SM U-34 was a German

German Empire

The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...

 U-Boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. Launched on May 9, 1914, U-34 sank a total of 119 ships during 17 combat patrols, while damaging another 5 ships. The vessel had three commanders during its time: Claus Rucker, Johannes Klasing, Wilhelm Canaris

Wilhelm Canaris

Wilhelm Franz Canaris was a German admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance.- Early life and World War I :...

, and Klasing again, in that order. On October 18, 1918, U-34 sailed for the last time, disappearing with all 38 crew members lost. Although it was claimed that she was depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...

d and sunk near Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

by on November 9, 1918, it is believed that the U-Boat had been lost prior to that, but it has never been confirmed one way or the other.

U-34 sailed 17 patrols, sinking 119 ships for a total of 257,652 tons, and damaging another 5 for 14,208 tons.