U-23 SUBMARINE

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aukepalmhof
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U-23 SUBMARINE

Post by aukepalmhof » Mon Jul 12, 2021 9:13 pm

Built as a submarine type IIB under yard no 553 by Germania shipyard, Kiel for the German Navy.
02 February 1935 ordered.
11 April 1936 laid down.
28 August 1936 launched as the U-23.
Displacement: 279 ton surface, 329 ton submerged, dim. 42.7 x 4.08 x 3.9m. (draught surfaced).
Powered diesel 700hp, electro motor submerged 360 hp. Speed: surface 13 knots, submerged 7 knots. Range: surface 3100 nm at 8 knots, submerged 43 nm at 4 knots.
Diving depth 120m.
Crew 25.
Armament: Torpedo tubes: 3 in the bow. Torpedoes: 5 (or 18 mines) Guns: none. AA guns 1 × 2 cm L / 65 C / 30 (from 1942 2 × 2 2 cm)
24 September 1936 commissioned.
Whereabouts: self-sunk on September 10, 1944

U 23 was a German submarine of type II B, which in the Second World War by the Navy was used.


History
The order for the boat was awarded to the Germania shipyard in Kiel on February 2, 1935. The keel was laid on April 11, 1936, the launch on August 28, 1936, and commissioning under frigate captain Erwin Sachs on September 24, 1936.
After commissioning, U 23 belonged to the U-Flotilla “Weddigen” in Kiel as a reserve or combat boat until December 31, 1939. When the U-Flotilla was reorganized, the boat was assigned to the 1st U-Flotilla in Kiel on January 1, 1940. After being used as a front boat, the U 23 became a training boat for the 21st U-Flotilla in Pillau from July 1, 1940, to October 1, 1942.
In October 1942 the boat was transferred from Pillau to Kiel for decommissioning and then dismantled and transported via inland waterways (Kiel Canal, Elbe, and the Danube) and land routes to Romania on the Black Sea. U 23 was the last of the six submarines transferred to the Black Sea to be put into service on June 3, 1943, and transferred to the 30th U-Flotilla in Constanta. U 23 drove seven patrol missions in the Black Sea.
U 23 completed a total of sixteen operations in which nine ships with a total tonnage of 12,589 GRT were sunk and two ships with a total tonnage of 7,801 GRT were damaged. Three more with 18,199 GRT were classified as total losses.

First patrol
The boat left Wilhelmshaven on August 25, 1939 at 3:50 a.m. and returned there on September 4, 1939, at 6:00 p.m. No ships were sunk or damaged on this eleven day
Second patrol
The boat left Wilhelmshaven on September 9, 1939, at 11:30 a.m. and entered Kiel on September 21, 1939, at 9:15 a.m. No ships were sunk or damaged on this twelve-day patrol in the North Sea.

Third patrol
The boat left Wilhelmshaven on October 1, 1939, at 1:00 p.m. and entered Kiel on October 16, 1939, at 7:45 a.m. On this 17-day trip into the North Sea, a ship with 876 GRT was sunk. The British submarine HMS STURGEON fired three torpedoes at U 23 in October 1939, but without hitting them.
October 4, 1939: the sinking of the British steamer GLEN FARQ (876 GRT) by a G7a torpedo. She had loaded pulp, carbide, paper, iron, and chrome and was on the way from Folden Fjord near Trondheim to Methil. There was one dead and 16 survivors.

Fourth patrol
The boat left Kiel on November 1, 1939, at 1:30 a.m. and returned there on November 9, 1939, at 5:25 a.m. On this nine-day mining operation in the Cromarty Firth, nine mines were laid, but no ship was sunk.

Fifth patrol
The boat left Kiel on December 5, 1939, at 10:00 p.m. and returned there on December 15, 1939, at 7:35 a.m. During this ten-day and approximately 1,340 nm long operation in the North Sea and on the British east coast, a ship with 2,400 GRT was sunk.
December 7, 1939: Sinking of the Danish steamer SCOTIA (2,400 GRT) by a G7e torpedo. She was in ballast and was on her way from Denmark to Great Britain.

Sixth patrol
The boat left Kiel on January 8, 1940, at 11:57 p.m. and entered Wilhelmshaven on January 15, 1940, at 2:30 p.m. On this seven-day and approximately 1,250 nm long undertaking off the Scottish east coast, two ships with 11,667 GRT were sunk.
January 11, 1940: Sinking of the Norwegian steamer FREDVILLE (1,150 GRT) by a G7e torpedo. She sailed in ballast and was on her way from Drammen to Methil. There were ten dead and five survivors.
January 11, 1940: Sinking of the Danish tanker DANMARK (10,517 GRT) by a G7e torpedo. She had 8,200 ton of gasoline and 5,760 ton of diesel oil loaded and was on the way from Aruba to Nyborg. There were no dead. The forecastle was later raised and used as a tank farm.

Seventh patrol
The boat left Wilhelmshaven on January 18, 1940, at 3:55 p.m. and returned there on January 29, 1940, at 8:45 p.m. A ship with 1,085 GRT was sunk on this twelve-day and approximately 1,400 nm long undertaking on the British east coast.
January 24, 1940: Sinking of the Norwegian steamer VARILD (1,085 GRT) by a G7e torpedo. She had an unknown cargo on board and was en route to Great Britain. It was a total loss with 15 dead.

