German submarine U-51 (1938)

Type VIIB U-boat

Service

Kriegsmarine as U-516 August 1938 — 20 August 1940354 days of the war

Type VIIB U-boat Particulars

Name: U-51
Pennant / hull number: 1938
Builder: Germaniawerft AG, Kiel
Ordered: 21 November 1936
Laid down: 26 February 1937
Launched: 11 June 1938
Commissioned: 6 August 1938
Fate: Sunk, 20 August 1940 (1940)
Status: Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced: 741 long tons (753 t)
Displacement, submerged: 843 long tons (857 t)
Length: 66.5 m (218.2 ft) OA
Beam: 6.2 m (20.3 ft)
Draught: 4.74 m (15.6 ft)
Speed: 17.9 knots (33.2 km/h, 20.6 mph)
Range: 8,700 nmi (16,112 km)
Main gun: 88 mm (3.5 in)

U-51 was a submarine of the Type VIIB U-boat of the Kriegsmarine. She carried the pennant number 1938. Germaniawerft AG, Kiel laid her keel on 26 February 1937. She entered service on 6 August 1938, having been launched on 11 June 1938.

Her class ran to 24 ships. The class followed the Type UB III, Vetehinen class and was succeeded by the Type XXI (Late-war replacement).

The boat displaced 741 long tons surfaced and 843 long tons submerged. She measured 66.5 m (218 ft) long with a beam of 6.2 m (20 ft). Her designed speed was 17.9 knots.

Her main battery was one 88 mm (3.5 in) guns.

She was in commission for 354 days of the Second World War.

She was sunk on 20 August 1940, at 57°00′N 5°00′E. The wreck survives.

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

Armament and machinery

Propulsion: 2 shafts
2 × diesel engines
2 × electric motors
Power: 2800 - 3200 PS (diesels)
750 PS (electric)
Armament: 5 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern)
14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines
1 × 8.8 cm deck gun (220 rounds)
1 × 2 cm C/30 anti-aircraft gun

Sister ships

Sources

Facts harvested from German submarine U-51 (1938) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
Photograph: UK Government — http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/ — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons