U 238
U 238 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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Type : | VII C |
Shipyard: | Germania shipyard , Kiel |
Keel laying: | 1942 |
Commissioning: | February 20, 1943 |
Commanders: |
February 20, 1943 - February 9, 1944 |
Flotilla: | |
Calls: | 3 activities |
Sinkings: |
4 ships (23,048 GRT ) |
Whereabouts: | Sunk on February 9, 1944 |
U 238 was a German submarine from the Type VII C , which in World War II by the German navy was used.
history
It was built in 1942 by the Germania shipyard in Kiel and put into active service on February 20, 1943. Oberleutnant zur See Horst Hepp was in command for the entire duration of the boat's service. He was later promoted to lieutenant captain.
Calls
Commander Horst Hepp undertook three patrols with U 238 after the training trips in the Baltic Sea from the beginning of 1943.
Despite its relatively short duration of use, it was a successful boat. It sank four freighters and damaged another while deployed in the Battle of the Atlantic . However, it only intervened when the turning point had already been reached and the anti-submarine measures of the Allied forces became more and more efficient and thus more dangerous.
First venture
The first patrol of U 238 began from Trondheim , Norway , as part of the 1st submarine flotilla . The area of operation was the Denmark Strait - a strait between Greenland and Iceland - at the end of the North Sea . There, in the so-called “ air cover gap ” (German: “ Luftschutzlücke ”), it was used against Allied ships; because in this area an effective protection of the Allied convoys by air forces was very difficult. The first patrol boat was the most successful by far: on 20 September 1943, attacked a large convoy of sunken a ship (7176 GRT ) and damaged another. Three days later, three more sinks from the same convoy, two Norwegian and one British ship.
Second venture
The second patrol by U 238 was less successful. Two weeks after leaving Brest , France , it was attacked by Avenger planes belonging to the escort carrier USS Bogue . These attacks killed two sailors, five were wounded and the boat was forced to stay in port for a month to repair the damage it had suffered. During this operation, U 238 captured two British pilots whose Vickers Wellington was shot down by U 764 .
Third company
The third and final patrol began in January 1944, lasted an unsuccessful month and ended with the discovery by the security vehicles of the convoys SL 147 and MKS 38 435 km off Cape Clear near the Irish coast.
Downfall
U 238 responded unsuccessfully to the enemy and was sunk on February 9 by hits from the British sloops HMS Magpie , HMS Starling and HMS Kite under the command of Frederic John Walker . All 50 crew members were killed.
Sunk and damaged ships
date | ship | nationality | tonnage | fate | location |
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September 20, 1943 | SS Theodore Dwight Weld | US-american | 7176 | sunk | ( Location ) |
September 20, 1943 | SS Fred Douglass | US-american | 7176 | damaged | |
September 23, 1943 | MV Oregon Express | Norwegian | 3642 | sunk | ( Location ) |
September 23, 1943 | SS Fort Jemseg | British | 7134 | sunk | ( Location ) |
September 23, 1943 | SS Skjelbred | Norwegian | 5096 | sunk | ( Location ) |