U 861

U 861; ( previous / next - all submarines )
	; U 995 (left) and U 861 lie in front of the Dora bunker in Trondheimin May 1945
Type :	IX D2
Field Post Number :	54 873
Shipyard:	AG Weser , Bremen
Construction contract:	August 25, 1941
Build number:	1067
Keel laying:	July 15, 1942
Launch:	April 29, 1943
Commissioning:	September 2, 1943
Commanders:	September 2, 1943 - May 8, 1945 ; Corvette Captain Jürgen Oesten
Calls:	2 activities
Sinkings:	4 merchant ships (22,048 GRT )
Whereabouts:	Sunk on December 31, 1945 during Operation Deadlight

U 861 was a German submarine of the type IX D2 , which was used by the former German navy in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans during World War II and sank 4 merchant ships with 22,048 GRT. The submarine surrendered to the British Navy on May 6, 1945 near Trondheim , so that the entire crew was taken prisoner of war by the British .

history

U 861 was one of the so-called ocean-going boats. Under the command of Corvette Captain Jürgen Oesten, it patrolled two operations off South Africa and Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean and in the southern Atlantic.

First venture

The Vital de Oliveira was sunk by U 861

On April 20, 1944 was U 861 from Kiel made from first to his company. The boat patrolled on this voyage off the Brazilian coast and South Africa, as well as Madagascar and the Indian Ocean.
On his eleventh patrol as commander, the first with this boat, Commander Oesten sank the Brazilian troop transport Vital de Oliveira and the American Liberty freighter William Gaston off the South American coast . With the British freighter Berwickshire , which was sunk in August, and the Greek steamer Ioannis Fefalios , which was attacked in September, the commander's successes with this boat amounted to a total of four sunk ships.
U 861 arrived at the new base in Penang on September 23, 1944 after a five-month journey. Quieter times followed for the team, which were filled with cleaning and overhaul work, but also smaller patrols in the Malaysian area.

Second venture

It was only on January 15, 1945 was U 861 of Soerabaja made for the return journey and thus to the second company. The German submarines leaving East Asia at this time, z. B. also U 510 and U 532 , had a freight urgently needed in Germany made of raw materials such as zinc and rubber, but also caffeine on board. U 861 was supposed to avoid combat and was only armed with two torpedoes for self-defense. In addition, the departure took place not only in strictest secrecy, but after repeated fictitious departure maneuvers, to which the crew was called to the base, only to be sent back on shore leave a short time later. Flotilla chief Hoppe had ordered these deceptions to confuse Allied spies. Two crew members then missed the surprisingly deployed and quickly executed actual departure of U 861 . Despite all precautionary measures, two American submarines were already lurking on U 861 in the road between Bali and Lombok . The boat was directed into this street by a Japanese destroyer. Here Oesten made a deep dive attempt, but waited until night before surfacing and then drove at full speed towards the Indian Ocean. One of the two American submarines followed, but lost U 861 after three days. Oesten had decided on an unusually steep south course, which the opposing commander had not expected. Some of the crew of U 861 suffered from dengue fever . To alleviate the symptoms, Oesten decided, based on the experience of the doctors in the Far Eastern base, to go to colder weather conditions. In Ost's view, the unusual course of U 861 based on this was the reason why he was able to shake off his pursuer. The boat passed the Indian Ocean and the southern tip of Africa without further incidents and drove a long way to the continental coast, through the middle of the Atlantic to the north. When U 861 groped its way below Greenland, the bridge watch overlooked an iceberg at night. The following collision caused slight damage in the area of the bow . With only one cubic meter of fuel in the bunker cells , U 861 finally reached the Trondheim base on April 18, 1945.

Sinking

On May 6, 1945 U 861 capitulated near Trondheim, Norway. The boat was transferred between May 29 and June 2, 1945 via Scapa Flow to Lisahally in the port of Derry . On June 2, 1945 Jürgen Oesten and his team were taken prisoner by the British. At the end of the year , U 861 first drove from Lisahally to Moville , where it was towed by the cutter HMS Freedom on December 31st and was scuttled to position 55 ° 25'N / 07 ° 15'W for operation Deadlight was brought. Here U 861 was sunk by the Polish destroyer ORP Błyskawica by artillery fire at around 2:45 p.m.

Sinkings

date	ship	flag	Tonnage in GRT	location
July 20, 1944	Vital de Oliveira	Brazil Brazil	1737	( Location ) -22.483333 -41.15
July 24, 1944	William Gaston	United States United States	7177	( Location ) -26.7 -46.2
August 20, 1944	Berwickshire	United Kingdom United Kingdom	7464	( Location ) -30.966667 38.833333
September 5, 1944	Ioannis Fafalios	Greece Greece	5670	( Location ) -4.333333 43.95

literature

Jochen Brennecke : Sharks in Paradise. The German submarine war in Asia's waters 1943–1945. 3rd edition, special edition. Koehler, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-7822-0855-2 .

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 und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 , p. 529.
↑ 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, ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 , p. 302.
↑ Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 , p. 802.
↑ Jochen Brennecke: Sharks in Paradise. The German submarine war in Asia's waters 1943–1945. Dramatic original reports by survivors and previously unpublished secret documents. 10th edition. W. Heyne, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-453-00094-3 , p. 191.
^ Oesten was released on March 2, 1947.
↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat 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 , p. 390.

Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

[1] 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. 529.

[2] 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, ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 , p. 302.

[3] Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 , p. 802.

[4] Jochen Brennecke: Sharks in Paradise. The German submarine war in Asia's waters 1943–1945. Dramatic original reports by survivors and previously unpublished secret documents. 10th edition. W. Heyne, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-453-00094-3 , p. 191.

[5] Oesten was released on March 2, 1947.

[6] Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat 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 , p. 390.