U 668

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U 668
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Type : VII C
Field Post Number : 49 834
Shipyard: Howaldtswerke Hamburg
Construction contract: August 19, 1940
Build number: 817
Keel laying: October 11, 1941
Launch: October 5, 1942
Commissioning: November 16, 1942
Commanders:

Wolfgang von Eickstedt
Fritz Henning

Flotilla:

5th U-Flotilla training boat
November 1942 - March 1943 6th U-Flotilla front boat
April 1943 - May 1944
13th U-Flotilla front boat
June 1944 - May 1945

Calls: 6 activities
Sinkings:

no

Whereabouts: Sunk on December 31, 1945 as part of Operation Deadlight

U 668 was a German type VII C submarine. This type was also called "Atlantic boat". The boat was by the German Navy during the submarine war in the Second World War in the North Sea and in the Arctic Ocean used. Among other things, U 668 was taskedwith evacuatingthe secret weather observation station Taaget on Bear Island .

Construction and technical data

The submarine weapon of the German Navy mainly used type VII C boats in the Atlantic battle, which were also called "Atlantic boats" because of their suitability for this sea area. From the beginning of the war, the Hamburg Howaldtswerke switched their production accordingly to the manufacture of these boats. The shipyard was intended for an annual output of 16 submarines, which should increase to 22 boats from mid-1943. By the end of the war, Howaldtswerke Hamburg had only delivered 33 Type VII C submarines to the Navy.

U 668 was one of ten boats that were handed over to the Navy in 1942. It was 67 m long and had a displacement of 865 m³ under water. A VII C-boat was powered by two diesel engines when it was crossing the water, which enabled a speed of 17 kn , which corresponds to about 31 km / h. Two electric motors achieved a speed of 7 knots under water, which is about 13 km / h. The armament consisted of a 8.8 cm cannon and a 2.0 cm flak on deck, as well as four bow torpedo tubes and a stern torpedo tube. Like most German submarines of its time, U 668 also had a boat-specific mark that was selected by the crew themselves. It was a highly stylized image of an elephant on a white background. The crew opted for this symbol because Commander von Eickstedt's appearance resembled an elephant.

Commitment and history

Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang von Eickstedt put U 668 into service on November 16, 1942. The boat initially belonged to the 5th U-Flotilla and was stationed in Kiel . During this time, Commander von Eickstedt undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to train the crew and to retract the boat. From April 1943 U 668 received the status of a front boat and belonged first to the 6th U-Flotilla and later to the 13th U-Flotilla . The boat completed six operations in the North Sea and the Arctic Ocean, where it was used in the fight against convoys of the North Sea , according to the pack tactics developed by Karl Dönitz .

Submarine vs. plane

On May 16, 1944, U 668 was discovered by the pilot of a Sunderland flying boat that belonged to the 300th RAF Squadron and was stationed in Sullom Voe Bay on the Shetland island of Mainland , which was the joint base of the Royal Air Force and used by the Norwegian Air Force . The first hint of Sunderland initially remained without consequences for the boat, as the depth charges had jammed in the chute of the flying boat. During the next attack, however, the artillery crew of U 668 succeeded in damaging the Sunderland with anti-aircraft fire, killing the nose gunner, setting fire to his turret and injuring several crew members. On the third approach, the commander of the Sunderland, Sub-Lieutenant Johnson, managed to drop four depth charges, three of which detonated directly on the port side of U 668 , whereupon the boat submerged, which the crew of the Sunderland interpreted as a successful sinking. Originally it was assumed that this attack was aimed at U 240 , which was sunk in the process. It is now certain that Sub-Lieutenant Johnson actually attacked U 668 , which was not damaged by this encounter. The fate of U 240 is still unclear.

Weather station Taaget

In addition to participating in the hunt for Allied convoys, the North Sea boats of the Kriegsmarine also had other tasks that arose from the geographical location of this sea area. Since the meteorological conditions in the North Atlantic contribute significantly to the predictability of the European weather, it was of great interest to the Wehrmacht to get information about the prevailing weather situation here. Therefore, the Air Force and Navy maintained several weather stations in the northern North Atlantic. In November 1944, a weather station for the Abwehr with a two-man crew was set up on Bear Island . The station was located in the southeast bay of Bear Island, had the code name “ Taaget ” and was operated by two volunteers , a Norwegian and a Ukrainian. There had been repeated tensions between the two collaborators with the cover names "Ludwig" and "Joseph" during the course of the mission. In March 1945 "Ludwig" died from unexplained circumstances and it was decided to pick up the remaining Norwegian. At this point in time, U 668 was returning to the base in Narvik after more than two months of unsuccessful operation in Kola Bay . Because of the thick fog, it was a particular challenge to find our way between the ice fields into an ice-free area in front of the island of Gullholmen between the Walrus Bay and Sorhamna Bay in the south of Bear Island. There Commandant von Eickstedt had the pre-arranged flares be given and finally, since there was no reaction on the bank, he fired the flak against the rocks near the bank . Finally "Joseph" showed up at the meeting point and asked to be brought on board immediately. Von Eickstedt insisted on securing the weather equipment and the existing documents and had four men of the crew of U 668 cross over and secure the hut at the "Taaget" station. The German seafarers also explored parts of the island and the abandoned mining village “Tunheim” to the north. In addition, the crew completed the submarine's provisions with canned food that was recovered from the snow near the “Taaget” station. When Commander von Eickstedt wanted to cast off, it became apparent that U 668 had meanwhile been surrounded by ice and was no longer maneuverable. By so-called "Schwofen", that is, rocking the boat by running back and forth, it was finally possible to free the boat from the ice. On April 17, 1945 U 668 ran back into Narvik.

Surrender and sinking

HMS Onslaught sank U 668

In April 1945 Oberleutnant zur See Fritz Henning took over command of U 668 . He surrendered on May 9th with the crew of U 668 in the waters off Narvik .

The boat was brought to Great Britain with a hull crew and sunk there in the course of Operation Deadlight . This was the planned sinking of German submarines in the so-called " Western Approaches ". For this purpose, the submarines were first distributed to various British ports, and then gradually towed into position by warships and - mostly by gunfire - sunk. Since the submarines were exposed to the weather conditions for a long time without maintenance, 56 of them sank before they reached the intended sinking position.

The Operation Deadlight took on 17 November 1945 to 1946. February 11, U 668 was first to hole Eriboll spent, where it arrived on 21 May. From there it was first brought to the Scottish west coast - near Skye - and then to Northern Ireland. On May 25, the boat arrived in Londonderry harbor . On December 31, U 668 was towed into position from there by the destroyer HMS Onslaught and sunk by artillery fire during target practice.

literature

  • Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 .
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939-1945. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, page 136.
  2. Deutsche Polarforschung 1940/45 (pdf) , Robert Holzapfel in: Polarforschung 21, No. 2, 1951, pp. 85–97