U 71 (Navy)
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U 71 (Kriegsmarine) ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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 Air raid on U 71 on June 6, 1942 |
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| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | M 26 448 |
| Shipyard: | Germania shipyard , Kiel |
| Construction contract: | January 25, 1939 |
| Build number: | 618 |
| Keel laying: | December 21, 1939 |
| Launch: | October 31, 1940 |
| Commissioning: | December 14, 1940 |
| Commanders: |
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| Calls: | 10 activities |
| Sinkings: |
5 ships (38,894 GRT ) |
| Whereabouts: | sunk on May 5, 1945 in Wilhelmshaven itself. |
U 71 was a German submarine of type VIIC that in World War II by the German navy was used.
history
The order for the boat was awarded to the Germania shipyard in Kiel on January 25, 1939 . The keel was laid on December 21, 1939, the launch on October 31, 1940. The commissioning under Lieutenant Walter Flachsenberg finally took place on December 14, 1940. Most German submarines had boat-specific symbols that were selected by the crew and a smaller version was worn on hats and boats . The emblem of U 71 was a sea serpent or sea dragon.
After its commissioning on December 14, 1940 until May 31, 1943, the boat belonged to the 7th U-Flotilla as a training or front boat and was stationed in Kiel and St. Nazaire . After working as a front boat, U 71 came from June 1, 1943 to June 30, 1944 as a training boat for the 24th U-Flotilla in Memel . From July 1, 1944 to February 27, 1945, it was then part of the 22nd U-Flotilla in Gotenhafen as a school boat . When the Red Army approached the base was evacuated on January 28, 1945 and U 71 was relocated to Wilhelmshaven .
Use statistics
U 71 completed ten operations during its service, on which five ships with 38,894 GRT were sunk.
First venture
The boat left Kiel on June 14, 1941 at 4:30 a.m. No ships were sunk or damaged on this 19-day and approximately 3,000 nm long undertaking in the North Atlantic . On the night of June 25, U 71 crossed the course of the escort ship Gladiolus in the immediate vicinity in pursuit of the convoy Halifax 133 . The corvette then increased its speed to ram the submarine. However, since the ship was 1,100 km away from the mainland at this point in time and ramming posed the risk of sinking itself, the Gladiolus slowed down again and turned. As a result, Commander Flachsenberg managed to submerge his boat and the pursuer's visual contact was lost. Now the corvette, which soon got good sonar contact, attacked the submarine with depth charges , in which it was soon supported by the arriving corvette Nasturium . Commander Flachsenberg was finally forced to show up because of considerable damage and U 71 was exposed to artillery fire by the Gladiolus . Although a hit was made on board the Gladiolus and the sinking of the submarine was established, Commander Flachsenberg managed to escape with his boat and initially bring the damaged U 71 to Lorient . U 71 arrived in St. Nazaire on July 2, 1941 at 11.44 a.m.
Second venture
The boat left St. Nazaire on August 2, 1941 at 1 p.m. and returned there on September 7, 1941 at 7.18 p.m. No ships were sunk or damaged during this 37-day and approximately 5,600 nm above and 220 nm underwater venture in the North Atlantic, southwest of Iceland and southwest of Ireland .
Third company
The boat left St. Nazaire on September 29, 1941 at 12 p.m. and returned there on October 31, 1941 at 4 p.m. No ships were sunk or damaged on this 33-day, 5,192 nm above and 469 nm underwater undertaking in the North Atlantic, near Cape Finisterre , west of Gibraltar and off Cape Spartel .
Fourth venture
The boat left St. Nazaire on November 29, 1941 at 4:03 p.m., and returned there on January 21, 1942 at 12:35 p.m. U 71 had to return to St. Nazaire on December 5, 1941 due to an engine failure and left it again on December 18, 1941. On this 34-day and approximately 5,700 nm over and 315 nm underwater expedition in the North Atlantic, west of Gibraltar and the Azores , no ships were sunk or damaged.
Fifth venture
The boat was on 23 February 1942 at 17:50 of St. Nazaire, and ran at 9.40 pm on 20 April 1942 La Pallice one. On this 57 day long and 7,065.5 nm above and 841 nm underwater expedition in the west Atlantic and the east coast of the USA, five ships with 38,894 GRT were sunk.
- March 17, 1942: sinking of the Norwegian tanker Ranja ( Lage ) with 6,355 GRT. The tanker was sunk by three torpedoes . He had light oil on board and was on his way from Houston via Halifax to Great Britain. It was a total loss with 34 dead.
- March 20, 1942: sinking of the US steamship Oakmar ( Lage ) with 5,766 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had 8,300 tons of manganese ore , jute , burlap and rubber loaded and was on his way from Port of Spain to Boston . There were six dead and 30 survivors.
