to handle due to its poor stability and slow dive rate. In early 1940, the boat was called into combat duty due to the shortage of available submarines. ''U-25'' participated in five war patrols, sinking eight ships and badly damaging one. On 17 January 1940, 10 miles north of

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

, ''U-25'' torpedoed . ''Enid'' (Captain Wibe), of then-neutral Norway en route to

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, went to assist ''Polzella''. ''U-25'' then shelled and sank ''Enid''. Her crew escaped in their lifeboats. None of ''Polzella''s crew survived. ''U-25'' sank eight vessels for a total of and damaged one for :

Fate

Around 2 August 1940, while on a mine-laying mission near Norway, ''U-25'' passed through British minefield ''Field No. 7'', striking a mine. The boat sank, taking all 49 hands with it.

Wolfpacks

''U-25'' took part in one wolfpack, namely: * Prien (12 – 17 June 1940)

Summary of raiding history

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:U0025 German Type I submarines U-boats commissioned in 1936 U-boats sunk in 1940 World War II submarines of Germany World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea 1936 ships U-boats sunk by mines Ships built in Bremen (state) Military units and formations of Nazi Germany in the Spanish Civil War Maritime incidents in August 1940