The Favorite ("Favourite") was an Aurore class submarine

Aurore class submarine

The Aurore class was a class of coastal submarines designed for the French Navy. Some of the ships were captured by Nazi Germany after the Fall of France, most of them in an unfinished state....

 of the French navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

. She was captured by the Germans in June 1940 and recommissioned in the Kriegsmarine as UF-2 in May 1941.

Career

The Favorite was laid down in 1937 in Rouen

Rouen

Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

, and launched in September 1938. She never participated in any patrols with the French navy.

After her capture, she was commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 into the German Navy on 5 November 1942 and used as a training ship in the 5th Flotilla (Kiel) from November 1942 to October 1943, as well as in the U-Abwehrschule (Bergen), from November 1943 to July 1944.

She was decommissioned on 5 July 1944, and scuttled

Scuttling

Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...

 at Gotenhafen in 1945.

Commanders

The submarine was initially commanded by Krvkpt. Georg Lange, who served from November 1942 to October 1943. He lost command due to the loss of the boat. Oblt. Heinrich Gehrken, served from the time Georg Lange lost the boat, until July 1944.

Sources

• U-F2 From Uboat.net