U 384

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U 384
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Type : VII C
Shipyard: Kriegsmarine shipyard , Kiel
Construction contract: August 15, 1940
Build number: 15th
Keel laying: March 29, 1941
Launch: May 28, 1942
Commissioning: July 18, 1942
Commanders:
Flotilla:
Calls: 2 activities
Sinkings:

two ships sunk

Whereabouts: on March 19, 1943 west of Malin Head by a B-17 Flying Fortress of the 206th Squadron of the RAF with depth charges sunk.

U 384 was a German submarine from the Type VII C , which in World War II by the German navy was used.

Technical specifications

The order for the boat was on 15 August 1940, the shipyard Howaldtswerke , Kiel awarded. The keel was laid on March 29, 1941, the launch on May 28, 1942. The commissioning under Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Achim von Rosenberg-Gruszcynski finally took place on July 18, 1942.

history

After its commissioning on July 18, 1942 to December 19, 1942, the submarine belonged to the 5th U-Flotilla and from January 1 to March 19, 1943 to the 3rd U-Flotilla .

Patrols

First patrol

Following the test drives in the Baltic Sea, U 384 undertook its first patrol and ran out of Kiel , the base of the 5th U-Flotilla, on December 12, 1942 . The boat passed the GIUK gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and was then assigned to the submarine group Falke on December 28th . On January 9, 1943, as part of this group, the boat sank the American freighter Louise Lykes (6,155 GRT). When it was sunk, the ship loaded with ammunition exploded and sank within a few minutes. There were no survivors on the part of the 85-strong crew. The explosion forced U 384 to dive into alarm, as debris from the Louise Lykes was thrown so far that they hit the deck of the submarine. On January 19, U 384 was transferred to the Landsknecht submarine group , to which the boat belonged until January 26. During this time, no Allied ships were sunk or damaged and U 384 entered La Pallice in German-occupied France on February 3, 1943 .

Second patrol

On March 6, U 384 ran from La Pallice on its second patrol and was assigned to the submarine group Stürmer on March 11, 1943 , which operated on the convoy SC 122 , which was cleared up by the German B-service, which sailed the Atlantic in west -East direction crossed. On March 17, U 384 , like other German submarines, had contact with a convoy - it was not, however, SC 122 , but ships of the convoy HX 229 , which was traveling on roughly the same route behind, i.e. west of, this convoy . At around 11 a.m. on March 17, U 384 attacked the convoy. At about the same time, another submarine, U 631 , also fired a torpedo at the ships of this convoy. A short time later, the British freighter Coracero (7,252 GRT) and the formerly German freighter Terkoelei (5,158 GRT) sailing under the Dutch flag sank . Although it was not possible to clarify beyond doubt which submarine had sunk which cargo ship, the sinking of the Coracero U 384 and the sinking of the Terkoelei U 631 were included. U 384 then probably followed the convoy in order to be able to carry out another attack.

Whereabouts

In the late afternoon of March 19, the boat was discovered by a B-17 Flying Fortress of the 206th Squadron of the RAF and attacked with depth charges. A large oil stain was seen at the point where the boat sank. After that, the boat disappeared and there was no longer any contact via radio either. The German leadership gave U 384 therefore lost. All 47 crew members were killed in the sinking ( location ). U 384 was the only boat that was lost during the attacks on the convoys SC 122 and HX 229 .

literature

  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 1: The German submarine commanders. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1996, ISBN 3-8132-0490-1 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg a. a. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
  2. ^ Martin Middlebrook: Convoy - German submarines chase allied convoys. Moewig Taschenbuchverlag. Rastatt. ISBN 3-8118-4342-7 . Page 198 f.
  3. ^ Martin Middlebrook: Convoy - German submarines chase allied convoys. Moewig Taschenbuchverlag. Rastatt. ISBN 3-8118-4342-7 . Page 247 f.

Web links

  • U 384 CV of the boat on: uboat.net , a detailed site about German submarines, their commanders and their allied opponents (in English).