Battle of the Atlantic

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• U-206 is in the Bay of Biscay returning to base when attacked and sunk with no survivors by a Whitley bomber with the aid of Air to Surface Vessel radar (ASV). It is the first success with the equipment and marks a major change in the Battle of the Atlantic.

 

• U-563 is outbound in the Bay of Biscay and attacked by another Whitley. She is so badly damaged that she cannot dive. The Whitley repeatedly strafes the U-boat which manages to get back to base. However, the damage is so extensive that she will return to Germany for rebuilding.

 

• U-96 attempts to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean on a dark overcast night but is attacked by radar equipped Swordfish and damaged. She has to abort back to France. “War Artist” Lothar-Günther Buchheim, who is aboard, dramatizes this incident in “Das Boot”.

 

Swordfish dropping depth charge"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• U-131 is approaching convoy HG-76 when spotted and forced to dive by a Martlet fighter from escorting carrier HMS Audacity. Johnnie Walker on sloop HMS Stork races over to the contact with three other escorts. After an hour of depth charging, the U-boat is compelled to surface due to damage and chlorine gas from the batteries mixing with seawater. She attempts to escape on the surface and is strafed by another Martlet. The fighter is hit by AA fire and crashes, killing the pilot. In the meantime, the escorts begin shelling U-131 and score several hits. The Germans scuttle and all 55 crewmen are taken prisoner. [Martlets from Audacity had already shot down two Condors in defense of this convoy.]

 

- This is the first time a U-boat has shot down an aircraft. [including ww1?]"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Convoy HG-76 continues to successfully fight off wolfpack “Seerauber”. U-434 is maneuvering to get ahead of the convoy when located and forced to dive by Hunt escort destroyer HMS Blankney. Flush deck destroyer HMS Stanley comes up to assist and after a methodical hunt U-434 is forced to surface damaged. She tries to escape on the surface but is rammed by the Blankley. The British pick up 42 Germans. U-67 and U-107 attempt to attack but are driven off by the escorts.

 

- The below newsreel covers the sinkings of U-131 (yesterday), U-434 (today), and U-574 (tomorrow):

 

• The entry of the United States into the war caught Dönitz by surprise with submarines heading to the Mediterranean and attacking the Gibraltar convoys. Most of his available long range submarines are still involved with rescue of the survivors from Atlantis and Python in the South Atlantic. He had hoped to open the inevitable U-boat offensive in American waters with a large force, but can only manage to send five Type IX U-boats which depart today. Others will be sent as they are available.

 

• An RAF raid scores no hits on Scharnhorst or Gneisenau at Brest, but inflicts light damage on the latter from near misses, lending urgency to the need to get them out of the Atlantic ports.

 

Halifaxes of No 35 Squadron over Brest - battleships at left partly obscured by smoke screens"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• U-573 torpedoes and sinks the Norwegian 5,300 ton steamer Hellen off the SE Spanish coast. All 41 crew are picked up by the armed trawler HMS Maida.

 

• Convoy ON-49 departs Liverpool, HX-166 departs Halifax, SC-61 departs Sydney, and AT-5 departs Alexandria.

 

• U-451 attempts to transit the Strait of Gibraltar, but is detected and sunk by a radar equipped Fleet Air Arm Swordfish. At this time Dönitz is being told that it’s impossible for the British to have airborne radar capable of detecting a U-boat on the surface.

 

• The battle of Convoy HG-76 climaxes after sunset today. U-567 torpedoes the Norwegian 3,300 ton steamer Annavore which sinks immediately with her cargo of 4,800 tons of iron pyrites. Shortly afterward the U-boat tries to re-attack but is in turn sunk by British sloop Deptford and corvette Samphire with all hands. During this a merchant ship fires a “snowflake” rocket which illuminates escort carrier HMS Audacity. U-751 fires four torpedoes from close range. Three miss but the fourth hits near the engine room, inflicting rapid flooding with an increasing list. Commander Douglas MacKendrick orders preparations to abandon ship. Kapitänleutnant Gerhard Bigalk orders tubes reloaded as fast as possible and fires two more 18 minutes later, both of which hit.  He turns and fires the stern tube, which misses, then dives deep to evade.

 

- Audacity sinks after about an hour with the loss of 73 officers, aircrew, and ratings. 407 are rescued including FAA pilot Eric Brown.

