U 110 (Navy)
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U 110 (Kriegsmarine) ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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 U 110 and HMS Bulldog |
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| Type : | IX B , two-hull ocean-going boat |
| Field Post Number : | M 23 130 |
| Shipyard: | AG Weser , Bremen |
| Construction contract: | May 24, 1938 |
| Build number: | 973 |
| Keel laying: | February 1, 1940 |
| Launch: | August 25, 1940 |
| Commissioning: | November 21, 1940 |
| Commanders: |
November 21, 1940 - May 9, 1941 |
| Calls: | 2 activities |
| Sinkings: |
3 ships (10,056 GRT) |
| Whereabouts: | applied in the North Atlantic on May 9, 1941 (15 dead and 32 prisoners of war); sunk in tow on May 11, 1941 |
U 110 was a German submarine of the type IX B of the Kriegsmarine , which was used in the Second World War . On its second and last patrol, it sank three merchant ships with 10,056 GRT, killing 29 people. On May 9, 1941, it was damaged by the destroyer HMS Bulldog (H91) , whereby the commander Fritz-Julius Lemp and 14 other crew members were killed, and then taken by a prize squad . The British captured the code books , but the submarine in tow sank. The 32 surviving submarine drivers fell into British captivity .
history
The construction contract for this boat was awarded to AG Weser in Bremen on May 24, 1938 . The keel was laid on February 1, 1940 and the launch took place on August 25, 1940. On November 21, 1940, U 110 was put into service under the command of Lieutenant Fritz-Julius Lemp .
U 110 belonged to the 2nd U-Flotilla in Wilhelmshaven as a training boat until February 28, 1941 . After that it belonged to the 2nd U-Flotilla in Wilhelmshaven or Lorient until it was sunk as a front boat .
During its service, U 110 completed two operations on which it was able to sink three ships with a total tonnage of 10,056 GRT and damage two ships with a total of 8,675 GRT. As a coat of arms, there was a drawing on the tower that represented a dog. It was the commandant's former fox terrier . This was the ship's mascot from Lemps' former boat U 30 , as a stylized drawing it was already a symbol of this boat and had decorated its tower . Lemp then took over the "Schnurzl" on the U 110 .
The boat was the first Kriegsmarine submarine to be seized by the Allies . The British came u. a. came into possession of the code books of the Enigma M3 cipher machine , which remained hidden from the German side. In this way, German radio messages could be decrypted for one year (until the switch to the Enigma M4) and thus significant strategic advantages in naval warfare could be achieved. By the end of 1941, several German supply ships had been found in remote positions in the Atlantic and sunk.
Use statistics
First venture
The boat left Kiel on March 9, 1941 at 8:00 a.m. and entered Lorient on March 29, 1941 at 9:50 a.m. On this 20-day venture into the North Atlantic , northwest of the North Channel and west of Ireland , two ships with 8,675 GRT were damaged.
- March 16, 1941: Damage to the British tanker Erodona with 6,207 GRT. The tanker was damaged by a torpedo . He had ethanol and gasoline loaded and was on his way to Corydon . The ship belonged to convoy HX-112 and was towed to Edis Vik on March 30, 1941 and repaired.
- March 23, 1941: Damage to the Norwegian steamer Siremalm with 2,468 GRT. The steamer was damaged by artillery . It was sunk by U 201 on September 27, 1941 .
Second venture
The boat left Lorient on April 15, 1941 and was seized by the British on May 9, 1941. On this 24-day expedition in the North Atlantic, west of Ireland, southwest and west of Iceland , three ships with 10,056 GRT were sunk.
- April 27, 1941: sinking of the French steamer Henri Mory (incorrectly identified as André Moyrand ) with 2,564 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He was on his way to Great Britain. There were 28 dead while four men were saved.
- May 9, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Esmond ( Lage ) with 4,976 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He was ballasted and on his way from the Tyne to Sydney . The ship belonged to convoy OB-318 with 38 ships. There were no casualties, 50 survivors.
- May 9, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Bengore Head ( Lage ) with 2,609 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 1,200 tons of coal and string and was on his way from Belfast to Montreal . The ship belonged to convoy OB-318 with 38 ships. There was one dead and 40 survivors.
Application of U 110
On 8. May 1941 sighted U 110 near the Hebrides the convoy OB-318, which is already of U 94 was attacked. U 110 felt its way up to the convoy over water, but broke off the attack due to the bright night and kept in touch. The next morning U 110 met U 201 ( Adalbert Schnee ). After a brief exchange of information, U 110 attacked the convoy at periscope depth around noon . Lemp shot three torpedoes, which sank two ships. Shortly afterwards, the British corvette HMS Aubretia sighted the periscope of the U 110 . Immediately she ran towards it at full speed and - supported by the destroyers HMS Bulldog and HMS Broadway - threw depth charges . U 110 did not reach greater depths in time and was so badly damaged that it had to surface. As a result of a few ruptured battery cells, chlorine gas formed in the boat. In addition, compressed air pipes had burst and the depth and the rudder seriously damaged. U 110 was unable to maneuver on the surface of the water, surrounded by three enemy warships.
When the Bulldog started ramming, Lemp ordered his men to leave the boat. Since the stern of the U 110 was already under water, he presumably assumed that it would soon sink. Therefore, he gave neither the order for self-immersion nor for the destruction of the secret things. Lemp was the last to jump overboard. But then he obviously noticed that the Bulldog had broken off the ram attempt and his boat did not sink. There was a risk of being boarded by the British. Lemp therefore swam back. At that moment the men of U 110 lost sight of their commander. It was rumored that he was shot by the boarding party while swimming in the water. David Balme, sub-lieutenant on the HMS Bulldog and commander of the boarding party, clearly states that no one fired a shot at any point; his assumption is that the captain finally preferred to die in the sea in the face of the mistake - (also looking back at his sinking of the passenger ship Athenia on the first day of the war). In addition to him, 14 other crew members were killed. The 32 survivors were taken on board as prisoners of war by the destroyer HMS Bulldog .
Commander Addison Joe Baker-Cresswell recognized the unique opportunity to capture a German submarine. He immediately had the Germans brought below deck and dispatched a boarding party in a boat. This was able to penetrate the submarine and obtain several secret documents and an Enigma M3 cipher machine . At that time the Germans were of the opinion that U 110 and its commander had sunk .
Downfall
The British tried to tow U 110 to Reykjavík ( Iceland ). But two days later it sank east of Cape Farewell at position 60 ° 22 ′ N , 33 ° 12 ′ W in naval grid reference AK 2149.
Individual evidence
- ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939-1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 . Page 40 and page 57
- ↑ David Balme's explanation of Lemp's whereabouts in the documentary "U-Boat-War", minute 38:15 ( Memento from January 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
literature
- Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 1: The Hunters. 1939-1942. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-12345-X .
- Clay Blair: The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 .
- Robert M. Browning Jr .: US Merchant Vessel War casualties of World War II. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD 1996, ISBN 1-55750-087-8 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 1: The German submarine commanders. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1996, ISBN 3-8132-0490-1 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 3: German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 2001, ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 4: German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1999, ISBN 3-8132-0514-2 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 5: The knight's cross bearers of the submarine weapon from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg et al. 2003, ISBN 3-8132-0515-0 .
- 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).
- Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .
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