SM U-24 was one of 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She was engaged in commerce warfare during the First Battle of the Atlantic.
In seven patrols, U-24 sank a total of 33 merchant ships and 1 auxiliary warship totalling and one warship for 15,000 tons, damaged three merchant ships for 14,318 GRT, and took one merchant ship as prize of 1,925 GRT.
Her second kill was the most significant. The victim was , torpedoed south of Lyme Regis, at . She was hit in the number one boiler room on the port side. Out of a crew of approximately 711 men, 547 died as a result. This was one of the largest ships sunk by U-boats during the war.
In 1915, U-24 claimed another noted victim, the passenger steamer , causing 44 deaths, including three Americans. Arabic sank in 10 minutes. This escalated the U-boat fear in the U.S. and caused a diplomatic incident which resulted in the suspension of torpedoing non-military ships without notice.
Summary of raiding history DateNameNationalityTonnageMerchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.Fate26 October 1914Amiral Ganteaume4,590Damaged1 January 191515,000Sunk2 April 1915Lochwood2,042Sunk4 April 1915City of Bremen1,258Sunk10 April 1915The President647Sunk11 April 1915Frederic Franck973Damaged27 June 1915Edith97Sunk27 June 1915Indrani3,640Sunk27 June 1915Lucena243Sunk28 June 1915Dumfriesshire2,622Sunk28 June 19158,825Sunk30 June 1915Scottish Monarch5,043Sunk30 June 1915Thistlebank2,411Sunk1 July 1915L. C. Tower518Sunk1 July 1915Sardomene2,000Sunk1 July 1915Welbury3,591Sunk6 July 1915Ellen169Sunk7 August 1915Geiranger1,081Sunk12 August 1915Osprey310Sunk13 August 1915Cairo1,671Sunk19 August 191515,801Sunk19 August 1915Dunsley4,930Sunk19 August 1915New York City2,970Sunk19 August 1915St. Olaf277Sunk24 August 1915Sinsen1,925Captured as prize25 December 1915Van Stirum3,284Sunk26 December 1915Cottingham513Sunk26 December 1915Ministre Bernaert4,215Sunk28 December 1915Huronian8,755Damaged28 December 1915El Zorro5,989Sunk11 July 1916HMT Nellie Nutten174Sunk30 October 1916Nellie Bruce192Sunk10 December 1916Agder305Sunk21 March 1917Stanley3,987Sunk22 March 1917Svendsholm1,998Sunk27 March 1917Glenogle7,682Sunk28 March 1917Cannizaro6,133Sunk18 June 1917Elele6,557Sunk18 June 1917English Monarch4,947Sunk
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