U 175

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U 175
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Sinking of U-175 2.jpg
The sinking U 175
Type : IX C
Field Post Number : M 41 704
Shipyard: AG Weser , Bremen
Construction contract: December 23, 1939
Build number: 1015
Keel laying: January 30, 1941
Launch: September 2, 1941
Commissioning: December 5, 1941
Commanders:

December 5, 1941 - April 17, 1943
Corvette Captain Heinrich Bruns

Calls: 3 activities
Sinkings:

10 ships (40,619 GRT, 65 dead)

Whereabouts: Sunk on April 17, 1943 southwest of Ireland (13 dead, 41 prisoners of war)

U 175 was a German submarine from the Type IX C , which in World War II by the German navy was used. It sank ten ships with a total of 40,619 GRT, whereby a total of 65 people were killed. When it was sunk on April 17, 1943, southwest of Ireland by a US Coast Guard cutter , the 31-year-old commander Heinrich Bruns and 12 other crew members died, while 41 were taken prisoner by the Allies.

history

Until August 1942, U 175 belonged to the 4th U-Flotilla, a training flotilla that was stationed in Stettin . Then the boat was assigned to the 10th submarine flotilla , which had its base in Lorient .

Calls

The first company began on August 15, 1942 in Kiel and ended on October 17, 1942 in Lorient. Commander Heinrich Bruns sank nine ships with 33,442 GRT on this voyage and damaged another one by artillery fire. On September 18, 1942, it was the Canadian Norfolk with 1901 GRT, where 6 men died and 13 survived, on September 21, 1942 the Yugoslav Predsednik Kopajtic with 1798 GRT, where 3 men died and 28 survived, on September 24, 1942 the US -American West Chetac with 5627 GRT, where 31 men died and 19 survived, on September 26, 1942 the Panamanian Tambour with 1827 GRT, where 8 men died and 24 survived, on September 28, 1942 the American Alcoa Mariner with 5590 GRT , whereby all 54 men survived, on October 1, 1942 the British Empire Tennyson with 2,880 GRT, whereby 4 men died and 36 survived, on October 2, 1942 the Panamanian aneroid with 5074 GRT, 6 men died and 43 survived, October 1942 the American Caribstar with 2592 GRT, where 6 men died and 29 survived, on October 5, 1942 the American William A. McKenney with 6153 GRT, where one man died and 34 survived.

On the second operation, for which U 175 sailed from Lorient on December 1, Commander Bruns sank another ship on January 23, 1943, the American Benjamin Smith with 7177 GRT, whereby all 66 men survived. On this patrol, U 175 was badly damaged by air raids by the Royal Air Force . It returned to the submarine base on February 24th.

A third venture from April 10, 1943 was unsuccessful. Finally, the boat was south-west on 17 April 1943 by Ireland by depth charges of American USCG - cutter USCGC Spencer forced to surface.

Sinking

A depth charge exploded during the attack on U 175
Enter command of Spencer with prisoners in rowboat before sinking U 175
Prisoners from U 175 aboard Spencer , April 17, 1943

An artillery duel with this and another cutter developed on the surface. In the course of this firefight, Commander Heinrich Bruns was killed by a direct hit on the bridge. Crew members of the Spencer tried to recover documents and secret documents from the sinking submarine, but they did not succeed. When U 175 went down , 13 crew members were killed. 41 men could be saved; 19 men, all fearful and "hysterical" according to reports from the US Coast Guard, were taken on board by the Spencer and 22 by the Duane as prisoners of war . Both ships of the US Coast Guard brought their prisoners to Greenock-Gourock ( Scotland ), where they handed them over to the British Marines on April 20, 1943 . ( Location ).

Sunk ships

date Ship name nation GRT Sinking location
Sept 18, 1942 Norfolk Canada 1921Canada Canada 1901 ( Location )
Sept 21, 1942 Predsednik Kopajtic Yugoslavia Kingdom 1918Kingdom of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 1798 ( Location )
Sept. 24, 1942 West Chetac United States 48United States United States 5627 ( Location )
Sept. 26, 1942 Reel PanamaPanama Panama 1827 ( Location )
Sep 28, 1942 Alcoa Mariner United States 48United States United States 5590 ( Location )
Oct. 1, 1942 Empire Tennyson United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 2880 ( Location )
Oct 2, 1942 Aneroid United States 48United States United States 5074 ( Location )
Oct. 4, 1942 Caribstar United States 48United States United States 2592 ( Location )
Oct 5, 1942 William A. McKenney United States 48United States United States 6153 ( Location )
Jan. 23, 1943 Benjamin Smith United States 48United States United States 7177 ( Location )

literature

  • Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes-Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .
  • 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, p. 40. ISBN 3-8132-0490-1 .
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: Submarine construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 1997, pp. 63, 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 and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2008, p. 132f. ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 .
  • 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, pp. 85f. ISBN 3-8132-0514-2 .
  • 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 .
  • Clay Blair: The Submarine War - The Hunters 1939–1942 . Heyne Verlag, 1998. pp. 797, 800. ISBN 3-453-12345-X .
  • Clay Blair: The Submarine War - The Hunted 1942–1945 . Heyne Verlag, 1999. pp. 168, 262, 346. ISBN 3-453-16059-2 .
  • John M. Waters: Bloody Winter . Welsermühl Verlag, Wels 1970. pp. 233, 234, 235, 236, 248. ISBN 3-8533-9104-4 .

Web links

Commons : U 175  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Busch, Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. 1997, p. 347.
  2. ↑ Busch, Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 3: German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. 2001, p. 132.
  3. ^ P. Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. 1998, p. 114.

See also