U 98 (Navy)

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U 98 (Kriegsmarine)
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Type : VII C
Field Post Number : M 30 006
Shipyard: Germania shipyard , Kiel
Construction contract: May 30, 1938
Build number: 603
Keel laying: September 27, 1939
Launch: August 31, 1940
Commissioning: October 12, 1940
Commanders:
Calls: 9 activities
Sinkings:

11 ships (59,427 GRT )

Whereabouts: November 15, 1942 at the Atlantic Ocean west of Gibraltar sunk

U 98 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 May 30, 1938 . The keel was laid on September 27, 1939, the launch on August 31, 1940, the commissioning under Lieutenant Robert Gysae took place on October 12, 1940. In contrast to many German submarines of its time, U 98 did not have a boat-specific emblem or coat of arms, as the crew had decided against it in order to make it more difficult to identify the boat when it came into contact with opposing forces. As with almost all submarines that belonged to the 7th U-Flotilla, their flotilla sign was on the tower : A snorting bull, reminiscent of Günther Prien's attack on the home port of the British Home Fleet , Scapa Flow .

After its commissioning on October 12, 1940 to February 28, 1941, the boat was part of the 7th U-Flotilla in Kiel as a training boat . After the training period, it belonged from March 1, 1941 to its sinking on November 15, 1942 as a front boat of the 7th U-Flotilla in St. Nazaire .

Use statistics

U 98 ran out of nine operations during its service, on which eleven ships with 59,427 GRT were sunk.

First venture

The boat was launched on 12 March 1941 at 9.30 am from Kiel and ran on April 14, 1941 at 9:35 in Lorient one. On this 32 day long and approx. 5,000 nm above and 252 nm underwater expedition in the North Atlantic , west of Ireland , four ships with 15,588 GRT were sunk.

  • March 27, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Koranton ( Lage ) with 6,695 GRT . The steamer was sunk by a torpedo . He had loaded 9,769 tons of pig iron and was on the way from Philadelphia via Sydney to Hull . The ship was a straggler of convoy SC-25 with 32 ships. It was a total loss with 34 dead.
  • April 4, 1941: sinking of the Norwegian steamer Helle ( Lage ) with 2,467 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 3,500 tons of steel and 2,600 tons of paper and was on his way from Saint John to London . The ship belonged to convoy SC-26 with 24 ships. There were no casualties, 24 survivors.
  • April 4, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Wellcombe ( Lage ) with 5,122 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 7,900 tons of grain and was on the way from Baltimore via Halifax to Loch Ewe . The ship belonged to convoy SC-26. There were 20 dead and 21 survivors.
  • April 9, 1941: sinking of the Dutch steamer Prins Willem II ( Lage ) with 1,304 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had loaded 2,020 tons of sugar and was on his way from Demerara to London. The ship belonged to convoy HX-117 . There were seven dead and 28 survivors.

Second venture

The boat was on May 1, 1941 at 20:30 from Lorient and ran on 29 May 1941 at 20:00 at St. Nazaire one. U 98 entered Lorient on May 2, 1941 due to coupling damage, and left again on May 5, 1941. On this 26 day long and approximately 5,800 nm above and 100 nm underwater expedition in the North Atlantic, southeast of Cape Farewell and Greenland , three ships with 23,307 GRT were sunk.

  • May 13, 1941: Sinking of the British auxiliary cruiser HMS Salopian (F. 94) ( Lage ) with 10,549 GRT. The ship was sunk by four torpedoes. The ship belonged to the guarding of the convoy SC-30 with 28 ships. There were 278 survivors.
  • May 20, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Rothermere ( Lage ) with 5,356 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 1,998 tons of steel and 4,750 tons of paper and was on the way from Bootwood (Newfoundland) via Halifax (Nova Scotia) to London. The ship belonged to convoy HX-126 with 29 ships. There were 21 dead and 35 survivors.
  • May 21, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Marconi ( Lage ) with 7,402 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He drove in ballast and was en route from Manchester to Rio Grande and River Plate ( Argentina ). The ship belonged to convoy OB-322 with 38 ships. There were 22 dead and 56 survivors.

