U 77 (Navy)

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U 77 (Kriegsmarine)
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Flo29.gif
Flotilla sign of the 29th U-Flotilla, emblem of the boat
Type : VII C
Field Post Number : M 38 391
Shipyard: Vegesacker shipyard
Bremen-Vegesack
Construction contract: January 25, 1939
Build number: 005
Keel laying: March 28, 1940
Launch: November 23, 1940
Commissioning: January 18, 1941
Commanders:
  • January 18, 1941 - September 2, 1942
    First Lieutenant Heinrich Schonder
  • September 2, 1942 - March 28, 1943
    Oberleutnant zur See Otto Hartmann
Calls: 11 activities
Sinkings:
  • 15 ships (31,286 GRT)
  • 1 warship (1,050 t)
Whereabouts: Sunk on March 28, 1943 in the Mediterranean Sea, east of Cartagena

U 77 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 Vegesacker shipyard on January 25, 1939 . The keel was laid on March 28, 1940, the launch on November 23, 1940, the commissioning under Oberleutnant zur See Heinrich Schonder finally took place on January 18, 1941. Most of the German submarines of this time had symbols that were specific to the boat. U 77 carried the flotilla logo of the 29th U-Flotilla , a donkey wedging backwards.

After its commissioning on January 18, 1941 until April 30, 1941, the boat was part of the 7th U-Flotilla in Kiel as a training boat . After the training period, U 77 came from May 1, 1941 to December 31, 1941 as a front boat with the 7th U-Flotilla to St. Nazaire and from January 1, 1942 to April 30, 1942 as a front boat to the 23rd U-Flotilla in Salamis from May 1, 1942 until it was sunk on March 28, 1943 for the 29th U-Flotilla in La Spezia .

Use statistics

During its service life, U 77 completed eleven operations on which fifteen ships with a total tonnage of 32,236  GRT were sunk and four with a total tonnage of 8,264 GRT were damaged. A ship with 5,222 GRT was classified as a total loss.

First venture

The boat left Kiel on May 29, 1941 at 4:07 a.m. and entered St. Nazaire on July 7, 1941 at 4:30 p.m. On this 40-day trip, the boat covered around 7,780 nm above and 149 nm under water. In the course of this venture in the North Atlantic , Commander Schonder sank three ships with 11,725 ​​GRT.

  • June 22, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Arakaka ( Lage ) with 2,379 GRT. The steamer served as a weather ship and was sunk by a torpedo. It was a total loss with 45 dead.
  • June 25, 1941: sinking of the Greek steamer Anna Bulgari ( Lage ) with 4,603 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had an unknown cargo and was en route from Swansea to Montreal . It was a total loss.

Second venture

The boat left St. Nazaire on August 2, 1941 at 12:50 p.m., and returned there on September 10, 1941 at 8:00 p.m. On this 40 day trip, the boat covered about 7,350 nm above and 170 nm under water. In the course of this venture into the North Atlantic, southwest of Iceland and west of the North Channel , no ships were sunk or damaged.

Third company

The boat was on 11 October 1941 at 19:24 of St. Nazaire, and ran on 13 November 1941 at 14:45 to Lorient one. U 77 belonged to the Reissewolf submarine group , which, according to the pack tactics developed by Karl Dönitz , was supposed to seek combat with allied convoys. The boat was supplied with 117 m³ of fuel and provisions in Vigo on November 8, 1941 . On this 33-day trip, the boat covered about 6,300 nm above and 186 nm under water. In the course of this venture in the North Atlantic, south of Cape Farewell and east of Newfoundland , no ships were sunk or damaged.

Fourth venture

The boat left Lorient on December 10th, and entered Salamis on January 14th, 1942 at 9:00 a.m. On this 35-day trip, the boat covered about 6,400 nm above and 490 nm under water. As part of this venture, the breakthrough through the Strait of Gibraltar took place on December 16, 1941 , followed by operations in the western and eastern Mediterranean. The boat entered Messina on December 19, 1941 as a supplement and left again on December 21, 1941. A ship with 4,972 GRT was sunk and a destroyer with 1,690 t was damaged.

  • December 15, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Empire Barracuda ( Lage ) with 4,972 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 5,800 tons of ammunition and military equipment and was on the way from Gibraltar via Cape Town to Suez . The ship belonged to convoy HG-76 with 32 ships. There were 13 dead and 39 survivors.
  • January 12, 1942: Damage to the British destroyer HMS Kimberley with 1,690 tons. The destroyer was damaged by a torpedo.

Fifth venture

The boat left Salamis on March 28, 1942 at 5:00 p.m., and returned there on April 3, 1942 at 8:45 a.m. On this seven-day expedition, the boat covered around 1,750 nm above and 138 nm under water. As part of this venture in the eastern Mediterranean , no ships were sunk or damaged.

The boat moved on April 7, 1942 from Salamis to Patras and on April 8, 1942 from Patras to La Spezia in the shipyard. After the docking time, it went back to the dock on June 6, 1942 from La Spezia to Messina.

Sixth venture

The boat left Messina on June 8, 1942 at 4.15 p.m. and entered Salamis on July 9, 1942 at 7:40 a.m. U 77 entered Salamis on June 17, 1942 due to damage and left again on June 23, 1942. On this 31-day trip, the boat covered about 3,600 nm above and 500 nm under water. As part of this venture in the eastern Mediterranean, a destroyer with 1,050 t was sunk.

  • June 12, 1942: Sinking of the British destroyer escort HMS Grove ( Lage ) with 1,050  ts . The destroyer was sunk by two torpedoes. He belonged to convoy MW-11. There were 110 dead.