 

- On the following day all attacks are driven off, and the battle ends as the convoy receives air cover from new Coastal Command B-24 Liberators. Johnnie Walker will be awarded the DSO for the vigorous defense of the convoy.

 

- Although Dönitz is cheered by the sinking of a carrier (Kapitänleutnant Bigalk reports sinking fleet carrier Formidable) the convoy battle is still a German defeat. Four out of twelve U-boats were lost in exchange for two merchant ships, a CVE, and an old destroyer. Thirty-one merchant ships reach port safely. The U-boat force can’t sustain this sort of exchange rate. In addition, two of the supporting Condors were shot down and one badly damaged.

 

- Dönitz will draft a tactful plea to OKM to discontinue attacks on the heavily defended Gibraltar convoys. Raeder, under pressure to assist Rommel all he can by cutting those lines, will reluctantly agree.

 

- HMS Audacity (the seized German merchant Hannover) had been a minimally capable escort carrier, but had been the Royal Navy’s first one, and she provided much experience and information for the more capable CVEs that follow her."

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 Years ago today] "• Just before midnight yesterday, battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen departed Brest escorted by six destroyers and five torpedo boats, heading for Germany via the English Channel. Nine more torpedo boats and three flotillas of Schnellboots will rotate escort for “Operation Cerberus”.  Hitler had ordered the ships home to assist in the defense of Norway. Numerous minesweepers are combing the path the ships are taking.

 

- The Luftwaffe designates thirty Ju-88 night fighters and 250 day fighters to provide air escort for the operation.

 

Bf-110s and torpedoboats during the Channel Dash, photographed from Prinz Eugen.

 

- Knowing that the French are informing the British of all activities concerning the ships, Vizeadmiral Otto Ciliax directed specific personnel to “let slip” information about a raid on the South Atlantic. Tropical helmets were brought on board and French dock workers made to load oil barrels marked “For Use in the Tropics”. 

 

- Despite this, Bletchley Park has determined that the ships will be returning to Germany. British naval authorities were unanimous in the opinion that the ships would depart Brest in daylight so that they can pass the narrowest part of the Channel in darkness. Two submarines off Brest haul out to sea to charge batteries so they can close the port in the morning, so miss the midnight departure. The radar equipped Hudson aircraft patrolling off the port is attacked by a Bf-110 nightfighter. It escapes but the radar is unservicable.

 

- The Germans achieve surprise and are not detected until long past sunrise. Desperate attacks by the British are uncoordinated, in parts from surprise, command confusion and poor weather. Six Swordfish torpedo bombers attack first and all are downed, mostly by fighters. Bomber Command sorties 242 bombers but only 39 of them locate the German formation. No hits are scored, though two torpedo boats take bomb splinter damage. Nearly four hundred Hurricanes and Spitfires provide escort and tangle with the German cover. 42 British and 22 German aircraft are downed.

 

- By noon, British 9.2” coastal artillery goes into action, firing by radar as visibility is only five miles. No hits are made.

 

- Six destroyers at Sheerness standing by for just this occurrence are also caught by surprise, exercising in the North Sea. They steam south at flank speed and are able to make one torpedo attack. They score no hits and return gunfire severely damages HMS Worcester.

Damage to HMS Worcester

 

- Several salvoes from Gneisenau destroy the starboard side of the bridge, and the No.1 and No.2 boiler rooms. Prinz Eugen hits the destroyer a further four times, setting it on fire. Kapitän zur See Otto Fein, aboard Gneisenau, orders firing to cease, believing the destroyer to be sinking. Worcester is able to return to Harwich at eight knots, though she suffers the indignity of being attacked by a Coastal Command Beaufort, with the torpedo passing close astern.

 

- By nightfall the Germans are off the Belgian coast. Come daylight tomorrow they are off the Netherlands when they take the most damage. At 2pm Scharnhorst detonates a British mine and comes to a stop. Vizeadmiral Ciliax transfers his flag to a destroyer and speeds off, but Scharnhorst is able to get underway at full speed a half hour later.

Scharnhorst stopped after hitting first mine

 

- At 8pm Gneisenau detonates a magnetic mine some distance off her port side that takes the turbines offline. Like her sister, she gets underway within a half hour. At 9:30pm Scharnhorst detonates a second mine, giving her a 7° list.

