U 106 (Navy)

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U 106 (Kriegsmarine)
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U-106 air raid.jpg
Air raid on U 106
Type : IX B
Field Post Number : M 34 486
Shipyard: AG Weser , Bremen
Construction contract: May 24, 1938
Build number: 969
Keel laying: November 26, 1939
Launch: June 17, 1940
Commissioning: September 24, 1940
Commanders:
  • September 24, 1940 - October 19, 1941
    Lieutenant Jürgen Oesten
  • October 20, 1941 - April 1943
    Kptlt. Hermann Rasch

  • Unoccupied April 1943 - June 19, 1943
  • June 20, 1943 - August 2, 1943
    Oberleutnant zur See Wolf-Dietrich Damerow
Calls: 10 activities
Sinkings:

22 ships (138,578 GRT, 335 dead)

Whereabouts: Sunk on August 2, 1943 in the Bay of Biscay northwest of Cape Ortegal (22 dead, 35 survivors rescued from 3 German torpedo boats)

U 106 was a German submarine from the Type IX B , which in World War II by the German navy was used. On its ten ventures it sank 22 ships with 138,578 GRT, whereby 335 people died. It was sunk on August 2, 1943 in the Bay of Biscay by British, Canadian and Australian aircraft ( Short Sunderland ), killing 22 crew members. 35 men were rescued by three German torpedo boats, including the commander Wolf-Dietrich Damerow, who died on May 21, 1944 as a result of his wounds.

history

U 106 during an air raid

The contract to build the boat was awarded to AG Weser in Bremen on May 24, 1938 . The keel was laid on November 26, 1939, the launch on June 17, 1940, the commissioning under Oberleutnant zur See Jürgen Oesten finally took place on September 24, 1940.

After its commissioning on September 24, 1940 to December 31, 1940, the boat belonged to the 2nd U-Flotilla in Wilhelmshaven as a training boat . After training, U 106 belonged to the 2nd U-Flotilla in Wilhelmshaven and Lorient as a front boat from January 1, 1941 until it was sunk on August 2, 1943 .

Use statistics

During its service, U 106 completed ten operations in which 22 ships with a total tonnage of 138,578 GRT were sunk and four ships with 51,980 GRT were damaged.

First venture

The boat was on January 4, 1941 at 9:18 of Kiel and ran on 10 February 1941 at 19:30 in Lorient one. On this 38 day long and about 5,290 nm above and 115.9 nm underwater expedition in the North Atlantic , west of the North Channel and Ireland , two ships with 13,540 GRT were sunk.

  • January 29, 1941: Sinking of the Egyptian steamer Sesostris with 2,962 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. It had an unknown cargo and was en route from Hampton Roads to Liverpool. The ship was a straggler of convoy SC-19. ( Location )

Second venture

The boat left Lorient on February 26, 1941 and returned there on June 17, 1941 at 12:00 noon. On this 111-day venture into the Central Atlantic , off Freetown , Sierra Leone , Rio de Janeiro and the South Atlantic , eight ships with 46,485 GRT were sunk and two ships with 39,095 GRT were damaged. U 106 was supplied with 50 m³ of fuel and provisions in Las Palmas on March 6, 1941 . From March 30th to 31st, 1941, the German supplier Nordmark supplied 13 torpedoes, fuel oil and provisions. From April 28th to May 2nd, 1941, the Lech utility provided provisions and 44 m³ of fuel. From 16 to 17 May 1941 the utility Egerland supplied it with fuel and provisions.

  • March 11, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Memnon with 7,506 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two G7e torpedoes. He had 7,679 t of general cargo, including 2,697 t of wheat , 3,026 t of zinc concentrate and six RAF personnel on board and was on the way from Port Pirie via Freetown to Avonmouth and Swansea . There were three dead and 70 survivors. ( Location )
  • March 16, 1941: sinking of the Dutch motor ship Almkerk with 6,810 GRT. The ship was sunk by two torpedoes. It had loaded 7,078 tons of wheat and was en route from Fremantle to Avonmouth . There were no casualties, 69 survivors. ( Location )
  • March 17, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Andalusian with 3,082 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 3,231 t of cocoa and was on the way from Freetown to Oban . The ship belonged to convoy SL-68 with 59 ships. There were no casualties, 42 survivors. ( Location )
  • March 17, 1941: sinking of the Dutch steamer Tapanoeli with 7,031 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had general cargo loaded and was on his way from Batavia to Glasgow . The ship belonged to convoy SL-68 with 59 ships. There were no casualties, 75 survivors. ( Location )
  • March 20, 1941: Damage to the Dutch steamer Meerkerk with 7,995 GRT. The steamer was damaged by a torpedo. The ship belonged to convoy SL-68 with 59 ships. ( Location )
  • March 20, 1941: Damage to the British battleship HMS Malaya with 31,100 tons. The battleship was damaged by a torpedo. It belonged to the escort of the convoy SL-68 with 59 ships. It had to call at a shipyard on the east coast of the USA for repairs and was therefore out of action for several months. ( Location )
  • May 30, 1941: sinking of the British motor ship Silveryew with 6,373 GRT. The ship was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 2,501 t of pig iron , 5,304 t of grain , 500 t of manganese ore and 382 t of kyanite ore and was on the way from Calcutta via Cape Town to London and Oban. There was one dead and 53 survivors. ( Location )
  • May 31, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Clan Macdougall with 6,843 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 7,500 t general cargo and was on the way from Glasgow to East London (South Africa) . There were two dead and 85 survivors. ( Location )
  • June 6, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Sacramento Valley with 4,573 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a G7e torpedo. He had loaded 6,843 tons of coal and was on the way from Cardiff to Pernambuco . The ship belonged to the disbanded convoy OB-324 with 35 ships. There were three dead and 46 survivors. ( Location )

