The class was designed from the outset as attack submarines which could also lay naval minefields. As such, the boats carried six total 533mm (21") torpedo tubes with four mounted at the bow and two facing the stern. This provided the captain with two engagement angles not requiring his boat to be turned completed around to fire at targets aft. Fourteen total torpedo reloads were carried. As a minelayer, the submarine was cleared to carry some 28 TMA type naval mines. Surface threats were countered through the 105mm SK C/32 caliber deck gun which was fully traversable on its deck mounting. Similarly, aerial threats were dealt with through the 1 x 20mm anti-aircraft cannon installation. The weapons required the crew to be present (and exposed) along the deck and conning tower of the boat (common practice with most submarines of the period).
When German forces invaded neighboring Poland on September 1st, 1939, World War 2 officially began and the two boats were pressed into combat service. While these were generally acceptable submarine designs, their capabilities proved them slow divers with cumbersome controlling aspects though they nonetheless managed quite successful career during their short period of service.
U-25 managed five war patrols during her tenure of the seas and was credited with sinking eight enemy vessels to the tune of 50,255 tons from the period of October 1939 to June 1940. Her crew also managed to damage at least one ship. Her end came on August 1st, 1940 when, under a mine-laying excursion off the coast of Norway, she herself fell victim to a British naval minefield in turn with the subsequent damage proving so severe that the boat was lost with all hands (49).
U-26 covered six total war patrols and sunk eleven enemy vessels while damaging at least one other. Like U-25, U-26 was used in mine-laying missions to help control vital waterways. Her operational tenure began in August of 1939 and ended on July 1st, 1940 after incurring heavy damage from British depth charges. The boat was forced to surface which led to the crew (48) scuttling U-26 and surrendering. U-26 sunk 49,185 tons during her raiding forays.
Such ended the service records of the Type I class of German U-boats.
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