The Type I

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

was the first post–

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

attempt to produce an oceangoing submarine for

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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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

''. Only two Type IAs were built, but the decision to halt production on further boats is believed to be because of political decisions and not because of major faults in the Type I design. Although the boats did not have any major design faults, they were known to be difficult to handle due to their poor stability and slow dive rate. The type was based on the design of the Finnish ''Vetehinen'' class and the Spanish Type E-1, designed by

Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (''Dutch: engineer-office for shipbuilding''), usually contracted to IvS, was a Dutch dummy company set up in The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by prov ...

(the company also designed the Soviet S class submarine). The design later served as a basis for the development of other types of boats, primarily the VII and IX classes. Constructed by Deschimag in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie H ...

, the first Type IA was launched on 14 February 1936. The two boats produced, and , were primarily used as training vessels and for propaganda purposes to fly the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

flag. In 1940, the boats were called into combat duty due to the shortage of available submarines. Both boats experienced short, but successful combat careers. ''U-25'' participated in five war cruises, sinking eight enemy ships. On 3 August 1940, while on a mine laying mission near

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, ''U-25'' struck a mine and sank with all hands on board. ''U-26'' carried out eight war cruises, sinking three merchant ships on its first mission laying mines. On its second war cruise it became the first U-boat 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

to enter the

Mediterranean Sea 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 ...

. ''U-26'' participated in three other successful war patrols, sinking four additional merchant ships. On its eighth war cruise the boat sank three merchant ships and damaged another ship the next day. The attack on this ship led to severe depth-charging by two British warships, including . Unable to dive, ''U-26'' was forced to surface where she was bombed by a Sunderland flying boat. The crew scuttled the submarine and were rescued by Allied warships.

List of Type I submarines

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References

Bibliography

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Type 001 Submarine Submarine classes World War II submarines of Germany