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

German submarine U-121 (1940)

Type IIB coastal submarine

German submarine U-121 (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-12128 May 1940 — 5 May 19451,803 days of the war
Type IIB coastal submarine Particulars
Name
U-121
Pennant / hull number
1940
Builder
Flender Werke, Lübeck
Ordered
28 September 1937
Laid down
16 April 1938
Launched
20 April 1940
Commissioned
28 May 1940
Fate
Scuttled 5 May 1945 at Bremerhaven
Raised and scrapped, 1950 (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-121 was a Type IIB coastal submarine of the Kriegsmarine. She carried the pennant number 1940. Her keel was laid at Flender Werke, Lübeck on 16 April 1938. She entered service on 28 May 1940, having been launched on 20 April 1940.

50 ships of the class were built. 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 1,803 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-121 (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