U 125 (Navy)

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U 125 (Kriegsmarine)
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Type : IX C
Field Post Number : M-32 765
Shipyard: AG Weser , Bremen
Construction contract: August 7, 1939
Build number: 988
Keel laying: May 10, 1940
Launch: December 10, 1940
Commissioning: March 3, 1941
Commanders:
  • March 3, 1941 - December 15, 1941
    Lieutenant Günter Kuhnke
  • December 15, 1941 - May 6, 1943
    Lieutenant Lieutenant Ulrich Folkers
Calls: 7 activities
Sinkings:

17 ships (82,771 GRT)

Whereabouts: sunk on May 6, 1943 east of Newfoundland by ramming and artillery fire

U 125 was a German submarine from the Type IX C , which in World War II by the German navy was used.

history

The order for the boat was awarded to AG Weser in Bremen on August 7, 1939 . The keel was laid on May 10, 1940, the launch on December 10, 1940, the commissioning under Lieutenant Günter Kuhnke on March 3, 1941.

The boat was assigned to the 2nd U-Flotilla in Wilhelmshaven . It undertook training trips until July 1941 and was then used in the 2nd U-Flotilla in Lorient until it was sunk on May 6, 1943 .

During its service life, U 125 ran out to seven companies, on which 17 ships with a total tonnage of 82,771  GRT were sunk.

Use statistics

First venture

The boat left Kiel on July 15, 1941 at 5:00 a.m. and entered Bergen on July 18, 1941 at 10:41 a.m. to have repairs carried out in the dock. It left there on July 21, 1941 at 10:41 a.m., and entered Lorient on July 28, 1941 at 7 p.m. No ships were sunk or damaged on this 14-day and approximately 2,900-nm-long expedition into the North Atlantic and the Biscay .

Second venture

The boat left Lorient on August 12, 1941 at 8:30 p.m., and returned there on November 5, 1941 at 6:00 p.m. No ships were sunk or damaged on this 85 day and 11,737.5 nm long expedition into the mid-Atlantic , west of the Azorean Islands , to the Peter and Paul Rocks , to the Cape Verde Islands and west of Freetown .

Third company

The boat left Lorient on December 18, 1941 at 5:30 p.m. under its new commander Ulrich Folkers , and returned there on February 23, 1942 at 10:46 a.m. On this 67-day and approximately 9,300 nm long enterprise in the west Atlantic and the east coast of the USA , a ship with 5,666 GRT was sunk. U 125 belonged to the Paukenschlag company .

  • January 26, 1942: sinking of the US steamer West Ivis ( Lage ) with 5,666 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes . He had an unknown cargo on board and was en route from New York via Trinidad to Buenos Aires . It was a total loss with 45 dead. The steamer was armed with 1 × 4- in cannon (10.2 cm), 4 × MG cal .50 (12.7 mm) and 4 × MG cal .30 (7.62 mm).

Fourth venture

The boat left Lorient on April 4, 1942 at 7:50 p.m. and returned there on June 13, 1942 at 8:50 a.m. On this 70-day and approximately 12,185 nm long undertaking in the western Atlantic, the Caribbean , off Cuba and Florida , as well as the Yucatan Strait , nine ships with 47,055 GRT were sunk.

  • April 23, 1942: sinking of the US steamer Lammot Du Pont ( Lage ) with 5,102 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 6,812 tons of flaxseed and was on his way from Buenos Aires to New York. There were 17 dead and 37 survivors. The steamer was armed with 1 × 4-in cannon (10.2 cm) and 2 × MG 30 caliber (7.62 mm).
  • May 3, 1942: sinking of the Dominican steamer San Rafael ( Lage ) with 1,973 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo and artillery . He had an unknown cargo on board and was en route from Tampa to Kingston . There was one dead and 37 survivors.
  • May 4, 1942: sinking of the US steamer Tuscaloosa City ( Lage ) with 5,687 GRT. The steamer was sunk by three torpedoes. He had loaded 7,916 tons of ore , rubber , jute and shellac and was on the way from Calcutta to New Orleans . There were no casualties, 35 survivors.
  • May 6, 1942: sinking of the US motor ship Green Island ( Lage ) with 1,946 GRT. The ship was sunk by a torpedo. It had loaded 2,704 t of general cargo and was on its way from New Orleans (USA) to Aruba . There were no casualties, 22 survivors.
  • May 6, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Empire Buffalo ( Lage ) with 6,404 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He drove in ballast and was on the way from Kingston (Jamaica) to New Orleans (USA). There were 13 dead and 29 survivors.
  • May 9, 1942: sinking of the Canadian tanker Calgarolite ( Lage ) with 11,941 GRT. The tanker was sunk by three torpedoes. He was in ballast and was on his way from New York to Cartagena . There were no casualties, 45 survivors.
  • May 14, 1942: sinking of the Honduran steamer Comayagua ( Lage ) with 2,493 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He drove in ballast and was on the way from Puerto Barrios to Niquero (Cuba). There were 7 dead and 35 survivors.
  • May 18, 1942: sinking of the American tanker Mercury Sun ( Lage ) with 8,893 GRT. The tanker was sunk by three torpedoes. He had 93,607 barrels NAVY fuel load and was on his way from Beaumont about Cristobal ( Panama ) to Pearl Harbor . There were six dead and 29 survivors.
  • May 18, 1942: sinking of the American steamer William J. Salman ( Lage ) with 2,616 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 2,730 t of building material and was on the way from New Orleans (USA) to Antigua . There were six dead and 22 survivors.