 

- All of the ships will reach the Jade estuary by dawn on the 14th.

 

- The Times story on the 14th will say, “Vice-Admiral Ciliax has succeeded where the Duke of Medina Sidonia failed... Nothing more mortifying to the pride of sea power has happened in Home Waters since the 17th Century.”

 

Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during Operation Cerberus"

 

[From another website] "Having left Brest late on Wednesday, the ships of Operation Cerberus, better known as the Channel Dash, reach Barfleur, France, by dawn on 12 February 1942. This means that Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen are due south of the Isle of Wight, some 300 miles (500 km) up the English Channel. The British remain blissfully unaware that the German operation is in progress, due to chance, clever German planning, and foul winter weather. Finally, an RAF patrol plane flies directly over the flotilla, but its pilot is under strict orders to not break radio silence. So, he waits until he returns to base to report his observation. By this point, the German ships are passing by Beachy Head in Sussex.

...

Then, the Royal Navy sends half a dozen Swordfish planes to launch torpedoes, escorted by 10 Spitfires. Adolf Galland's Luftwaffe fighter cover (Unternehmen Donnerkeil) shoots all of the slow Swordfish down. Overall, the RAF loses 20 bombers and 16 fighters while the Luftwaffe loses 18 fighters.

 

Sporadic British attacks continue throughout the day, without effect. The RAF sends 242 bomber sorties in all, but only 39 of them can even drop their bombs due to the fighter defenses and poor visibility."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Aircraft carrier HMS Victorious launches two waves of Albacores off Stadtlandet to attack heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Prinz Eugen which are heading to Trondheim in order to join Tirpitz. The planes are unable to locate them in poor weather and three Albacores are lost.

 

• Submarine HMS Trident spots the German force off the Drontheim Fjord and fires seven torpedoes at both heavy cruisers. Prinz Eugen is hit in the stern, losing her rudder with fifty men killed.

 

Prinz Eugen’s wrecked stern. 

 

- She is able to reach Trondheim under her own power.  The stern will need to be cut away, plated over, and jury rigged rudders operated by capstan installed. She won't be able to return to Kiel for permanent repairs until May, and will be out of service for the rest of the year.

Prinz Eugen returning to Germany with jury-rig steering in May 1942"

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today= "• Forty-nine RAF bombers attack German battleship Gneisenau which is in dry dock for repairs caused by a mine during the Channel Dash. One bomb hits forward and detonates the charges in the forward turret, burning out the entire bow section with 112 killed and 21 wounded.

 

- Initial plans are to replace her nine 11” guns in triple turrets with six 15” guns (in the same double turrets carried by Tirpitz) and build a lengthened bow. She will be decommissioned for rebuilding with her 'Bruno' and 'Cäsar' turrets sent to Norway as coastal artillery and her crew transferred to the submarine arm. Rebuilding will later be cancelled and she will never sail again.

 

Gneisenau with destroyed bow

 

Gneisenau 28cm SK C-34 being unloaded in Bergen

 

Gneisenau turret in Norway 2004"

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 Years ago today] "The Royal Navy has been keeping a close eye on a sortie against the Arctic convoys by German battleship Tirpitz and its accompanying fleet ("Operation Sportpalast"). While Admiral Otto Ciliax aboard the Tirpitz already has turned the force back to its port at Fættenfjord, just north of Trondheim (via Vestfjord), the British are determined to catch it at sea. Twelve Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers of RAF No. 832 Squadron from HMS Victorious attack in the morning, but the Tirpitz successfully evades the torpedoes. The Germans lose only three men wounded and shoot down two of the Albacores (four British airmen killed). The Tirpitz then continues on uneventfully to Vestfjord."

 

 

 

 

Wounded crewman from that attacking Albacores.

 

[IckyATLAS]

Excellent thread. Next Campaign BOA. I am in.

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today]"Admiral King sends a memo to President Roosevelt in which he claims that it is "not at all sure that the British are applying sufficient effort to bombing German submarine bases and building (repair) yards." He adds that "It seems that the R.A.F. is not fully cooperative in complying with the views of the Admiralty in this (and other) matters relative to the selection of military objectives." He suggests "a directive from 'higher authority'" to remedy this situation. There is a constant tension throughout the war as different allied services request priority in the choice of bombing targets. [King should have been convoying!]