Eighth patrol
The boat ran from Wilhelmshaven on February 9, 1940, at 8:25 a.m. under the command of Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer and entered Kiel on February 28, 1940 at 7:00 p.m. During this 20-day operation in the North Sea and the Shetland Islands, three ships with 11,596 GRT and a destroyer with 1,375 t were sunk.
February 18, 1940: Sinking of the British destroyer HMS DARING (1,375 t) by a G7e torpedo. She was part of the escort of convoy HN-12. There were 157 dead and 15 survivors.
February 19, 1940: Sinking of the British steamer TIBERTON (5,225 GRT) by a G7e torpedo. She was carrying iron ore and was on his way from Narvik to Middlesbrough. It was a total loss with 33 dead.
February 22, 1940: the sinking of the British steamer LOCH MADDY (4,996 GRT). The steamer was already damaged by U 57 on February 21, 1940. U 23 sank it with a G7e torpedo. It broke in two, the stern stranded in Inganess Bay. The steamer had loaded 2,000 tons of wheat, 6,000 tons of wood and an airplane and was on its way from Vancouver via Victoria, Panama and Halifax to Leith. The ship belonged to the disbanded convoy HX-19 with 44 ships. There were four dead and 35 survivors.

Ninth patrol
The boat sailed on April 13, 1940, at 22:00 for operation weserübung from Wilhelmshaven and arrived 03 May 1940 in Kiel. No ships were sunk or damaged during this 20-day and approx. 1,800 nm above and 373 nm underwater patrol off Norway.

Tenth patrol
The boat left Constanța on June 27, 1943, at 3:40 p.m. and returned there on July 19, 1943, at 9:20 p.m. During this 23-day, 2,008.9 nm above and 429.7 nm underwater operation in the Black Sea off the Caucasus coast, no ships were sunk or damaged.

Eleventh patrol
The boat left Constanta on August 10, 1943, at 2:00 p.m. and returned there on September 9, 1943, at 12:51 p.m. During this 31-day and 2,917.8 nm above and 585.2 nm underwater patrol in the Black Sea off the Caucasus coast, a 35 ton mine-clearing boat was sunk.
August 24, 1943: the sinking of the Soviet mine clearance boat KATSC-578 (35 t). The boat was set on fire by hand grenades and explosive charges, burned out and sank. There were three dead and seven survivors.

Twelfth patrol
The boat left Constanta on October 10, 1943, at 3:50 p.m. and returned there on November 11, 1943, at 9:15 a.m. On this 33 day long and 2,911.3 nm above and 618.6 nm underwater operation in the Black Sea off the Caucasus coast, a ship with 372 GRT was sunk and an auxiliary minesweeper with 1,005 GRT was damaged.
October 15, 1943: Damage to the Soviet auxiliary minesweeper TSC-486 SOVETSKAYA ROSSIJA (1,005 GRT) by a torpedo.
October 23, 1943: Sinking of the Soviet motor ship TANAIS (372 GRT) by a torpedo. There were eleven dead and ten survivors.

Thirteenth patrol
The boat left Constanța on December 14, 1943, at 10:15 p.m. and returned there on January 7, 1944, at 11:25 a.m. No ships were sunk or damaged during this 24-day and 2,321.6 nm above and 394.1 nm underwater patrol in the Black Sea.

Fourteenth patrol
The boat left Constanța on March 30, 1944, at 2:10 p.m. and returned there on April 24, 1944, at 10:00 a.m. On this 26 day long and 1,913.7 nm above and 481.7 nm underwater operation in the Black Sea off the Caucasus coast, a ship with 56 t was sunk.
April 5, 1944: the sinking of the Soviet mine clearance boat SKA-099 (56 t). The boat was sunk by machine gunfire.

Fifteenth patrol
The boat left Constanța on May 17, 1944, at 2:00 p.m., and returned there on June 7, 1944, at 9:25 a.m. During this 21-day operation in the Black Sea off the Caucasus coast, a ship with 175 GRT was sunk.
May 29, 1944: the sinking of the Soviet tug SMELYI (175 GRT) by two torpedoes.

Sixteenth patrol
The boat left Constanța on August 16, 1944, and attacked Romanian ships after the royal coup in Romania on August 23, 1944. U 23 was under command of Lieutenant Rudolf Arendt which ordered to scuttle the U-23 on September 10, 1944, in the Black Sea off the Turkish coast. Then he and his crew went on internment in Turkey which lasted until September 26, 1946.

During this 25-day operation in the Black Sea, a ship with 5,900 GRT was sunk and a destroyer of 1,850 t was damaged.
September 1, 1944: Damage to the Romanian destroyer Regina Maria (1,850 t) of the Italian Regele Ferdinand class by a G7e torpedo.
September 1, 1944: the sinking of the Romanian steamer ARDEAL (5,605 GRT) by a G7e torpedo. The earlier assumption that it was about the steamer OITUZ (2,686 GRT) is not correct. (Miramar gives her that she was torpedoed on 01 September 1944 in Constanza harbor by the U-23.) According to recent findings, the ARDEAL was sunk. (According to Miramar the ARDEAL was broken up in 1962 in Romania, and not any mention that she was sunk by the U-23. Lloyds Register 1955 still named her in service.)

Whereabouts
U-23 had no losses to complain about during its service life under its crew.
The boat was on 10 September 1944 on the Turkish Black Sea coast near Ağva of Kefken Island (Kefken Adasi) west on the position 41 ° 11 ' N , 30 ° 2' O scuttled. The crew was interned in Turkey on the same day.

After a four-year search, the wreck was discovered by divers at the end of January 2019 based on the information in the autobiographical book “Last Command, Scuttle” by Commander Rudolf Arendt.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_23_(Kriegsmarine)
Mozambique 2013 92.00 MT sg?, scott ?
Attachments
2013 U-23-German-Submarine (2).jpg

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