Historical notes for using German U-boats in the Black Sea

[xvii-Dietrich]

German Type-II U-boats in the Black Sea

Here are some historical notes for mission builders who wish to use the German U-boat (submarine) in their IL-2: Battle of Kuban campaigns.

During the War Germany transported six Type-IIB U-boats to the Black Sea. These U-boats were taken overland, using a combination of trucks, barges and sailing on rivers and canals. The U-boats formed the 30th Flotilla and were based at Constanza, Romania. During their campaigns, all six vessels were successful in sinking Soviet ships. Unlike in the Atlantic, the German U-boats operated with relative impunity in the Black Sea.

 

 

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     U-19 is the only U-boat to have had any contact

             with Soviet aircraft in the Kuban map area.

On 13-Feb-1943, at 15.45 hrs, off Gelendzhik, Black Sea: U-19 was attacked

by 4 unidentified aircraft. 2 depth charges dropped, causing minor damage.

(Source: Ritschel)

 

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None of the six U-boats were sunk during their operations.

Three of them were in their Romanian base during a Soviet air-raid on 20-Aug-1944. U-9 was sunk outright during the raid and U-18 and U-24 were damaged to an extent that they were not deemed worth repairing and were taken offshore and scuttled 5 days later.

As the Red Army advanced, it was clear there would soon be no ports left to service the remaining U-boats. Thus, in September 1944, they were taken to the just off the coast of Turkey, and then scuttled by their crews.

 

References

https://uboat.net/maps/black_sea.htm
https://uboat.net/flotillas/30flo.htm
https://uboat.net/types/iib.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30th_U-boat_Flotilla
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea_campaigns_(1941%E2%80%9344)

 

Also, there are the war diaries of all U-boats from U-1 to U-50 (incl. all Black Sea U-boats) in this volume.

Ritschel, Herbert, Kriegtagesbuecher (KTB) KTB U-1 bis U-50 (Kurzfassung), Korntal, repub.1996
 

 

Details of individual boats

 

Here are some details on the individual U-boats. Some of the patrols were completed in the North and Baltic seas before their transfer to the Black Sea. However, in all cases the bulk of the patrols completed were Black Sea sorties.

 

 

U-9
19 patrols
Sunk in port in Constanza (Romania) on 20-Aug-1944 during a Soviet air raid
https://uboat.net/boats/u9.htm


U-18
14 patrols
Scuttled in port in Constanza (Romania) on 25-Aug-1944 following the Soviet air raid
https://uboat.net/boats/u18.htm

U-19
20 patrols
Scuttled off the coast of Kilimli (Turkey) on 11-Sep-1944
https://uboat.net/boats/u19.htm

U-20
16 patrols
Scuttled off the coast of Karasu (Turkey) on 10-Sep-1944
https://uboat.net/boats/u20.htm

U-23
16 patrols
Scuttled off the coast of Agra (Turkey) on 10-Sep-1944
https://uboat.net/boats/u23.htm

U-24
19 patrols
Scuttled of the coast of Constanza (Romania) on 25-Aug-1944 following the Soviet air raid
https://uboat.net/boats/u24.htm

 

 

 

 

PS: I have a lot of material on U-boats and know a lot about the Black Sea (I wrote a full multiplayer campaign for Silent Hunter III for this theatre of operations). If you have any questions about U-boats, feel free to ask.

 

EDIT : 13-Nov-2017 : Corrected some typographic errors.

Edited November 13, 2017 by xvii-Dietrich

[Habu]

THX for the information.

[Chief_Mouser]

Good info - thanks.

[Swing]

thx good informations

[Jade_Monkey]

Thanks for sharing!