1. Unterseebootsflottille

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=1. Unterseebootsflottille


caption=
country=Nazi Germany
type=U-boat flottilla
branch=Kriegsmarine
dates=Raised 1935, Dissolved 1944
command_structure=
garrison=Kiel, Brest
garrison label=Base
nickname="Unterseebootsflottille Weddigen"
battles=
notable_commanders="Fregattenkapitän" Karl Dönitz
associated units=

1. Unterseebootsflottille (German for "1st U-boat flotilla"), also known as "Unterseebootsflottille Weddigen", was the first operational U-boat unit in the German Kriegsmarine. Founded on 27 September 1935 under the command of Fregattenkapitän Karl Dönitz [http://www.uboatnet.de/Archiv/Flottillen/1.U_Flottille_Brest.htm 1. Unterseebootsflottille] . "Uboatnet.de". Retrieved July 21 2006.] , it was named in honour 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. [ [http://www.uboat.net/flotillas/1flo.htm 1st Flotilla] . "Uboat.net". Retrieved July 21 2006.]

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. [Gordon Williamson. "Wolf Pack: The Story of the U-Boat in World War II", Osprey Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1-84176-872-3] Originally based in Kiel from September 1935 to 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.

Flotilla commanders

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.uboat.net/ uboat.net] – comprehensive website dedicated to U-boat history.