U 128

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U 128
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Type : IX C
Field Post Number : M-41 096
Shipyard: AG Weser , Bremen
Construction contract: August 7, 1939
Build number: 991
Keel laying: July 10, 1940
Launch: February 20, 1941
Commissioning: May 12, 1941
Commanders:
  • May 12, 1941 - February 28, 1943
    Lieutenant Lieutenant Ulrich Heyse
  • March 1, 1943 - May 17, 1943
    Lieutenant Captain Hermann Steinert
Calls: 6 patrols
Sinkings:

12 ships (83,639 GRT, 99 dead)

Whereabouts: sunk in the South Atlantic itself on May 17, 1943 (7 dead, 47 prisoners of war)

U 128 was a German submarine from the Type IX C , which in World War II by the German navy was used. In its six patrols it sank 12 ships with 83,639 BRT, where 99 people died. On 17 May 1943, was in the South Atlantic by two American flying boats heavily damaged and scuttled , with seven crew members died and 47 US prisoners of war came.

history

The order for the boat was awarded to AG Weser in Bremen on August 7, 1939 . The keel was laid on July 10, 1940, the launch on February 20, 1941, the commissioning under Lieutenant Ulrich Heyse finally took place on May 12, 1941.

After its commissioning on May 12, 1941 until November 30, 1941, the boat belonged to the 2nd U-Flotilla in Wilhelmshaven as a training boat . After training, U 128 belonged to the 2nd U-Flotilla in Lorient from December 1, 1941 until it was sunk on May 17, 1943 .

U 128 ran out of six operations during its service, on which twelve ships with a total tonnage of 83,639 GRT were sunk.

Use statistics

First venture

The boat was launched on December 9, 1941 at 6:00 am from Kiel, and ran on 10 December 1941 at 20:35 to Kristiansand one. It left there again on December 11, 1941 at 5:00 a.m., and entered Lorient on December 24, 1941 at 11:30 a.m. No ships were sunk or damaged on this 16-day and approximately 2,450 nm long journey into the North Atlantic .

Second venture

The boat left Lorient on January 8, 1942 at 10:35 a.m., and returned there on March 23, 1942 at 1:00 p.m. On this 74-day and approximately 9,900 nm long expedition to the Biscay , the Azorean Islands , Bermuda , around Florida and the North Atlantic, three ships with a total of 27,312 GRT were sunk.

  • February 22, 1942: Sinking of the US tanker Cities Service Empire with 8,103 GRT. The tanker was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 9,400 barrels of crude oil and was en route from Port Arthur to Philadelphia . There were 11 dead and 29 survivors. ( Location )
  • March 6, 1942: sinking of the Norwegian tanker OA Knudsen with 11,007 GRT. The tanker was sunk by four torpedoes and artillery . He had loaded engine and machine oil and was on his way from Port Arthur (USA) via Halifax to Great Britain. There was one dead and 39 survivors. ( Location )

Third company

The boat left Lorient on April 25, 1942 at 6:32 p.m., and returned there on July 22, 1942 at 3:10 p.m. On this 83-day and approximately 14,400-nm-long expedition in the western Atlantic , the Brazilian north coast and the Caribbean , five ships with 35,620 GRT were sunk and one ship with 5,687 GRT was damaged. U 128 was supplied with 12.5 m³ of fuel by U 459 on July 8, 1942 .

  • May 13, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Denpark with 3,491 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 5,000 tons of manganese ore and was on the way from Takoradi via Freetown to the Clyde and Workington . The ship belonged to convoy SL-109 with 31 ships. There were 21 dead and 25 survivors. ( Location )
  • June 8, 1942: sinking of the Norwegian tanker South Africa with 9,234 GRT. The tanker was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 4,146 t of diesel and 9,614 t of distillate and was on the way from Curaçao to Freetown (Sierra Leone). There were six dead and 36 survivors. ( Location )
  • June 21, 1942: sinking of the US steamer West Ira with 5,681 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 6,418 t of general cargo and was on the way from New York and Cape Town to Banda Shapur (Iran). There was one dead and 48 survivors. The ship was armed with 1 × 4 inch cannon (10.2 cm), 4 × MK 20 mm, 2 × MG cal .30 (7.62 mm). ( Location )
  • June 23, 1942: sinking of the Norwegian tanker Andrea Brövig with 10,173 GRT. The tanker was sunk by four torpedoes. He had loaded 14,000 tons of heating oil and was on the way from Trinidad to Freetown (Sierra Leone). There were no casualties, 38 survivors. ( Location )
  • June 27, 1942: sinking of the US steamer Polybius with 7,041 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 7,671 t of manganese ore and general cargo and was on the way from Bombay via Cape Town (South Africa) and Trinidad to Norfolk . There were ten dead and 34 survivors. ( Location )
  • June 28, 1942: Damage to the US steamer Steel Engineer with 5,687 GRT. The steamer was damaged by a torpedo.