 

"The U-boat fleet has been sinking tankers almost every day recently. This has caused great concern in London and Washington and has led to fuel rationing in the United Kingdom. The situation only gets worse today as more tankers go down."

SS Liberator, one of the ships lost on 19 March 1942.

 

U.S. tanker W.E. Hutton, lost on 19 March 1942."

 

 

U.S. tanker Papoose, sunk on 19 March 1942

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "U-85 (Oblt. Eberhard Greger), on its fourth patrol out of St. Nazaire, is caught on the surface off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, by US Navy destroyer USS Roper. The crew of the Roper makes quick work of U-85 with gunfire because for some reason Greger remains on the surface throughout the engagement [reportedly, visibility was low and the water was shallow so it would make sense to try to escape on the surface. At the time, the Germans captains were being told that destroyers were too small to carry effective radar sets, which the USS Roper did carry, reverse lend-leased from the British]. All 46 crewmen of U-85 perish, many when Roper drops depth charges that kill swimming U-85 crewmen who had abandoned the sinking U-boat. This is the first U-boat sunk off the North American coast. U-85, which finishes its career with three ships sunk of 15,060 tons, sits in about 110 feet (34 m) of water 14 miles (23 km) east of Oregon Inlet along the Outer Banks between Wimble Shoals and Cape Hatteras. It is a popular dive site despite tricky currents. Incidentally, 29 bodies from U-85 were recovered and are buried under cover of darkness at Hampton National Cemetery."

 

USS Roper

 

Enigma machine recovered from the wreck of U-85 more than 60 years later.

 

U-85 wreck

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today in, not quite, the Atlantic] "• Having departed Narvik two days earlier in company with destroyers Friedrich Eckoldt, Erich Steinbrinck, and Richard Beitzen, heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer enters the Kara Sea northeast of Novaya Zemlya for a raid on Soviet far northern shipping. Three U-boats are also operating in support. It had been intended to utilize Bv-138 seaplanes to locate targets for the Scheer using U-255 to refuel them and extend their range, but the harsh arctic conditions result on one having to be scuttled by the U-boat and a second crashing on the Norwegian coast.

 

Bv-138 with a U-boat"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Japanese submarine I-30 departs Lorient carrying blueprints of the Würzburg air defense ground radar, five German G7a and three G7e torpedoes, five torpedo data computers, 240 Bolde sonar countermeasure rounds, rocket and glider bombs, anti-tank guns, a Zeiss anti-aircraft artillery director (fire control system), examples of 20mm guns, industrial diamonds valued at one million yen, and fifty Enigma-T coding machines. Enigma-T is intended for secure communications between Kriegsmarine and IJN units in the Indo-Pacific.

 

- I-30 will arrive safely at Penang for fuel, then proceed to Singapore. She will depart on October 13th for Japan with her valuable cargo, but hit a British mine and sink with the loss of 13 men. Divers from No. 101 Navy Repair Unit will recover some of her cargo, but most will be found to unusable after immersion in salt water.

 

• In the Arctic, U-456 reconnoiters Matyuschev Isle west of the Matochkin Strait and finds the 80 ton Chaika at anchor. The Germans take her in tow unnoticed by the Russians ashore. After searching the boat she is sunk by scuttling charges. Nothing valuable was found except four infantry guns.

 

• HMS Trident attacks a German convoy off the Kvænangenfjord, sinking the German 3,000 ton Ostpreußen. She is counterattacked but none of the nine depth charges are close.

 

• Troop convoy AT-20 departs Halifax, bound for the UK with about 50,000 soldiers. It is escorted by battleship USS New York, light cruiser Philadelphia, and nine modern destroyers. In thick fog, destroyer USS Buck is rammed and has her stern severed by New Zealand troop transport Awatea which is carrying 5,000 Canadian soldiers. 11 sailors are killed. While coming to Buck’s assistance, destroyer USS Ingraham cuts across the bow of fleet oiler USS Chemung and is rammed amidships. She instantly catches fire and quickly sinks, with several depth charges going off. 218 of her crew are lost, including Captain William Haynsworth, Jr. Chemung  and Buck (the latter under tow by fleet tug USS Cherokee) return to Boston and Awatea to Halifax for repairs.