Third company

The boat left Lorient on August 11, 1941 at 8:10 p.m. and returned there on September 11, 1941 at 9:30 a.m. No ships were sunk or damaged on this 31-day and approx. 4,860 nm above and 118.2 nm underwater expedition in the North Atlantic, west of the North Channel to west of Spain .

Fourth venture

The boat left Lorient on October 21, 1941 at 3 p.m. and returned there on November 22, 1941 at 10.30 a.m. On this 32-day expedition to the North Atlantic, Newfoundland and southeast of Greenland , a ship with 5,120 GRT was sunk and a ship with 8,246 GRT was damaged. U 106 belonged to the group with the code name "Raubritter".

  • October 28, 1941: sinking of the British motor ship King Malcolm with 5,120 GRT. The ship was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded potash and was on his way from Haifa via Sydney to Liverpool-Garston. The ship belonged to the disbanded convoy SC-50 with 40 ships. It was a total loss with 38 dead. ( Location )
  • October 30, 1941: Damage to the American tanker Salinas with 8,246 GRT. The tanker was damaged by two torpedoes. He belonged to convoy ON-28. ( Location )

Fifth venture

The boat left Lorient on January 3, 1942 at 5:00 p.m. and returned there on February 22, 1942 at 11:00 a.m. On this 50-day and 6,882 nm above and 415.6 nm underwater expedition in the west Atlantic and the US east coast, five ships with 42,139 GRT were sunk.

  • January 24, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Empire Wildebeeste with 5,631 GRT. The steamer was sunk by three torpedoes. He was ballasted and on his way from Hull and Loch Ewe to Halifax and Baltimore . The ship belonged to the disbanded convoy ON-53 with 26 ships. There were nine dead and 22 survivors. ( Location )
  • January 26, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Traveler with 3,963 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded general cargo including 600 tons of explosives and was on the way from New Orleans and Hampton Roads via Halifax (Nova Scotia) to Holyhead and Liverpool. It was a total loss with 50 dead. ( Location )
  • January 30, 1942: Sinking of the American tanker Rochester with 6,836 GRT. The tanker was sunk by two torpedoes and eight rounds of artillery . He was ballasted and on his way from New York to Corpus Christi, Texas . There were three dead and 35 survivors. ( Location )
  • February 3, 1942: sinking of the Swedish motor ship Amerikaland with 15,355 GRT. The ship was sunk by two torpedoes. It drove in ballast and was on the way from Sparrows Point (Maryland / USA) to Cruz Grande (Chile). There were four dead. ( Location )
  • February 6, 1942: sinking of the British motor ship Opawa with 10,354 GRT. The ship was sunk by a torpedo and 93 rounds of artillery. It had loaded 11,575 tonnes of frozen goods and 3,000 tonnes of lead and was on its way from Lyttelton via Cristóbal and Halifax (Nova Scotia) to Great Britain. There were 55 dead and 15 survivors. ( Location )

Sixth venture

The boat left Lorient on April 15, 1942 at 7:35 p.m. and returned there on June 29, 1942 at 8:00 a.m. On this 75-day and approx. 9,995 nm over and 486 nm overwater expedition in the West Atlantic, Cape Hatteras , Florida Strait , Greater Antilles , Cuba , Yucatan and the Eastern Caribbean , five ships with 29,154 GRT and one ship with 4,639 were sunk BRT damaged. U 106 was supplied with 40 m³ of fuel and provisions by U 459 on June 18, 1942 .

