U 564
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U 564 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
|
|---|---|
| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | M 40 175 |
| Shipyard: | Blohm & Voss , Hamburg |
| Construction contract: | October 24, 1939 |
| Build number: | 540 |
| Keel laying: | March 30, 1940 |
| Launch: | February 7, 1941 |
| Commissioning: | April 3, 1941 |
| Commanders: |
|
| Flotilla: |
1st U-Flotilla training boat |
| Calls: | 9 activities |
| Sinkings: | |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk on June 14, 1943 northwest of Cape Ortegal (28 dead, 18 survivors rescued by U 185 ) |
U 564 was a Type VII C submarinethat was used by the German Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II . On its nine ventures it sank 18 merchant ships with 95,544 GRT and one warship with 900 t. On June 14, 1943, it wassunknorthwest of Cape Ortegal , killing 28 crew members. Eighteen men of the crew wererescuedby U 185 andbroughtto Bordeaux by the two German destroyers Z 24 and Z 25 .
history
The building contract for this boat was awarded to the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg on October 24, 1939. On March 30, 1940, U 564 was laid down there. It was launched on February 7, 1941 and was put into service on April 3, 1941 under Oblt.zS Reinhard Suhren . On October 1st, 1942, Oblt.zS Hans Fiedler took over the boat.
Until June 1, 1941, U 564 was assigned to the 1st U-Flotilla as a training boat and was stationed in Kiel . During this time, Commander Suhren undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to retract the boat and train the crew. This included practicing the reaction to emergency situations in the Danzig Bay off the Hel peninsula and learning the tactical measures of the pack tactics developed by Karl Dönitz in the eastern Baltic Sea. After that, U 564 belonged to the 1st U-Flotilla in Brest as a front boat until it was sunk . Like most German submarines of its time, U 564 also had a boat-specific symbol and a typical saying, this was "3 times black cat". On the front of the tower was a black tomcat that was hunched over. Underneath was the lettering "3x". Suhren had chosen the coat of arms of U 48 for his boat , on which he had served as I. WO . The godfather town of U 564 was Zweibrücken .
Calls
U 564 completed nine operations during its service, during which Commander Suhren sank a total of 18 merchant ships with 95,544 GRT and a warship with 900 tons. Four merchant ships with 28,907 GRT were damaged.
First venture
On June 17, 1941, U 564 left Kiel for its first patrol. The area of operation was the North Atlantic . First the boat was ordered into the waters off Greenland , where U 564 collected meteorological data . After Suhren had spoken out in favor of a more offensive operation to the submarine command via radio, the boat was assigned a more southern and more traveled sea area. On this voyage, three merchant ships with 18,678 GRT were sunk and another with 9,467 GRT was damaged. It entered Brest on July 27, 1941.
Second venture
U 564 left Brest on August 16, 1941 and returned there on August 27, 1941. The area of operation was in the Atlantic west of Gibraltar . Two ships with 1,687 GRT and the corvette HMS Zinnia (900 t) from convoy OG-71 were sunk there on August 22, 1941 .
Third company
U 564 left Brest on September 16, 1941 and entered Lorient on November 1, 1941 . It operated in these six weeks west of Gibraltar and in the North Atlantic. On this voyage on October 24, 1941, three ships with 7,198 GRT were sunk from convoy HG-75. After this trip, the commander, Reinhard Suhren, was promoted to lieutenant captain on January 1, 1942.
Fourth venture
This mission began on January 11, 1942 in Lorient. The next day, U 564 made a stop in La Pallice . From there the boat set out for its fourth venture on January 18, 1942. The area of operation was off the east coast of the United States . A ship with 11,410 GRT was sunk there and another ship with 6,195 GRT was damaged by artillery fire. Due to the length of the operation, U 564 was short of fuel in mid-February, although it still had enough torpedoes. The U- boat command had initially planned to supply U 103 to Suhren's boat, but the meeting did not take place due to bad weather and poor navigation. Finally, the U 107, also operating nearby under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Harald Gelhaus, was ordered to meet with U 564 . At the meeting point, however, Gelhaus's larger Type IX boat rammed Suhren's boat. The collision tore open the starboard side of U 564 and shattered all four bow torpedo tubes. Because of this collision with U 107 off Cape Hatteras , Commander Suhren decided to break off the operation. The boat reached Brest on March 6, 1942.
Fifth venture
U 564 left Brest on April 4, 1942. The area of operation was again the American east coast, particularly the Florida Strait . There four ships with 24,390 GRT were sunk and two ships with 13,245 GRT were damaged.
The sinking of the tanker Potrero del Llano on May 14, 1942 in the Gulf of Mexico off Miami ushered in Mexico's entry into the war , which finally declared war on the German Reich when U 106 sank the second oil transporter, the Faja de Oro, on May 21 .
Sixth venture
U 564 left Brest on July 9, 1942. This time the operating area was in the Caribbean . Even before the start of the operation, Commander Suhren had been informed by the BdU Dönitz that he was supposed to be a course leader in the 3rd U-Training Division in Gotenhafen . On his last venture as the commander of a front boat, a cameraman from the propaganda company went with him. Due to the length of the operation, U 564 was supplied with fuel and food by the supply submarine U 459 , a so-called "dairy cow". A total of five ships with 32,181 GRT were sunk on this 72-day voyage. On September 1, 1942, Kapitänleutnant Suhren was promoted to Korvettenkapitän. He was also informed about the award of the swords to the oak leaves of the knight's cross . On September 18, 1942, the boat returned to Brest.
