U 75 (Navy)

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U 75 (Kriegsmarine)
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Type : VII B
Field Post Number : M 16 800
Shipyard: Vegesacker shipyard
Bremen-Vegesack
Construction contract: June 2, 1938
Build number: 003
Keel laying: December 15, 1939
Launch: October 18, 1940
Commissioning: December 19, 1940
Commanders:

December 19, 1940 - December 28, 1941
Lieutenant Captain Helmuth Ringelmann

Calls: 5 activities
Sinkings:

7 ships (38,628 GRT)

Whereabouts: Sunk on December 28, 1941 in the Mediterranean near Marsa Matruh

U 75 was a German submarine of type VII B , which in World War II by the German navy was used.

history

The order for the boat was awarded to the Vegesacker shipyard in Bremen on June 2, 1938 . The keel was laid on December 15, 1939, the launch on October 18, 1940. The commissioning under Lieutenant Helmuth Ringelmann finally took place on December 19, 1940. Like most German submarines of that time, the boat carried a sign on the submarine tower : the so-called "Bull of Scapa Flow", which reminded of Günther Prien's attack on the British naval port in Scapa Flow , and the flotilla symbol of the 7th U-Flotilla to which U 75 belonged from December 1940 to October 1941.

During his service, Commander Ringelmann led U 75 on five operations, on which he was able to sink seven ships with a total tonnage of 38,628  GRT .

Use statistics

After its commissioning on December 19, 1940 until March 31, 1941, the boat belonged to the 7th U-Flotilla in Kiel as a training boat . After the training period, U 75 was used as a front boat in the 7th U-Flotilla from April 1, 1941 to October 1941 and stationed in St. Nazaire . From October 1941 until its sinking on December 28, 1941, the boat was part of the 23rd U-Flotilla in Salamis .

First venture

The boat left Kiel on April 10, 1941 at 12 p.m. and entered St. Nazaire on May 12, 1941 at 8:05 p.m. On this 33 day long and approximately 5,300 nm above and 255 nm underwater expedition in the North Atlantic and southwest of Iceland , a ship with 10,146 GRT was sunk.

  • April 29, 1941: sinking of the British steamer City of Nagpur ( Lage ) with 10,146 GRT. The steamer was sunk by three torpedoes . He had 2,184 tons of general cargo and 274 passengers on board and was on the way from Glasgow via Freetown to Natal , Bombay and Karachi . 15 crew members and one passenger were killed, 179 crew members and 273 passengers were rescued.

Second venture

The boat left St. Nazaire on May 29, 1941 at 6:50 p.m. and returned there on July 3, 1941 at 2:10 p.m. On this 35 day long and approximately 6,850 nm above and 88 nm underwater expedition in the North Atlantic, three ships with 19,554 GRT were sunk.

  • June 3, 1941: sinking of the Dutch steamer Eibergen ( Lage ) with 4,801 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He drove in ballast and was on the way from the Tyne to Pepel ( Sierra Leone ). The ship belonged to convoy OB-327 with 46 ships. There were four dead and 35 survivors.
  • June 3, 1941: sinking of the British tanker Inversuir ( Lage ) with 9,456 GRT. The tanker was sunk by two torpedoes. He was ballasted and on his way from Stanlow to Aruba . The ship belonged to convoy OB-327. There were no casualties and 45 survivors.
  • June 25, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Brockley Hill ( Lage ) with 5,297 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 7,000 tons of grain and was on his way from Montreal via Sydney to London . The ship belonged to convoy HX-133 with 57 ships. There were no casualties and 42 survivors.

Third company

The boat left on July 29, 1941 at 7.45 p.m. and returned there on August 25, 1941 at 7.10 p.m. During this 27-day and approx. 5,290 nm above and 167 nm underwater expedition in the North Atlantic and west of the North Canal , two ships with 9,927 GRT were sunk.

  • August 5, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Harlingen ( Lage ) with 5,415 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 8,000 tons of food and was on his way from Lagos and Freetown (Sierra Leone) to Liverpool . The ship belonged to convoy SL-81 with 18 ships. There were two dead and 44 survivors.
  • 5th August 1941: sinking of the British steamer Cape Rodney ( Lage ) with 4,512 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded palm kernels , peanuts and manganese ore and was on his way from Lagos (Nigeria) via Freetown (Sierra Leone) to London. The ship was a straggler of the SL-81 convoy. There were no casualties, 39 survivors.

Fourth venture

The boat left St. Nazaire on September 27, 1941 at 7:10 p.m. and entered Salamis on November 2, 1941 at 12 p.m. Two barges with a total of 744 GRT were sunk on this 36-day-long, approximately 5,500 nm above and 302 nm underwater operation, on which it made the breakthrough through the Strait of Gibraltar and operated in the eastern Mediterranean .

  • October 12, 1941: Sinking of the British landing craft HMS LCT-A 2 with 372 GRT. The landing craft was sunk by artillery and a torpedo.
  • October 12, 1941: Sinking of the British landing craft HMS LCT-A 7 with 372 GRT. The landing craft was sunk by artillery.

Fifth venture

The boat left Salamis on December 22, 1941, and was sunk on December 28, 1941. On this six-day trip in the Mediterranean, a ship with 1,587 GRT was sunk.

  • December 28, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Volo ( Lage ) with 1,587 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He drove in ballast and was on the way from Tobruk to Alexandria . The ship belonged to convoy TA 6 . There were 38 dead and 14 survivors.

With the last radio message sent by U 75 , Commander Ringelmann reported that he had sunk two ships and damaged another one. Only the sinking of the Volo was confirmed later .

Whereabouts

On December 28, 1941, U 75 in the Mediterranean Sea at Marsa Matruh by water bombs of the British destroyer HMS Kipling in position 31 ° 50 '  N , 26 ° 40'  O submerged marine-grid square CO 9238th 14 crew members were killed and 30 were saved.

U 75 did not lose any crew members during its service life until its sinking.

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 .
  • 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).

References and comments

  1. ^ 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 51
  2. ↑ Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen The Chronicle of the Sea War ( accessed online on July 22, 2016) assigns the Volo to the convoy TA.6, Busch / Röll: Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939–1945. Volume 3: German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. Make no statement on this.
  3. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 3: German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 2001, page 68
  4. ↑ The author Clay Blair gives in his extensive work " The submarine war. Volume One 1939–1942 ” . Heyne 1998/99, page 477, Ringelmann sank his boat himself as a result of the massive damage.

See also

Web links