Type U 57 was a class of U-boats built during World War I by the Kaiserliche Marine. Six Type U 57 were ordered at the beginning of the war and these were commissioned in 1916. A further six were ordered in 1915 and commissioned in 1917. Seven were lost during the war and the remaining five surrendered to the Allies and were scrapped.
Design When World War I broke out on 28 July 1914, the German Navy initiated an emergency war building program, the so-called mobilisation program. This mobilisation program called for the immediate construction of seventeen U-boats by the two submarine building shipyard in Germany: the Germaniawerft in Kiel and the Kaiserliche Werft Danzig. The Kaiserliche Werft received an order for five Type U 43 U-boats and the Germaniawerft would have received an order for the remaining twelve U-boats, but since this yard experienced serious delays in the delivery of the previous order of eleven Type U 31 U-boats, only six Type U 51 U-boats were ordered from Germaniawerft on 23 August 1914 and the remaining six were ordered as Type U 57 from a new yard AG Weser.
When in August 1915 AG Weser had capacity to build extra U-boats, six more Mobilisation U-boats - were ordered from AG Weser based on the same Type U 57 design.
Characteristics The first three U 57s were fitted with two MAN six-cylinder two-stroke 8SS35 diesel engines with a total of t for use on the surface, the other nine Type U 57 U-boats were fitted with two more powerful S6V45/42 MAN diesel engines with a total of . All Type U 57 had two Siemens-Schuckert double-acting electric motors with a total of for underwater propulsion. These engines powered two shafts. Constructional diving depth was .
All twelve Type U 57 U-boats were armed with four torpedo tubes, two fitted in the bow and two in the stern. U-57 - U-62 carried seven torpedoes and U-99 - U-104 carried ten to twelve torpedoes. Most boats received initially one or two SK L/30 deck guns. Some boats had one 8.8 cm deck gun replaced with a SK L/45 gun. The boats' complement was four officers and thirty-two enlisted men. +Differences in dimensions, speed, range and diesel enginesbatchU-57 - U-59U-60 - U-62U-99 - U-104displacement surfaceddisplacement submergedLengthBeamDraughtHeightlength pressure hulldiameter pressure hullspeed surfacespeed submergedrange surface at 8 knotsrange submerged at 5 knotsdiesel engines8SS35 MANS6V45/42 MANS6V45/42 MAN
Ships +NameLaunchedCommissionedMerchant ships sunk(nbr / GRT )Fate 29 April 19166 July 191655 / 91.680Surrendered on 24 November 1918 and scrapped at Cherbourg in 1921 31 May 19169 August 191621 / 30.901Lost on 17 November 1917 in the Bristol Channel 20 June 19167 September 191613 / 18.763Lost on 14 May 1917 in the North Sea 5 July 19161 November 191652 / 108.191Surrendered on 21 November 1918 and scrapped in 192122 July 19162 December 191634 / 84.861Lost on 16 March 1918 in the Irish Sea2 August 191630 December 191646 / 123.252Surrendered on 21 November 1918 and scrapped at Bo'ness in 1919-2027 January 191728 March 1917noneLost on 7 july 1917 in the North Sea25 February 191716 April 19178 / 27.625Surrendered on 21 November 1918 and scrapped at Swansea in 1919-201 April 191715 May 191724 / 29.813Surrendered on 21 November 1918 and scrapped at Morecambe in 192012 May 191718 June 19175 / 13.245Lost in September 1918 in the North Sea9 June 191715 July 19177 / 15.481Lost on 12 May 1918 in the English Channel3 June 191712 August 19177 / 10.493Lost on 5 April 1918 in St George's Channel
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