German submarine U-17 (1935)

German submarine U-17 was a Type IIB U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine. It was built in Germaniawerft, Kiel, where it was laid down on July 1 1935 and commissioned on December 3 1935, under the command of Werner Fresdorf.

Service history
Its career consisted of four patrols, all served while under the 1st U-boat Flotilla where it sank three ships for a total of. Later in the war it served under the 22nd U-boat Flotilla as a training boat, including Oberleutnant Walter Sitek as an instructor. Sitek had previously escaped imprisonment after the disabling and sinking of GS U-581 by HMS Westcott (D47) in February, 1942. He swam 6 km to Pico Island in the Azores, made his way through neutral Spain and returned to the Kriegsmarine to serve as an instructor on U-17, GS U-981, and GS U-3005.

Fate
On May 5, 1945 U-17 was scuttled at Wilhelmshaven at the western entrance of the Raeder lock.