The Constantinople Flotilla (german: U-Flottille Konstantinopel) was an

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...

formation set up during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

to prosecute the U-boat campaign against Allied shipping in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea in support of Germany's ally, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Despite its official name, the "U-boats of the Mediterranean Division in Constantinople" (''U-Boote der Mittelmeerdivision in Konstantinopel''), it saw little service there, operating mostly against

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

shipping in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

. The Constantinople Flotilla had a maximum strength of 11 U–boats but due to the unfavorable conditions for commerce raiding in the Black Sea saw little success during its three years of operations. In three years of operation, the force sank ships totaling 117,093 GRT. 15 U-boats served in the Constantinople Flotilla; 7 were lost operationally: 5 in the Black Sea and 2 in the Mediterranean. One U-boat was sold to Bulgaria. Two more U-boats were assigned to the Flotilla but were lost en route to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. In 1917 the force was amalgamated with the

Pola Flotilla The Pola flotilla (''U-Flottille Pola'') was an Imperial German Navy (IGN) formation set up to implement the U-boat campaign against Allied shipping in the Mediterranean during the First World War in support of Germany's ally, the Austro-Hungarian ...

, coming under the command of the U-boat Leader, Mediterranean (''Führer der U-boote im Mittelmeer'') there; the unit was renamed the Constantinople Half-Flotilla (''U-Halbflotille Konstantinopel''). In 1918, with the collapse of the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

, the U-boats were scuttled or fled to join the Pola boats in their evacuation to Germany.

List of U-boats

* '' U-21'' * '' U-33'' * '' U-38'' * '' UB-3''* * '' UB-7'' * '' UB-8'' * '' UB-14'' * '' UB-42'' * '' UB-45'' * '' UB-44''* * '' UB-46'' * '' UB-66'' * '' UB-68'' * '' UC-13'' * '' UC-15'' * '' UC-23'' * '' UC-37''

Commanding officers

References

*VE Tarrant ''The U-Boat offensive 1914-1945'' (1989) {{Uboat U-boat flotillas Military units and formations of the Imperial German Navy Naval units and formations of Germany in World War I Mediterranean naval operations of World War I Military units and formations established in 1915 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 Black Sea naval operations of World War I