Fourth venture

The boat left Lorient on September 2, 1942 at 7:02 p.m., and returned there on September 10, 1942 at 7:30 p.m. No ships were sunk or damaged during this eight-day, approximately 950-nm-long expedition into the Biscaya to test a new air-tracking device.

Fifth venture

The boat left Lorient on September 14, 1942 at 18:18, and returned there on January 15, 1943 at 11:00. On this 143-day and approximately 18,400 nm long undertaking in the mid-Atlantic, off Freetown and the Brazilian coast, four ships with 20,707 GRT were sunk. U 128 was supplied with 80 m³ of fuel by U 462 on November 10, 1942 , and 60 m³ of fuel by U 461 on December 10, 1942 .

  • November 8, 1942: sinking of the Norwegian motor ship Maloja with 6,400 GRT. The ship was sunk by two torpedoes and artillery. It had 1,020 tons of coal and 87 aircraft loaded and was on the way from Ellemere Port to Takoradi. There were two dead and 39 survivors. ( Location )
  • November 10, 1942: sinking of the British tanker Cerinthus with 3,878 GRT. The tanker was sunk by two torpedoes and artillery. He drove in ballast and was on the way from London and Oban to Freetown (Sierra Leone). There were 20 dead and 20 survivors. ( Location )
  • November 10, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Start Point with 5,293 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 6,280 tons of coal and was on the way from Barry Dock and Milford Haven to Freetown (Sierra Leone). There were two dead and 45 survivors. Convoy ON-141. ( Location )
  • December 5, 1942: sinking of the British motor ship Teesbank with 5,136 GRT. The ship was sunk by three torpedoes. It was ballasted and on its way from Port Said and Port Elizabeth to Demerara . There was one dead and 61 survivors. ( Location )

Sixth venture

The boat left Lorient on April 6, 1943, and was sunk on May 17, 1943. No ships were sunk or damaged on this 41-day expedition to the South Atlantic , Brazil, south of Pernambuco and Recife .

Sinking

The boat was on 17 May 1943 in the South Atlantic south of Pernambuco by the two Mariner of -Flugboote PBM 74-P5 and P6 PBM-74 US Navy -Squadron VP-74 by high-frequency direction finding eingepeilt with depth charges forced to surface. The summoned US destroyers USS Jouett and USS Moffet fired artillery at the boat, but scuttling had already begun. 51 men of the 54-strong crew were taken on board by the Moffet , but of these four died shortly afterwards from their wounds, the chief engineer Lieutenant Gustav Stutz from the effects of poisoning with chlorine gas from the submarine batteries. Others were successfully treated with gunshot wounds and a shark bite aboard the Moffet . So there were a total of seven deaths among the submarine crew, including three officers, and 47 survivors, among them the commandant Hermann Steinert, the first officer on watch Siegfried Sterzing and two other officers, who from the Moffet on May 18, 1943 in Recife as prisoners of war were brought ashore. Of these, Steinert, Sterzing and eleven others were immediately flown to the USA for interrogation.

The position was 10 ° 0 ′  S , 35 ° 35 ′  W in marine grid reference FJ 6486.

literature

  • Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 1: The Hunters. 1939-1942. Heyne, Munich 1998, pp. 389, 583f., 604, 682. ISBN 3-453-12345-X .
  • Clay Blair: The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1998, pp. 108f., 193, 278-283. 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, pp. 101, 233. 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, pp. 44, 211. 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, p. 109f. 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 and Son, Hamburg et al. 1999, p. 98f. 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, p. 305. 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).

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lawrence Paterson: Second U-boat Flotilla. Leo Cooper, Barnsley (South Yorkshire) 2003. p. 205.