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German submarine U-52 was a Type VIIB U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 of the German

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 Kriegsmarine

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. She was initially ordered on 15 May 1937 in violation of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...

, and laid down on 9 March 1938 at the yards of F. Krupp Germaniawerft AG in Kiel

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

 as werk 587. Launched on 21 December 1938, she was comissioned on 4 February 1939 under the command of Kptlt. Wolfgang Barten.

U-52 undertook eight war patrols in the Battle of the Atlantic, before being scuttled at Danzig in 1945 and broken up in 1947.

Raiding career

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date
! Ship
! Nationality
! Tonnage
! Fate
|-
| 19 June 1940
| The Monarch
|   British
| 824
| Sunk
|-
| 19 June 1940
| Ville de Namur
|   Belgian
| 7,463
| Sunk
|-
| 21 June 1940
| Hilda
|   Finnish
| 1,144
| Sunk
|-
| 14 July 1940
| Thetis A.
|   Greek
| 4,111
| Sunk
|-
| 4 August 1940
| Geraldine Mary
|   British
| 7,244
| Sunk
|-
| 4 August 1940
| Gogovale
|   British
| 4,586
| Sunk
|-
| 4 August 1940
| King Alfred
|   British
| 5,272
| Sunk
|-
| 2 December 1940
| Goodleigh
|   British
| 5,448
| Sunk
|-
| 2 December 1940
| Tasso
|   British
| 1,586
| Sunk
|-
| 4 February 1941
| Ringhorn
|   Norwegian
| 1,298
| Sunk
|-
| 10 February 1941
| Canford Chine
|   British
| 3,364
| Sunk
|-
| 10 April 1941
| Saleier
|   Dutch
| 6,563
| Sunk
|-
| 14 April 1941
| Ville de Liège
|   Belgian
| 7,430
| Sunk
|}