U-29 was responsible for sinking the
aircraft carrier , on 17 September 1939, the first British warship sunk in the war by enemy action. The commander of the German submarine force, Commodore
Karl Dönitz, regarded the sinking of
Courageous as "a wonderful success" and Grand Admiral
Erich Raeder, commander of the
Kriegsmarine (German navy) directed that Schuhart be awarded the
Iron Cross First Class and that all other members of the U-29 crew receive the Iron Cross Second Class. During
U-29s career, she sank twelve ships, totaling and one warship of 22,500 tons. At the beginning of 1941,
U-29 was removed from front line duty and reassigned to the
24th U-boat Flotilla as a training submarine. The U-boat was used in this role until 17 April 1944 when she was decommissioned and used for instruction.
Fate U-29 was scuttled in
Kupfermühlen Bay, (east of
Flensburg), on 5 May 1945 as part of
Operation Regenbogen, to avoid her surrender, at the end of
World War II. The wreck was still in situ as of 1993.
Wolfpacks U-29 took part in one
wolfpack, namely: •
Rösing (12 – 15 June 1940) ==Emblem==