German submarine U-37 (1938)

U-37 at Lorient in 1940
History
Nazi Germany
NameU-37
Ordered29 July 1936
BuilderDeSchiMAG AG Weser, Bremen
Yard number942
Laid down15 March 1937
Launched14 May 1938
Commissioned4 August 1938
FateScuttled, 5 May 1945
General characteristics
Class & typeType IXA submarine
Displacement
  • 1,032 t (1,016 long tons) surfaced
  • 1,153 t (1,135 long tons) submerged
Length58.75 m (192 ft 9 in) pressure hull
Beam6.51 m (21 ft 4 in) o/a
Height9.40 m (30 ft 10 in)
Draught4.70 m (15 ft 5 in)
Installed power
PropulsionTwo shafts
Speed
  • 18.2 knots (33.7 km/h; 20.9 mph) surfaced
  • 7.7 knots (14.3 km/h; 8.9 mph) submerged
Range10,500 nmi (19,400 km; 12,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced
Test depth230 m (750 ft)
Complement4 officers, 44 enlisted
Armament

German submarine U-37 was a Type IXA U-boat of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 15 March 1937 at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser yard in Bremen, launched on 14 May 1938, and commissioned on 4 August 1938 as part of the 6th U-boat Flotilla.

Between August 1939 and March 1941, U-37 conducted eleven combat patrols, sinking 53 merchant ships, for a total of 200,063 gross register tons (GRT); and two warships, the British Hastings-class sloop HMS Penzance, and the French submarine Sfax. U-37 was then withdrawn from front-line service and assigned to training units until the end of the war. On 5 May 1945 the U-boat was scuttled. U-37 was the sixth most successful U-boat in World War II in terms of tonnage sunk.