  • May 5, 1942: sinking of the British steamer RMS Lady Drake with 7,985 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had 147 passengers on board and was on the way from Bermuda to St. John's . Six crew members and six passengers were killed, 115 crew members and 141 passengers were rescued. ( Location )
  • May 26, 1942: sinking of the American tanker Carrabulle with 5,030 GRT. The tanker was sunk by a torpedo and artillery. He had 42,307 barrels of liquid asphalt charged and was on his way from Good Hope ( Louisiana ) to San Juan . There were 22 dead and 18 survivors. ( Location )
  • May 27, 1942: Damage to the US steamer Atenas with 4,639 GRT. The steamer was damaged by artillery. ( Location )
  • May 28, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Mentor with 7,383 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 5,000 tons of war material including 400 tons of sulfur and 3,600 tons of supplies and was on the way from New Orleans via Cape Town to Bombay . There were four dead and 82 survivors. ( Location )
  • June 1, 1942: sinking of the US steamer Hampton Roads with 2,689 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 3,620 tons of phosphate rock and was on the way from Tampa to San Juan (Puerto Rico). There were five dead and 23 survivors. ( Location )

Seventh venture

The boat left Lorient on June 25, 1942 at 3 p.m. and returned there on June 29, 1942 at 4.15 a.m. No ships were sunk or damaged on this four-day expedition into the Bay of Biscay. The operation had to be canceled after an air raid in the Bay of Biscay, in which a man died and the commander was wounded.

Eighth venture

The boat left Lorient on September 21, 1942 at 6.30 p.m. and returned there on the same day at 7.15 p.m. after the radio system failed. It finally ran out on September 22, 1942 at 6:00 p.m. and returned on December 26, 1942 at 10:30 a.m. On this 96 day long and 9,454.1 nm over and 1,407.9 nm underwater expedition in the North Atlantic, Cabot Strait , west of Gibraltar and Morocco , a ship with 2,140 GRT was sunk.

  • October 11, 1942: sinking of the British steamship Waterton with 2,140 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 2,000 tons of wood , sulphate and newspaper and was on his way from Corner Brook to Cleveland . The ship belonged to convoy BS-31 with two ships. There were no casualties, 27 survivors. ( Location )

Ninth venture

The boat left Lorient on February 17, 1943 at 4:45 p.m. and returned there on April 4, 1943 at 10:00 a.m. No ships were sunk or damaged on this 66-day and approximately 6,720 nm above and 443.8 nm underwater expedition in the Central Atlantic and the Azorean Islands . U 106 was supplied with 51 m³ of fuel by U 461 on March 5, 1943 , and supplied U 159 with 13 m³ on March 22, 1943 and U 515 with 35 m³ of fuel and provisions on March 25, 1943 . It belonged to the groups with the cover names "Tümmler" and "Unverzagt".

Tenth venture

The boat left Lorient on July 28, 1943 at 10:00 a.m. and was sunk on August 2, 1943. No ships were sunk or damaged during this six-day expedition into the Bay of Biscay.

Whereabouts

The boat was on August 2, 1943 in the Bay of Biscay northwest of Cape Ortegal by a Wellington of the Canadian RCAF Squadron 407 and a Sunderland M of the Australian RAAF Squadron 461 and a Sunderland N of the British Squadron 228 at position 46 ° 35 ′  N , 11 ° 55 ′  W sunk in marine grid square BE 6697. There were 22 dead and 35 survivors. These were rescued by the three German torpedo boats T-22 , T-24 and T-26 , which actually set out to rescue the men from U 383 , but instead found the survivors of U 106 . The logbook from U 106 was also saved. Of U 383 , no one survived, since none was found. The commander of U 106 , Wolf-Dietrich Damerow, died on May 21, 1944 in a military hospital in Eberswalde shortly before his 25th birthday as a result of his injuries from fighting the aircraft that destroyed his submarine.

See also

literature

  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 1: The German submarine commanders. Preface by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rohwer, Member of the Presidium of the International Commission on Military History. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 1996, pp. 48, 173, 187. ISBN 3-8132-0490-1 .
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: Submarine construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 1997, pp. 33, 211. ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 3: The German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2008, p. 94f. ISBN 978-3-8132-0513-8 .
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 4: The German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2008, p. 129f. ISBN 978-3-8132-0514-5 .
  • Erich Gröner : Die Handelsflotten der Welt 1942 and supplement 1944. JF Lehmanns Verlag, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-469-00552-4 (reprint of the 1942–1943 edition).
  • Erich Gröner: Search list for ship names (= The merchant fleets of the world. Supplementary volume). JF Lehmanns Verlag Munich 1976, ISBN 3-469-00553-2 (reprint of the 1943 edition).
  • Erich Gröner, Dieter Jung, Martin Maas: The German warships 1815-1945. Volume 3: Submarines, auxiliary cruisers, mine ships, net layers. Bernhard & Graefe Verlag, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-7637-4802-4 .
  • Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .
  • Clay Blair : The Submarine War - The Hunters 1939–1942 . Heyne Verlag, 1998. pp. 282-284, 287, 308, 317f., 325, 356, 358, 363, 426, 444-449, 583, 676-678, 775. ISBN 3-453-12345-X .
  • Clay Blair: The Submarine War - The Hunted 1942–1945 . Heyne Verlag, 1999. pp. 84, 86, 160, 253, 255, 257f., 468f., 634. ISBN 3-453-16059-2 .

Web links