U 119 (Navy)

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U 119 (Kriegsmarine)
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Type : XB
Field Post Number : M 43 666
Shipyard: Germania shipyard , Kiel
Construction contract: August 7, 1939
Keel laying: May 15, 1940
Launch: January 6, 1942
Commissioning: April 2, 1942
Commanders:
  • April 2, 1942 - April 15, 1943
    Lieutenant Alois Zech
  • April 16, 1943 - June 24, 1943
    Kptlt. Horst-Tessen von Kameke
Calls: 3 activities
Sinkings:

1 ship with 2,937 GRT

Whereabouts: Sunk on June 24, 1943 northwest of Cape Ortegal

U 119 was a German submarine of the type XB , a class of submarine mine -layers, which was usedby the German navy during World War II .

history

The order for the boat was awarded to the Germania shipyard in Kiel on August 7, 1939 . The keel was laid on May 15, 1940, the launch on January 6, 1942, the commissioning under Lieutenant Alois Zech finally took place on April 2, 1942.

After its commissioning on April 2, 1942 until January 31, 1943, the boat was part of the 4th U-Flotilla in Stettin as a training boat . After training, U 119 belonged to the 12th U-Flotilla in Bordeaux as a front boat from February 1, 1943 until it was sunk on June 24, 1943 .

During its service life, U 119 ran out to three companies on which mines were laid, one ship with a tonnage of 2,937 GRT was sunk by such a mine and another with a tonnage of 7,176 GRT was damaged.

Use statistics

First venture

The boat was launched on August 4, 1942 at 9:30 am from Kiel, and on August 5, 1942 at 5:25 in Frederikshavn one. It left Frederikshavn on August 7, 1942 at 2 p.m. and returned there on August 9, 1942. Leaving the same day at 3.45 p.m., it returned to Kiel on August 19, 1942 at 6.15 p.m. On this five-day venture off the coast of Jutland , 66 mines were laid in a defensive mine lock. No ships were sunk, damaged or taken care of.

Second venture

The boat was on February 6, 1943 at 8:00 from Kiel and ran on February 8, 1943 at 13:10 in Kristiansand one. It was on February 9, 1943 at 7:00 from there, and on the same day at 15.30 in Egersund one. U 119 left Egersund on February 10, 1943 at 1 p.m. and arrived in Bordeaux on April 1, 1943 at 4 p.m. On this 54 day long and 4,788 nm over and 807 nm underwater expedition into the North Atlantic, 66 mines were laid off Reykjavík and no ships were sunk or damaged in the central North Atlantic. Eight submarines were supplied.

  • March 8, 1943: U 608 is supplied with 71 m³ of fuel and two weeks of provisions.
  • March 10, 1943: U 377 is supplied with 24 m³ of fuel and provisions.
  • March 13, 1943: U 359 is supplied with 30 m³ of fuel.
  • March 13, 1943: Supply of U 659 with 21 m³ of fuel.
  • March 17, 1943: Supply of U 405 with 21 m³ of fuel.
  • March 17, 1943: Supply of U 448 with 19 m³ of fuel.
  • March 17, 1943: Supply of U 566 with 19 m³ of fuel.
  • March 19, 1943: U 638 is supplied with 17 m³ of fuel.

Third company

The boat left Bordeaux on April 25, 1943 and was sunk on June 24, 1943. On this 61-day undertaking in the western Atlantic, 66 mines were laid off Halifax (Nova Scotia), and in the central North Atlantic, a ship with 2,937 GRT was sunk and a ship with 7,176 GRT was damaged (mines). Eight submarines were supplied.

  • June 3, 1943: sinking of the Panamanian motor ship Halma ( Lage ) with 2,937 GRT. The ship was sunk by a mine hit. It had loaded 2,974 tons of general cargo and was on its way from Boston to Greenland . There were no casualties, 48 ​​survivors. The ship belonged to convoy BX-55.
  • July 28, 1943: Damage to the US steamer John A. Poor with 7,176 GRT. The steamer was damaged by a mine hit and belonged to convoy BX-65. It was sunk by U 510 on March 19, 1944 .
  • May 8, 1943: U 954 is supplied with provisions. Fuel on May 9, 1943.
  • May 9, 1943: Supply of U 628 with 9 m³ of fuel
  • May 9, 1943: U 92 is supplied with fuel and provisions.
  • May 15, 1943: Supply of U 614 with 19 m³ of fuel.
  • May 15, 1943: Supply of U 383 with 18 m³ of fuel.
  • May 15, 1943: U 584 is supplied with 20 m³ of fuel.
  • June 10, 1943: U 603 is supplied with 31 m³ of fuel.
  • June 12, 1943: Supply of U 608 with 31 m³ of fuel and five days of provisions.

Whereabouts

On June 24, 1943, U 119 was blown northwest of Cape Ortegal by depth charges, artillery and ramming from the British sloops HMS Starling , HMS Kite , HMS Wild Goose , HMS Woodpecker and HMS Wren under the command of Frederic John Walker at position 44 ° 59 ′  Sunk N , 12 ° 24 ′  W. All 57 crew members were killed.

One of the main reasons for the discovery of the boat is the successful American deciphering of the "Triton" key network used by the submarines , which was used to encrypt radio communications with the BdU . From April 1943 onwards, more than 120 specially developed Desch bombes were manufactured in the US Naval Computing Machine Laboratory , which were directed against the Enigma-M4 used by the Navy .

U 119 lost a crew member during its service before the sinking.

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 .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jennifer Wilcox : Solving the Enigma - History of the Cryptanalytic Bombe . Center for Cryptologic History, NSA, Fort Meade (USA) 2001, p. 52. PDF; 0.6 MB ( memento from January 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ John AN Lee, Colin Burke, Deborah Anderson: The US Bombes, NCR, Joseph Desch, and 600 WAVES - The first Reunion of the US Naval Computing Machine Laboratory . IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 2000. p. 35. PDF; 0.5 MB , accessed May 22, 2018.