SM U-56
was a
Type U 51 u-boat, built at the
Shipyard Germaniawerft, Kiel (Werk 238).
Ordered 23 Aug 1914,
Laid down 28 Dec 1914,
Launched 18 Apr 1916 and
Commissioned 23 Jun 1916
Between the 24th of Feb 1916 and 3rd of Nov 1916 she was commanded by Hermann Lorenz, and from the
18th of Jun 1916 sailed with II Flotilla.
Successes totalled 5 ships sunk with a total of 5,701 tons.
- 22 Oct 1916 Theodosi Tschernigowski 327 ru
- 23 Oct 1916 Rensfjell 781 nw
- 25 Oct 1916 Dag 963 nw
- 26 Oct 1916 Oola 2,494 br
- 1 Nov 1916 Ivanhoe 1,136 nw
U56 went missing on or after the 3rd of November 1916 with all 35 hands lost. It had been reported that U56 was sunk by gunfire from the Russian destroyer Grozovoi off Khorne Island, Norway (near Vardö), but the vessel survived this attack.
U 56 had put the crew of the Norwegian merchant ship Ivanhoe ashore at 07:45 on 3rd of November at Lodsvik. The Norwegian sailors were aboard during the action the previous day and their description matches the Russian account.
There was another U 56 in World War Two, launched from its shipyard on 3 Sep 1938 and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on 26 Nov 1938.
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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