Seventh venture

The boat was on 16 July 1942 at 17:10 of Salamis and ran at 7:50 pm on Aug. 30, 1942 Pola one. U 77 entered Salamis on August 21, 1942 to replenish fuel and left again on August 25, and entered Patras on August 26 and left again on the same day. On this 41-day expedition in the eastern Mediterranean and off the coast of Palestine , eight sailing ships with 730 GRT were sunk by artillery fire and one sailing ship with 155 GRT was damaged.

  • July 22, 1942: sinking of the Palestinian sailing ship Ghazal with 41 GRT. The sailor was sunk by ten rounds of artillery. He had loaded 30 tons of chicken feed and was on the way to Mersin . There were no losses.
  • July 24, 1942: sinking of the Syrian sailing ship Toufic El Rahman with 30 GRT. The sailor was sunk by 25 rounds of artillery. He had an unknown cargo and was on his way to Haifa . There were no losses.
  • July 30, 1942: sinking of the Egyptian sailing ship Fany with 43 GRT. The sailor was sunk by a torpedo. It was actually an accident, the torpedo was aimed at a destroyer, but the torpedo underwent the destroyer and hit the sailing ship.
  • August 1, 1942: sinking of the Palestinian sailing ship Daniel with around 80 GRT. The sailor was sunk by seven rounds of artillery. He had petroleum loaded and was on his way to Cyprus . There were no losses.
  • August 6, 1942: sinking of the Egyptian sailing ship Ezzet with 158 GRT. The sailor was sunk by 35 artillery shots. He had no cargo on board and was on his way from Cyprus to Latakia . There were no losses.
  • August 6, 1942: Damage to the Egyptian sailing ship Adnan with 155 GRT. The sailor was damaged by 28 artillery shots. He hadn't loaded any cargo. He was on the way from Cyprus to Latakia. There were no losses.
  • August 7, 1942: sinking of the Egyptian sailing ship Amina with 87 GRT. The sailor was sunk by 13 rounds of artillery. He had loaded copper pebbles and was on his way to Alexandria . It was a total loss.
  • August 10, 1942: sinking of the Palestinian sailing ship Kharouf with 158 GRT. The sailor was sunk by 19 rounds of artillery. He had fruit, beer , talc and £ 1,150 cash on board and was on his way to Beirut . There were no losses.
  • August 16, 1942: sinking of the Egyptian sailing ship Ikbal with 176 GRT. The sailor was sunk by 16 rounds of artillery. He had loaded various goods and was on his way to Alexandria. There were no losses.

In memory of the eight sunk sailing ships, Commander Heinrich Schonder had the barrel of the on-board gun painted with eight rings.

Eighth venture

The boat left Pola on October 12, 1942 at 6:10 p.m. and entered La Spezia on November 1, 1942 at 11:30 a.m. U 77 entered Messina on October 29, 1942 to replenish fuel and left again on October 30, 1942. On this 20-day venture into the eastern Mediterranean, a sailing ship with 18 GRT was sunk.

  • October 20, 1942: sinking of the Syrian sailing ship Mahrous with 18 GRT. The sailor was sunk by eight rounds of artillery. He had an unknown cargo and was on his way to Famagusta . There were no losses.

Ninth venture

The boat left La Spezia on November 3, 1942 at 4:00 p.m. and returned there on December 5, 1942 at 8:45 a.m. U 77 entered Cagliari on November 21, 1942 as a supplement and left there on November 22, 1942. On this 32-day trip, the boat covered about 4,684 nm above and 291 nm under water. As part of this venture into the western Mediterranean, a warship with 1,190 tons was damaged.

  • November 12, 1942: Damage to the British sloop HMS Stork with 1,190 t. The sloop was damaged by a torpedo.

Tenth venture

The boat left La Spezia on January 26, 1943 at 5:09 p.m. and returned there on February 10, 1943 at 9:30 a.m. During this 15-day and approx. 1,850 nm above and 330 nm underwater expedition into the western Mediterranean, two ships with 13,742 GRT were sunk.

  • February 7, 1943: sinking of the British steamer Empire Webster ( Lage ) with 7,043 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 3,000 tons of coal, tanks , trucks and military equipment and was on the way from Glasgow to Bona. The ship belonged to convoy KMS-8 with 55 ships. There were four dead and 57 survivors.
  • February 7, 1943: sinking of the British steamer Empire Banner ( Lage ) with 6,699 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 3,800 tons of military equipment, tanks and motor vehicles and was on his way from Penarth to Bona. The ship belonged to convoy KMS-8. There were no casualties and 72 survivors.

Eleventh venture

The boat left La Spezia on March 3, 1943 at 4.15 p.m. and was sunk on March 29, 1943. On this 25-day trip to the western Mediterranean and east of Spain , a ship with 5,222 GRT was sunk and a ship with 5,229 GRT was damaged.

  • March 16, 1943: Damage to the British steamer Merchant Prince with 5,229 GRT. The steamer was damaged by a torpedo. He drove in ballast and was on his way to Gibraltar. The ship belonged to convoy ET-14 with 30 ships. There was one dead and 44 survivors
  • March 16, 1943: Fatal damage to the British steamer Hadleigh ( Lage ) with 5,222 GRT. The steamer was so badly damaged by a torpedo that it broke apart and sank when attempting to tow it on March 18, 1943. He drove in ballast and was on the way from Algiers to Gibraltar. The ship belonged to convoy ET-14. There were two dead and 58 survivors.

Whereabouts

On March 28, 1943, U 77 was in the Mediterranean Sea, east of Cartagena , by depth charges and an aerial bomb from a British PBO Hudson V of Squadron 48 and a PBO Hudson L of Squadron 233 at position 37 ° 42 ′  N , 0 ° 10 ′  E sunk in the marine grid square CH 5791. 38 crew members were killed, nine survived the sinking.

U 77 did not lose any crew members during its service before the 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).

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b 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

Web links