- March 26, 1942: Sinking of the American tanker Dixie Arrow ( Lage ) with 8,046 GRT. The tanker was sunk by two torpedoes. He had 96,000 barrels of crude oil loaded and was on the way from Texas City ( Texas ) for Paulsboro ( New Jersey ). There were eleven dead and 22 survivors.
- March 31, 1942: sinking of the British tanker San Gerardo ( Lage ) with 12,915 GRT. The tanker was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 17,000 tons of heating oil and was on the way from Curaçao to Halifax . There were 51 dead and six survivors.
- April 1, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Eastmoor with 5,812 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 7,500 tons of general cargo and was on the way from Savannah via Halifax to Great Britain. There were 16 dead and 36 survivors.
Sixth venture
The boat left La Pallice on June 4, 1942 at 7.30 p.m. and entered Saint-Nazaire on June 20, 1942 at 9.45 a.m. U 71 was forced to surface with depth charges on June 6, 1942 by a Short Sunderland flying boat of the 10th Squadron of the RAF under the command of Flight Officer SRC Wood. The submarine survived the attack only because the flying boat ran out of depth charges. U 71 was able to enter La Pallice again and left it on June 11, 1942. On this eleven day trip, the boat covered 1,260 nm above and 306 nm under water. The boat operated in the North Atlantic and west of Spain . No ships were sunk or damaged in the process.
Seventh venture
The boat left St. Nazaire on July 4, 1942 at 6:00 p.m., and returned there on August 15, 1942 at 8:00 a.m. U 71 was supplied with 60 m³ of fuel and provisions from U 461 on July 29, 1942 . No ships were sunk or damaged on this 42-day and 6,797 nm above and 555 nm underwater expedition in the North Atlantic, south of Iceland and east of the Newfoundland Bank.
Eighth venture
The boat left St. Nazaire on October 5, 1942 at 4.30 p.m., and returned there on November 17, 1942 at 12 p.m. On this venture, the boat belonged to the submarine groups with the camouflage names "Panther" and "Veilchen", which were supposed to seek combat with allied convoys according to the pack tactics developed by Karl Dönitz . On this 43-day undertaking, the boat covered 5,459 nm above and 566 nm under water. U 71 operated in the North Atlantic and east of Newfoundland . No ships were sunk or damaged in the process.
Ninth venture
The boat left St. Nazaire on December 23, 1942 at 4 p.m., and returned there on February 12, 1943 at 4 p.m. The boat belonged to the submarine groups with the cover names "Falke", "Landsknecht" and "Hartherz". No ships were sunk or damaged during this 51-day, 6,071-nm above and 551-nm-long undertaking in the central North Atlantic, west of Iceland and western Biscay .
Tenth venture
The boat left St. Nazaire on March 27, 1943 at 4.15 p.m. and entered Bergen on April 25, 1943 . No ships were sunk or damaged on this 36-day, 5,938 nm above and 305 nm underwater expedition in the North Atlantic and south of Greenland . U 71 moved from Bergen to Kristiansand on April 26, 1943 and from there on April 27, 1943 to Königsberg, where it arrived on May 1, 1943.
Whereabouts
The boat was decommissioned on February 27, 1945 in Wilhelmshaven and on May 5, 1945 in the western chamber of the fourth entrance (Raederschleuse) according to the rainbow order that had existed for a long time, but was canceled by Grand Admiral Dönitz on the evening of May 4, 1945 self-scuttled by its crew . The wreck was scrapped after the end of the war.
Notes and individual references
- ↑ 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, page 36
- ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939-1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 , page 50
- ↑ a "flower class corvette", which gave the type of ship its name: Gladiolus class
- ↑ Blair: The Submarine War. Volume 1: The Hunters. 1939-1942. 1998, p. 375.
literature
- Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 1: The Hunters. 1939-1942. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-12345-X .
- Clay Blair: The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 .
- Robert M. Browning Jr .: US Merchant Vessel War casualties of World War II. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD 1996, ISBN 1-55750-087-8 .
- 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 .
- 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 .
- 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 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 4: German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1999, ISBN 3-8132-0514-2 .
- 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 et al. 2003, ISBN 3-8132-0515-0 .
- Erich Gröner : Die Handelsflotten der Welt 1942 and supplement 1944. JF Lehmanns Verlag, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-469-00552-4 (reprint of the 1942–1943 edition).
- Erich Gröner: Search list for ship names (= The merchant fleets of the world. Supplementary volume). JF Lehmanns Verlag Munich 1976, ISBN 3-469-00553-2 (reprint of the 1943 edition).
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