German submarine U-20 (1936)

German submarine U-20 was a Type IIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid down on 1 August 1935, by Germaniawerft of Kiel as yard number 550. She was commissioned on 1 February 1936. During World War II, she conducted operations against enemy shipping.

U-20 went on 16 war patrols, sinking 13 ships totalling Template:GRT and 9 tons , damaging one more of Template:GRT.

Design

German Type IIB submarines were enlarged versions of the original Type IIs. U-20 had a displacement of Template:Convert when at the surface and Template:Convert while submerged. Officially, the standard tonnage was Template:Convert, however.Template:Sfn The U-boat had a total length of Template:Convert, a pressure hull length of Template:Convert, a beam of Template:Convert, a height of Template:Convert, and a draught of Template:Convert. The submarine was powered by two MWM RS 127 S four-stroke, six-cylinder diesel engines of Template:Convert for cruising, two Siemens-Schuckert PG VV 322/36 double-acting electric motors producing a total of Template:Convert for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two Template:Convert propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to Template:Convert.Template:Sfn

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of Template:Convert and a maximum submerged speed of Template:Convert.Template:Sfn When submerged, the boat could operate for Template:Convert at Template:Convert; when surfaced, she could travel Template:Convert at Template:Convert. U-20 was fitted with three Template:Convert torpedo tubes at the bow, five torpedoes or up to twelve Type A torpedo mines, and a [[2 cm Flak 30|Template:Convert anti-aircraft gun]]. The boat had a complement of twenty five.Template:Sfn

Operational history

First, second and third patrols

U-20Template:'s first three patrols involved observation (in August 1939) and the laying of mines in the North Sea and off the British east coast. She would start in Kiel and finish in Wilhelmshaven; then reverse the process.

Fourth and fifth patrols

She sank Magnus about Template:Convert east northeast of Peterhead in Scotland. The ship went down in 90 seconds; there was only one survivor. She also sank Ionian and Willowpool in November and December respectively, with mines laid in November.

The boat sank Sylvia northeast of Aberdeen on her fifth sortie on 13 October 1940.

Sixth to eighth patrols

U-20 sank a steady number of ships on her sixth and seventh patrols, (her eighth foray was relatively quiet), but a series of changes were on the way.

She was transferred to the U-Ausbildungsflottille as a school boat on 1 May 1940, then the Black Sea, avoiding the heavy British presence at Gibraltar and throughout the Mediterranean by being transported in sections along the Danube to the Romanian port of Galați. She was then re-assembled by the Romanians at the Galați shipyard and sent to her new home in the Black Sea so she could serve with the 30th U-boat Flotilla.<ref>Steel and Ice: The U-boat Battle in the Arctic and Black Sea 1941-45, Chapter 5 - The Black Sea: War in the South 1942-43, fifth page</ref>

Ninth and tenth patrols

The boat's first patrol in the new environment, but her ninth overall, almost ended in disaster when she tried to torpedo a Soviet submarine chaser; the vessel responded by dropping eight depth charges. U-20 was obliged to stay submerged for four hours and returned to base with various mechanical failures.

Near the end of sally number ten, a crew member from Template:GS who had been taken sick, was transferred to U-20 on 4 August 1943. The boat docked at Constanta on the seventh.

11th to 14th patrols

These patrols were conducted between Constanta and Sevastopol. U-20 sank the Soviet Vaijan Kutur'e on 16 January 1944 off Cape Anakria.

15th patrol

The boat sank Pestel on 19 June 1944 off Trabzon. The Soviets reported that this ship was sunk in Turkish territorial waters.

She also sank the Soviet landing craft DB-26 on 26 June with gunfire and demolition charges.

16th patrol and fate

She was scuttled on 10 September 1944, in the Black Sea off the coast of Turkey.Template:Sfn

On 3 February 2008, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that U-20 had been discovered by Selçuk Kolay, a Turkish marine engineer, in Template:Convert of water off the coast of the Turkish city of Karasu.<ref>Adolf Hitler's "Lost fleet" found in Black Sea, The Daily Telegraph, retrieved 2010-12-27</ref>

Summary of raiding history

Date	Name	Nationality	Tonnage<ref group=Note name=tonnage>Merchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.</ref>	Fate<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
29 November 1939	Ionian	Template:Flagcountry	3,114	Sunk (mine)
9 December 1939	Magnus	Template:Flagcountry	1,339	Sunk
10 December 1939	Føina	Template:Flagcountry	1,674	Sunk
10 December 1939	Willowpool	Template:Flagcountry	4,815	Sunk (mine)
13 January 1940	Sylvia	Template:Flagcountry	1,524	Sunk
27 January 1940	England	Template:Flagcountry	2,319	Sunk
27 January 1940	Faro	Template:Flagcountry	844	Total loss
27 January 1940	Fredensborg	Template:Flagcountry	2,094	Sunk
27 January 1940	Hosanger	Template:Flagcountry	1,591	Sunk
29 February 1940	Maria Rosa	Template:Flagcountry	4,211	Sunk
1 March 1940	Mirella	Template:Flagcountry	5,340	Sunk
29 November 1943	Peredovik	Template:Flagcountry	1,846	Damaged
16 January 1944	Vaijan Kutur'e	Template:Flagcountry	7,602	Total loss
7 April 1944	Rion	Template:Flagcountry	187	Sunk (mine)
19 June 1944	Pestel	Template:Flagcountry	1,850	Sunk
24 June 1944	DB-26	Template:Navy	9	Sunk

Bibliography

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External links

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