U 238

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U 238
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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
Oblt.zS Horst Hepp

Flotilla:

1st submarine 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
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 )