1st U-boat Flotilla

1st U-boat flotilla
ActiveRaised 1935, Dissolved 1944
Country Nazi Germany
BranchKriegsmarine
TypeU-boat flotilla
BaseKiel, Brest
Nickname(s)Weddigen flotilla
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Fregattenkapitän Karl Dönitz

The 1st U-boat flotilla (German 1. Unterseebootsflottille) also known as the Weddigen flotilla, was the first operational U-boat unit in Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine (navy). Founded on 27 September 1935 under the command of Fregattenkapitän Karl Dönitz,[1] it was named in honor of Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen. Weddigen, a U-boat commander during World War I, died on 18 March 1915 after his submarine U-29 was rammed by the British battleship HMS Dreadnought in the North Sea.[2]

The flotilla at first only consisted of U-9, a Type IIB boat commissioned on 21 August 1935. Later, boats U-1 to U-12 were included in the flotilla, but U-1 to U-6 were only used as training boats and were attached to the U-boat training school in Neustadt.[3] Originally based in Kiel from September 1935 – May 1941, it was moved to Brest, France in June 1941. In September 1944, the flotilla was disbanded and its remaining boats were distributed to other flotillas.

Weddigen flotilla on naval visit to Helsinki in 1937
  1. ^ 1. Unterseebootsflottille Archived 16 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Uboatnet.de. Retrieved 21 July 2006.
  2. ^ 1st Flotilla. Uboat.net. Retrieved 21 July 2006.
  3. ^ Gordon Williamson. Wolf Pack: The Story of the U-Boat in World War II, Osprey Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1-84176-872-3

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