
A very bad start for U 18.
This boat had a long career with 14 patrols, operating even in the Black Sea, but at the beginning, she had a little happy meeting with the Torpedo boat T-156.
On November 20, 1936 at 09:54 hours during a torpedo launch exercise in the Bay of Lübeck, the U 18 came to close to the surface and was hit by the strong bow of the torpedo boat T -156. Following the ramming the submarine sank. Of her crew, twelve men were rescued/escaped, while eight men drowned in the engine room, including the LI Oblt z. S Fritz Bastian. The Commander at that time was kplt Hans Pauckstadt and the IWO was Lt z. S. Georg -Wilhelm Schulz (U 64 and U 124).
The submersible was recovered, repaired and put back into service almost a year later, on September 30, 1937 under the command of kplt. Heinz Beduhn. The U 18 was assigned to the U- Flottille LOHS in KIEL. This submersible was ordered on February 2, 1935, her keel was laid on July 10, 1935 with the Baunummer # 548 #, was launched on December 7, 1935 and entered service on January 4, 1936. She spent more time in the shipyards for repairs than during her construction.
Sources: http://www.kiel.de/leben/friedhoefe/_ne ... ne/u18.php
http://historisches-marinearchiv.de/pro ... ingabe.php
Photobook- U -Boot- Feindfahrten Atlantikboot - bei - FrontbootTop eBay_de 1918-1945 ( 200556 14_02_10 endet MEZ)
It was the first of three sinkings. Cheers. Raúl M
