U 204
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U 204 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | 47 084 |
| Shipyard: | Germania shipyard , Kiel |
| Construction contract: | September 23, 1939 |
| Build number: | 633 |
| Keel laying: | April 22, 1940 |
| Launch: | January 23, 1941 |
| Commissioning: | March 8, 1941 |
| Commanders: |
March 8, 1941 - October 19, 1941 |
| Flotilla: |
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| Calls: | 3 patrols |
| Sinkings: |
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| Whereabouts: | Sunk in the Strait of Gibraltar on October 19, 1941 |
U 204 was a German type VII C submarine of the Kriegsmarine .
history
From March 8, 1941 to May 1, 1941, the U 204 was used as a training boat and from May 1, 1941 as a front boat in the 1st U-Flotilla . On the tower the boat bore the coat of arms of its godfather city Krefeld. In addition, the tower was decorated with large painted angles and at times was described with the French saying "... ob les aura " (= We'll get it). Commander Kell commanded the boat in the second half of 1941 on a total of three patrols. U 204 operated from May 24 to June 27 in the North Atlantic and east of the Azores , from June 22 to August 22 in the North Atlantic and west of the North Channel and from September 20 - on its last mission - west of Gibraltar .
Calls
During the first patrol on May 31, 1941, U 204 sank the Icelandic fishing boat Holmsteinn with the on- board cannon .
On June 10, 1941, the Belgian cargo ship Mercier ( Lage ) sank .
On the second patrol, U 204 discovered a convoy that passed west of Brest on August 2nd . In accordance with the pack tactics developed by Karl Dönitz , Commander Kell kept in touch with this convoy until further submarines could be brought in, then it joined the attack on this convoy - SL 81. On August 19, 1941, U 204 met convoy OG 71, from which it sank the Norwegian destroyer KNM Bath . ( Location ).
The sinkings of the small Panamanian steamer C.Ion (October 5th) and the British tanker Inverlee (October 19th) are attributed to this boat. Since U 204 did not return from this patrol, there are no KTB notes about it.
Downfall
On October 19, 1941 at 20:50 orteten the sloop HMS Rochester and the Corvette HMS Mallow a German U-boat off Cape Spartel and attacked it with depth charges on. The corvettes HMS Bluebell and HMS Carnation rushed to support, but discovered only remains of the sunken German submarine in a floating oil puddle ( location ). Based on the salvaged parts - including a torpedo drive - the boat in question was identified as a U 204 . The entire crew of 46 men were killed when the boat went down.
annotation
- ↑ This assumption is expressed in Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939–1945. Volume 3: German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. 2001, p. 147.
- ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Maling's German U-Boats 1939-1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 , p. 133.
- ↑ u. A. U 401, U 147, U 565 and U 46
- ↑ KNM is the abbreviation for Kongelige Norske Marine and the name prefix of Norwegian ships. Translated in German as Royal Norwegian Navy . The English variant of the prefix is HNoMS , which stands for His Norwegians Majesty's Ship ( His Norwegian Majesty's Ship ).
literature
- 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 .
Map with all coordinates: