German submarine U - 27 ( 1936 ) German submarine " U - 27 " was a Type VIIA U - boat of the German " Kriegsmarine " built for service in World War II . Her keel was laid down in November 1935 in Bremen . She was commissioned in August 1936 with " Korvettenkapitän " Hans Ibbeken in command . Ibbeken was relieved on 4 October 1937 , by Johannes Franz , who commanded the boat until 6 June 1939 when Hans - Georg von Friedeburg assumed command for barely one month . He was relieved on 8 July again by Johannes Franz , who commanded the boat until her loss on 20 September 1939 . " U - 27 " had a very short career , with only one war patrol and only two enemy ships sunk . Following the sinking of two British trawlers , the " Davara " on 13 September and the " Rudyard Kipling " on 16 September , " U - 27 " was hunted down and sunk west of Lewis , Scotland , by depth charge s from the British destroyer s HMS , and . All 38 crewmen survived and were made prisoner for the remainder of the war . Construction and design . Construction . " U - 27 " was ordered by the German " Kriegsmarine " on 1 April 1935 as part of Plan Z and in violation of the Treaty of Versailles . Her keel was laid down in the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen as " werk 908 " on 11 November 1935 . After about nine months of construction , she was launched on 24 June 1936 and commissioned into the " Kriegsmarine " as the second Type VIIA submarine , ( after , which was commissioned a few months earlier ) , on 12 August under the command of " Korvettenkapitän " Hans Ibbeken . Design . Like all Type VIIA submarines , " U - 27 " displaced on the surface and submerged . She was in overall length and had a pressure hull . " U - 27 " s propulsion consisted of two MAN 6 - cylinder 4 - stroke M6V 40 / 46 diesel engines that totaled at maximum between 470 and 485 rpm giving a maximum speed of on the surface and a range of at . The submarine was also equipped with two Brown , Boveri & Cie GG UB 720 / 8 electric motors that totaled . Their maximum rpm was 322 and they could propel the submarine at when submerged , with an underwater maximum speed of . The U - boat ' s test depth was , but she could go as deep as without having her hull crushed . " U - 27 " s armament consisted of five torpedo tube s ( four located in the bow and one in the stern ) . She could have up to 11 torpedoes on board or 22 TMA mines or 33 TMB mines . " U - 27 " was also equipped with a 88 mm gun / L45 deck gun with 220 rounds . Her anti - aircraft defenses consisted of one C30 20 mm AA gun . " U - 27 " had 38 crew members and officers . Service history . " U - 27 " had a very short career , conducting only one war patrol and sinking only two enemy vessels before she herself was sunk . She left Wilhelmshaven on her first war patrol on 23 August 1939 . For a period of 24 days , she traveled down the coast of Germany and neutral Belgium and the Netherlands , through the English Channel and out into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland . Here , the boat sank two British trawler s , totaling 624 tons . The first attack took place at 2 : 55 on 13 September , northwest of Tory Island , when the trawler " Davara " was shelled by " U - 27 " s deck gun . Following the sinking of the " Davara " , her captain and 11 other crew members were picked up by the steam merchant ship " Willowpool " . The second vessel to be sunk was the trawler " Rudyard Kipling " . The attack took place at 3 : 53 on 16 September , west of the west coast of neutral Ireland , with the ship being sunk by scuttling charges from " U - 27 " . Following the sinking of the " Rudyard Kipling " , the submarine picked up the crew of the trawler who were then given food and warm clothes . Eight hours later , " Rudyard Kipling " s crew were allowed to re - enter their lifeboats to row the remaining to Ireland . Fate . The destroyers HMS " Fortune " and " Faulknor " ( who sank " U - 39 " six days earlier ) , had been part of a concerted effort to find and sink the U - Boat that had been attacking trawlers . On 20 September 1939 , three torpedoes were fired at the warships , but failed to do any damage when they exploded prematurely . The British vessels replied with a series of depth charge attacks , one of which damaged the German submarine sufficiently to force it to the surface . " Fortune " ' s ramming attack was curtailed when it became apparent that the U - Boat was surrendering . All 38 crewmen survived and were taken prisoner . " U - 27 " became the second German submarine to be sunk in World War II after was sunk on 14 September 1939 . " U - 27 " ' s skipper , " Kapitanleutnant " Johannes Franz was able , via code , to inform the " Bdu " , the U - boat high command , of the situation regarding the malfunctioning torpedoes from his prison camp .