 Founded on 27 September 1935 under the command of "Fregattenkapitän" Karl Dönitz, it was named in honor of "Kapitänleutnant" Otto Weddigen.Weddigen, a U-boat commander during World War I, died on 18 March 1915 after his submarine was rammed by the British battleship in the North Sea.The flotilla at first only consisted of , a Type IIB boat commissioned on 21 August 1935.