Fifth venture

The boat left Lorient on July 27, 1942 at 3:00 p.m., and returned there on November 6, 1942 at 5:15 p.m. Permanent on this 102 days and 16,320 nautical miles long company in the mid-Atlantic, West Atlantic, the Niger mouth and in Freetown, six ships were sunk with 25,415 GRT. U 125 was supplied with 20 m³ of fuel by U 459 on October 11, 1942 , and 37 m³ of fuel by U 462 on October 27, 1942 .

  • September 1, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Ilorin ( Lage ) with 815 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He drove in ballast and was on the way from Port Harcourt to Takoradi . There were 33 dead and four survivors.
  • September 24, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Bruyere ( Lage ) with 5,335 GRT. The steamer was sunk by three torpedoes. He had loaded 6,729 t of food and general cargo and was on his way from Buenos Aires via Rio de Janeiro and Freetown to Great Britain. There were no casualties, 51 survivors.
  • September 29, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Baron Ogilvy ( Lage ) with 3,391 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 5,150 t of iron ore and was on the way from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) via Freetown (Sierra Leone) to Great Britain. There were eight dead and 33 survivors.
  • September 30, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Empire Avocet ( Lage ) with 6,015 GRT. The steamer was sunk by three torpedoes. He had loaded 3,724 t of meat and 1,225 t of general cargo and was on the way from Buenos Aires (Argentina) via Rio Grande do Sol and Freetown (Sierra Leone) to Great Britain. There were two dead and 56 survivors.
  • September 30, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Kumsang ( Lage ) with 5,447 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had 7,000 tons of cargo loaded and was on its way from Colombo via Cape of Walvis Bay and Freetown (Sierra Leone) to the UK. There were four dead and 110 survivors.
  • October 8, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Glendene ( Lage ) with 4,412 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 6,900 t of general cargo and was on the way from Buenos Aires (Argentina) via Freetown (Sierra Leone) to the River Mersey . There were five dead and 36 survivors.

Sixth venture

The boat left Lorient on December 9, 1942 at 4:30 p.m., and returned there on February 19, 1943 at 10:45 a.m. No ships were sunk or damaged on this 72-day and approximately 9,840 nm long undertaking in the mid-Atlantic and south of the Azores.

Seventh venture

The boat left Lorient on April 13, 1943, and was sunk on May 6, 1943. On this 23-day expedition in the North Atlantic, south of Greenland and east of Newfoundland , a ship with 4,737 GRT was sunk. On this venture, U 125 was assigned to the submarine groups “Specht” and “Fink”, which were supposed to seek combat with allied convoy trains according to the pack tactics developed by Karl Dönitz .

  • May 4, 1943: sinking of the British steamer Lorient ( Lage ) with 4,737 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He was in ballast and was on his way from London to New York. The ship was a straggler of the ONS-5 convoy with 42 ships. It was a total loss with 40 dead.

Whereabouts

The boat was badly damaged by artillery and ramming on May 6, 1943 in the North Atlantic east of Newfoundland by the British destroyer HMS Oribi . Commander Folkerts managed to withdraw from action under cover of a rain squall, although the boat was probably no longer submersible at this point. After a brief escape met U 125 to the British Corvette HMS Snowflake and dropped in artillery fire in position 52 ° 30 '  N , 45 ° 20'  W . All 54 crew members lost their lives.

Known crew members

See also

Notes and individual references

  1. ^ Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing vor München 1997, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 , page 118
  2. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 4: German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg a. a. 1999, pages 90–91, the authors assume that U 125 was sunk by the crew themselves

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 .
  • 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).