Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Kriegsmarine — Submarine 1940

German submarine U-120 (1940)

Type IIB coastal submarine

German submarine U-120 (1940)
not identified. "Official photograph" — This photograph HU 1012 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 5003-04) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — 1940 Photograph of German submarine U-9 .

Service

  1. Kriegsmarine as U-12020 April 1940 — 5 May 19451,841 days of the war
Type IIB coastal submarine Particulars
Name
U-120
Pennant / hull number
1940
Builder
Flender Werke, Lübeck
Ordered
28 September 1937
Laid down
31 March 1938
Launched
16 March 1940
Commissioned
20 April 1940
Fate
Scuttled 5 May 1945 at Bremerhaven. Raised in 1950 and broken up. (1945)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced
275 long tons (279 t)
Displacement, submerged
323 long tons (328 t)
Length
42.7 m (140.1 ft) OA
Beam
4.08 m (13.4 ft)
Draught
3.9 m (12.8 ft)
Speed
13 knots (24.1 km/h, 15 mph)
Range
1,800 nmi (3,334 km)
Complement
25
Main gun
20 mm (0.8 in)

U-120 was a Type IIB coastal submarine, operated by the Kriegsmarine. She carried the pennant number 1940. Flender Werke, Lübeck laid her keel on 31 March 1938. She entered service on 20 April 1940, having been launched on 16 March 1940.

Her class ran to 50 ships. The class followed the CV 707-type submarine and was succeeded by the Planned:.

The boat displaced 275 long tons surfaced and 323 long tons submerged. She measured 42.7 m (140 ft) long with a beam of 4.1 m (13 ft). Her designed speed was 13 knots, and she carried a complement of 25.

Her main battery was one 20 mm (0.8 in) guns.

She was in commission for 1,841 days of the Second World War.

She was scuttled on 5 May 1945. The wreck survives.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • 2 shafts
  • 2 × diesel engines
  • 2 × electric motors
Power
  • 700 PS (diesels)
  • 410 PS (electric)
Armament
  • 3 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes
  • 5 × torpedoes or up to 12 TMA or 18 TMB mines
  • 1 × 2 cm anti-aircraft gun

Sister ships

25 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from German submarine U-120 (1940) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: not identified. "Official photograph" — This photograph HU 1012 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 5003-04) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons