Allied Warships
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Construction history of type XXIII
| U-boats | Shipyard | Werk # | Built during | |
| U-2321 - U-2331 | 11 | Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg | 475- 485 | 1943 - 1944 |
| U-2332 - U-2333 | 2 | F. Krupp Germaniawerft AG, Kiel | 941- 942 | 1944 |
| U-2334 - U-2369 | 36 | Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg | 488- 523 | 1943 - 1945 |
| U-2371 | Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg | 525 | 1944 - 1945 | |
| U-4701 - U-4707 | 7 | F. Krupp Germaniawerft AG, Kiel | 943- 949 | 1944 - 1945 |
| U-4709 - U-4712 | 4 | F. Krupp Germaniawerft AG, Kiel | 951- 954 | 1944 - 1945 |
The first XXIII, U-2321, was launched from Deutsche Werft in Hamburg on 17 April, 1944, she was one of the 6 XXIII's that went on operational patrol around the British Isles in early 1945. U-4712 was the last one launched, on April 19, 1945.
The first XXIII to go out on patrol was U-2324 on 29 Jan 1945. The U-2336 under the command of Kptlt. Klusmeier sank the last ships sunk in WWII on May 7 when he sank two British freighters inside the Firth of Forth.
None of the 6 operational XXIII's (U-2321, U-2322, U-2324, U-2326, U-2329 and U-2336) was sunk by the allies during Jan - May 1945. 3 of these boats sank 4 ships for a total of 7,392 tons.
The following 7 boats were lost to various causes;
U-2323 (mined on 26 July 1944), U-2331 (training accident on 10 Oct 1944), U-2338 (sunk by British aircraft east-northeast of Frederika on May 4, 1945, the only XXIII to be sunk by the enemy, 12 dead) U-2342 (mined on 26 Dec 1944), U-2344 (rammed by U-2336 on 18 Feb 1945), U-2351 (paid off in April 1945 after bomb damages) and U-2367 (rammed by U-boat on 5 May 1945).
U-2363 after the surrender to the Allies. Photo by Paul Galla.
31 of the remaining XXIII's were scuttled in early May 1945 and 20 more surrendered to the allies and ended their careers in Operation Deadlight. Only U-2326 (later UK sub N 35), U-2353 (later the UK sub N 37) and U-4706 (later the Norwegian Knerten) survived the war.
The XXIII was so crammed internally that she only carried two torpedoes and those had to be loaded externally in harbour, thus they lacked the offensive punch of their larger sister, the XXI Elektro boat.
All type XXIII U-boats
Below you can see the 61 commissioned U-boats of this type.
U-2321, U-2322, U-2323, U-2324, U-2325, U-2326, U-2327, U-2328, U-2329, U-2330, U-2331,
U-2332, U-2333, U-2334, U-2335, U-2336, U-2337, U-2338, U-2339, U-2340, U-2341, U-2342,
U-2343, U-2344, U-2345, U-2346, U-2347, U-2348, U-2349, U-2350, U-2351, U-2352, U-2353,
U-2354, U-2355, U-2356, U-2357, U-2358, U-2359, U-2360, U-2361, U-2362, U-2363, U-2364,
U-2365, U-2366, U-2367, U-2368, U-2369, U-2371, U-4701, U-4702, U-4703, U-4704, U-4705,
U-4706, U-4707, U-4709, U-4710, U-4711, and U-4712.
Technical information for type XXIII
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| sm = submerged, sf = surfaced, ph = pressure hull, oa = overall, hp = horsepower. |