Third company

The boat left St. Nazaire on June 23, 1941 at 4:47 p.m. and returned there on July 23, 1941 at 5:55 p.m. On this 30-day and approximately 5,600 nm long enterprise in the Central Atlantic , west of Spain , the North Atlantic and the Biscay , two ships with 10,842 GRT were sunk.

  • July 9, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Designer ( Lage ) with 5,945 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had military equipment and mail on board and was on his way from Ellesmere Port to Cape Town . The ship belonged to convoy OB-341 with 45 ships. There were 67 dead and 11 survivors.
  • July 9, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Inverness ( Lage ) with 4,897 GRT. The steamer was sunk by two torpedoes. He had loaded 4,000 tons of military equipment and was on the way from Liverpool to Cape Town (South Africa) and the Middle East. The ship belonged to convoy OB-341. There were six dead and 37 survivors.

Fourth venture

The boat left St.Nazaire on August 31, 1941 at 1 p.m. and returned on September 26, 1941 at 12.30 p.m. A ship with 4,392 GRT was sunk on this 26-day and approximately 5,000 nm long undertaking in the North Atlantic, northwest of the Hebrides . U 98 belonged to the group with the code name "Seewolf".

  • September 16, 1941: sinking of the British motor ship Jedmoor ( Lage ) with 4,392 GRT. The ship was sunk by a torpedo. It had loaded 7,400 tons of iron ore and was on its way from Santos via Sydney (Nova Scotia) to Glasgow. The ship was a straggler of convoy SC-42 with 65 ships. There were 31 dead and five survivors.

Fifth venture

The boat left St. Nazaire on October 29, 1941 at 1:20 p.m. and returned there on November 29, 1941 at 3 p.m. No ships were sunk or damaged during this 31-day and approx. 5,100 nm above and 166 nm underwater expedition in the North Atlantic and west of Spain. U 98 belonged to the groups with the cover name "Störtebecker" and "Gödecke".

Sixth venture

The boat left St. Nazaire on January 18, 1942 at 5.13 p.m. and returned there on February 27, 1942 at 12.45 p.m. On this 40-day and approx. 6,000 nm over and 192 nm underwater expedition in the West Atlantic , the Newfoundland Bank and Nova Scotia , a ship with 5,298 GRT was sunk.

  • February 15, 1942: sinking of the British steamer Biela ( Lage ) with 5,298 GRT. The steamer was sunk by three torpedoes. He had loaded general cargo and was on his way from Liverpool to Buenos Aires (Argentina). The ship belonged to the disbanded convoy ON-62 with 34 ships. It was a total loss with 49 dead.

Seventh venture

The boat left St.Nazaire on March 31, 1942 at 6:00 p.m. and returned there on June 6, 1942 at 8:50 a.m. U 98 was supplied with provisions by U 459 on April 20, 1942 , and 35 m³ of fuel by U 459 on April 23, 1942. On May 23, 1942, it delivered 578 machine parts to U. No ships were sunk or damaged during this 68-day and approximately 9,300 nm above and 621 nm underwater expedition in the west Atlantic, the east coast of the USA and the Canadian coastal waters.

Eighth venture

The boat left St. Nazaire on July 14, 1942 at 7:56 p.m. and returned there on September 16, 1942 at 6:20 p.m. U 98 was supplied with 26.5 m³ of fuel and provisions by U 462 on September 4, 1942 . Permanent on these 64 days and about 8,500 nm across and 628 nautical miles under water long company in the western Atlantic, on the east coast of the USA, in 1942 twelve TMB II in August 9 mines before Jacksonville were laid, and from south of Cape Hatteras , were no ships sunk or damaged.

Ninth venture

The boat left St. Nazaire on October 22, 1942 and was sunk on November 15, 1942. No ships were sunk or damaged on this 25-day expedition in the North Atlantic and west of Gibraltar . U 98 belonged to the group with the code name "Natter".

Whereabouts

The boat was sunk on November 15, 1942 in the Atlantic west of Gibraltar by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Wrestler at position 36 ° 9 ′  N , 7 ° 42 ′  W in naval grid reference CG 9445. It was a total loss with 46 dead.

literature

  • Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 1: The Hunters. 1939-194. 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 and Son, Hamburg a. a. 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 and Son, Hamburg a. a. 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 and Son, Hamburg a. a. 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 and Son, Hamburg a. a. 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 a. a. 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).
  • Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  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 55