Seventh venture
On October 27, 1942, U 564 ran out of Brest, now under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Hans Fiedler. No ships were sunk or damaged on this 65-day patrol in the mid-Atlantic. On December 30, 1942, the boat entered Brest.
Eighth venture
U 564 left Brest on March 11, 1943 for the eighth venture and reached Bordeaux on April 15, 1943. No ships were sunk or damaged during this 36-day mission in the North Atlantic.
Ninth venture
The venture, which began in Bordeaux on May 15, 1943, had to be terminated prematurely. U 564 also had to turn back on the second attempt on May 31, 1943 . On June 9, 1943, the boat ran out again. On the evening of June 13, 1943, the boat was attacked from the air at position 44 ° 30 ′ N , 15 ° 0 ′ W by a Sunderland “U” of the 228th RAF Squadron and was seriously damaged. The machine was successfully shot down, killing the entire aircraft crew, but U 564 had to march back to Bordeaux. The nearby U 185 was supposed to provide escort. In the afternoon of the next day, U 564 was observed from the air for two hours, marked by feeler signals, and finally attacked and sunk. No ships were sunk or damaged during this six-day voyage.
Sinkings
| date | Surname | flag | Tonnage (GRT) |
location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 27, 1941 | Maasdam |
 Netherlands
|
8,812 | location |
| June 27, 1941 | Malaya II |
 United Kingdom
|
8,651 | location |
| June 29, 1941 | Hekla |
 Iceland
|
1,215 | location |
| August 22, 1941 | Clonlara |
 Ireland
|
1,203 | location |
| August 22, 1941 | Empire Oak |
United Kingdom
|
484 | location |
| August 22, 1941 | HMS Zinnia |
United Kingdom
|
900 | location |
| October 24, 1941 | Alhama |
United Kingdom
|
1,352 | location |
| October 24, 1941 | Ariosto |
United Kingdom
|
2.176 | location |
| October 24, 1941 | Carsbreck |
United Kingdom
|
3,670 | location |
| February 11, 1942 | Victolite |
 Canada
|
11,410 | location |
| May 3, 1942 | Ocean Venus |
United Kingdom
|
7.174 | location |
| May 8, 1942 | Ohioan |
 United States
|
6,078 | location |
| May 9, 1942 | Lubrafol |
 Panama
|
7.138 | |
| May 14, 1942 | Potrero del Llano |
 Mexico
|
4,000 | location |
| July 19, 1942 | Empire Hawksbill |
United Kingdom
|
5,724 | location |
| July 19, 1942 | Lavington Court |
United Kingdom
|
5,372 | location |
| August 19, 1942 | British Consul |
United Kingdom
|
6,940 | location |
| August 19, 1942 | Empire Cloud |
United Kingdom
|
5,969 | location |
| August 30, 1942 | Vardaas |
 Norway
|
8,176 | location |
Downfall
On June 14, 1943, U 564 by depth charges of a British Whitley -Flugzeugs under Sergeant sm AJ Benson 10th Operational Training Unit approximately 115 (210 km) northwest of Cape Ortegal in position 44 ° 17 ' N , 10 ° 25 ′ W sunk. A depth charge detonated directly below U 564 and lifted the bow. Then the sub sank over the stern. Some survivors were floating in an oil slick. Of the 46 men in the crew, 18 were able to save themselves. They were rescued by U 185 and then taken over by the two destroyers Z 24 and Z 25 , which ran towards the submarine, only to be brought ashore in Bordeaux .
The attacking machine was also badly damaged by the defensive fire from U 564 and U 185 . First the hydraulics failed, then the right engine failed. The Whitley had to embark on the evening around 8 p.m., and the crew saved themselves in a rubber dinghy. The aircraft crew was picked up by a French fishing cutter after three days and later became a German prisoner of war .
Commander Hans Fiedler survived the sinking of U 564 , but fell on July 31, 1944 as commander of U 333 with all its crew.
See also
literature
- Fritz Brustat-Naval, Teddy Suhren: Wet oak leaves. As a commander and FdU in submarine warfare (= Ullstein. No. 23537). Licensed edition, unabridged edition, paperback edition. Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1995, ISBN 3-548-23537-9 .
- 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 .
- Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Maling's German submarines 1939–1945. 4th edition. Koehler, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-7822-0826-9 .
- Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .
- Lawrence Paterson: U 564 on patrol. 70 days on board. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-613-02528-0 .
- 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, pp. 64, 239. ISBN 3-8132-0490-1 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: Submarine construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 1997, pp. 42, 223. 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 und Sohn, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2008, pp. 241–243. ISBN 978-3-8132-0513-8 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 4: The German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2008, p. 109. ISBN 978-3-8132-0514-5 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 5: The knight's cross bearers of the submarine weapon from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2003, p. 92. ISBN 3-8132-0515-0 .
- 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. 375, 386, 404f., 464, 466, 490, 518, 586f., 595, 661-663, 671, 731, 781-784, 790. ISBN 3-4531-2345-X .
- Clay Blair : The Submarine War - The Hunted 1942–1945 . Heyne Verlag, 1999. pp. 157, 331f., 343, 431, 695, 706. ISBN 3-4531-6059-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 , p. 42.
- ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 1: The German submarine commanders. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1996, ISBN 3-8132-0490-1 , p. 64.
- ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 , p. 371.
- ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939-1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 , p. 123.
- ↑ Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 1: The Hunters, 1939–1942. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-12345-X , pp. 585-586.
- ^ Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. 1998, p. 129.
Map with all coordinates: