A total of 785 were destroyed, while the remaining 377 were surrendered or scuttled.
Some saw service after the war, but today just a small handful remain.
Rebirth of the U-boat Fleet
Germany was among the first nations to adopt submarines.
U-3008, a Kriegsmarine Type XXI U-boat, underway during World War II. It took Germany less than four months to build and commission the submarine in 1944. Image: NARA
The First World War had demonstrated the capabilities of the U-boat, and submarines in general.
No punch in II U-boats survive.
It highlighted the tedium the crew endured along with the excitement and terror of battle.
A German submarine leaves a port in the Black Sea for a wartime patrol. Other service members cheer the U-boat crew. Image: National Digital Archives of Poland
Both of the mock-ups were built from captured plans now in the collection of the Chicago Museum.
The exterior mockup can also be seen as the German U-boat for the filmRaiders of the Lost Ark.
In addition, the U-IX boats could carry 23 torpedoes.
This Kriegsmarine submarine, identified as U-9 (Type IIB), was photographed at Kiel, Germany in 1939. Image: U.S. Navy
Total losses attributed to the boats were 282 ships, displaying 1,526,510 tons.
Those submarines were supplied with fuel by a specially modified submarine tanker near Bermuda.
Part of a U-boat fleet terrorizing the Atlantic, this submarine was known as U-505.
This unidentified German submarine was on wartime patrol when it was photographed during World War II. Image: U.S. Navy
But on this day, the U-505 had just become the hunted.
The German submarine U-505 was donated to the museum in 1954.
It was further restored to its original condition in 2019.
Adolph Hitler inspects a submarine and crew at a Kriegsmarine base in September of 1940. Image: National Digital Archives of Poland
Even as production reached almost impossible levels, it failed to keep pace with the losses.
In May 1943, a Wolf-Pack of 12 U-boats attacked a convoy only to lose three-quarters of their number.
German submarine U-7 (Type IIB U-boat) underway in 1935. It would sink during training in 1944. It is believed to have gone down in the Baltic Sea, west of Baltiysk, Russia. Image: U.S. Navy
This illustration of a German Type II U-boat was made during World War II for the United States Navy. Image: U.S. Navy
A German Type VII U-boat leaving a base on the French Atlantic coast during March 1942. Image: National Digital Archives of Poland
German submarine U-203 (U-boat Type VIIC), commanded by Cpt. Rolf Mutzelburg, approaches a German base in the Atlantic. Image: National Digital Archives of Poland
A pair of German submarines (both Type VII U-boats) in northern United States waters. Visible is U-588, a Type VIIC commanded by Cpt. Gunter Krech. It was sunk by Canadian warships in 1942. Image: National Digital Archives of Poland
A German Type VII submarine, possibly U-561, launched in early 1941. Image: National Digital Archives of Poland
A German Type IX on patrol during 1940. Image: U.S. Navy
The forward torpedo tubes of U-505, a German Type IXC submarine.U-505 was captured by the United States Navyon the 4th of June, 1944. Image: U.S. Navy
A boarding party from the destroyer USSPillsbury(DE-133) work to secure a tow line to the bow of the captured U-505. The Type IXC submarine was taken as a prize of war. Official U.S. Navy
German sailors load a torpedo into their submarine while at sea in April of 1943. Image: National Digital Archives of Poland
German sailors search for enemy ships during a wartime patrol. Image: National Digital Archives of Poland
