German submarine U-105 was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. She was ordered on 24 May 1938 as part of Germany's naval rearmament program. Her keel was laid down in Bremen on 16 November 1938. After roughly seven months of construction, she was launched on 15 June 1940 and formally commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on 10 September 1940. During her three-year career, U-105 sank 23 vessels for a total loss of and 1,546 tons before being sunk by the Free French Forces off the coast of Dakar (Senegal) on 2 June 1943. Construction and design Construction U-105 was ordered by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine on 24 May 1938; her keel was laid down on 16 November 1938 by DeSchiMAG AG Weser in Bremen as yard number 968. She was launched on 15 June 1940 and commissioned on 10 September under the command of Kapitänleutnant Georg Schewe. Design German Type IXB submarines were slightly larger than the original German Type IX submarines, later designated IXA. U-105 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to . The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . U-105 was fitted with six torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a SK C/30 as well as a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight. Service history Under the command of Kapitänleutnant Georg Schewe, U-105 left Kiel on 24 December 1940. She spent 39 days in the North Sea. During this patrol, she sank the British ship Bassano on 9 January 1941, and Lurigethan, part of Convoy SL-61, on 26 January 1941, totalling . Five days later, on 31 January, U-105 arrived at the German-occupied port of