 

• Brazil declares war on Germany and Italy, citing submarine attacks on Brazilian shipping. “In the face of acts of war against our sovereignty we recognize that a state of war exists between Brazil and the aggressor nations, Germany and Italy.”

 

• 185 miles north of Colón, Panama, a Douglas B-18 Bolo of the 45th Bombardment Squadron from Howard Field in the Canal Zone spots a submerged submarine running at periscope depth and sinks U-654 with depth charges. All 44 crewmen are lost.

 

Douglas B-18A Bolo Panama 1942"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today]"• An RAF Hudson flying out of Trinidad surprises U-505 on the surface. Four depth charges are dropped and one hits the deck, bouncing back up and exploding a fraction of a second later. The Hudson is destroyed by the explosion with all five crewmen killed while two Germans are seriously wounded. U-505 aborts her patrol and returns to base, meeting with milch cow U-462 on the way so its doctor can treat the wounded.

 

U-505 damage"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• One hundred and nine U-boats are at sea this Christmas, compared to thirty-eight in 1941, ten in 1940, and two in 1939. There have been no sinkings by U-boats for the past four days.

 

• Italian submarine Tazzoli intercepts and sinks the Filipino 5,000 ton motorship Doña Aurora off the coast of Brazil. Of the crew members, 62 are rescued, 7 perish and the ship’s master and engineer are taken prisoner.

 

• 100 knot winds hit Reykjavík, Iceland, causing several ships to drag anchor.

 

• All ships of Allied convoy JW-51A arrive in the Kola Inlet near Murmansk. The first of the redesignated Arctic convoys suffers no losses."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Eighty-five B-17s and thirteen B-24s attack the U-boat base at St Nazaire. Formation (instead of individual) precision bombing is used for the first time by the VIII Bomber Command, and considerable damage is claimed. Seven aircraft are lost.

 

- Alan Magee is a ball turret gunner in one of the downed B-17s. He is wounded when the wing is blown off but is able to escape from the ball turret. Unfortunately, his parachute has been rendered useless by the attack. Having no choice and with the plane in a spin, he leaps from the plane without a parachute, rapidly losing consciousness due to the altitude. Magee falls at least three miles before crashing through the glass roof of the St Nazaire railroad station. Rescuers find him still alive on the floor of the station. He has 28 shrapnel wounds in addition to the damage from the fall. He had several broken bones, severe damage to his nose and eye, lung and kidney damage, and his right arm is nearly severed.

 

Magee in his turret.

 

- He will survive as a POW and be liberated in 1945, receiving the Air Medal and Purple Heart.

 

(This is the second highest (documented) fall without using a parachute survived by an airman during the war. One year earlier Soviet Lieutenant Ivan Chisov was the navigator on an Ilyushin Il-4 bomber. With the Il-4 set on fire by German fighters, Chisov jumped from altitude of 7,000 meters (23,000 feet). With the air battle still raging around him, Lt Chisov intentionally did not open his parachute. He planned on dropping below the level of the battle, and then, once he was out of sight of the German fighters, he would open his chute and land safely. However, due to the thin atmosphere, he lost consciousness on the way down, and was unable to pull the rip cord. He hit the edge of a snowy ravine at an estimated speed of somewhere between 120 and 150 mph, then slid, rolled, and plowed his way down to the bottom.

 

- The aerial battle had been watched by cavalry under the command of General Belov. When Chisov was seen falling to the ground, cavalry rushed to the site, and were surprised to find Chisov alive, still wearing his unopened parachute. Chisov regained consciousness a short time later with severe injuries including spinal damage and a broken pelvis. Despite his injuries, he was able to fly again three months later.)

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• U-507 is sunk with all hands by a US Navy PBY off the coast of Brazil. Also lost is the master from the British steamer Baron Dechmont, who was taken prisoner when the submarine sank his vessel earlier this month

 

U-507 under attack"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The Germans recover an H2S centimetric radar intact from a downed Bomber Command Stirling. Coastal Command had previously requested Bomber Command to not fly the top secret sets over occupied Europe but had been rebuffed. This gives Dönitz proof that the Allies have the technology, something that had been repeatedly declared impossible by the Kriegsmarine technical branch. Work will now begin on a detection system."

 

 

[this is a sad example of how much was sacrificed in the pursuit of the marginal results of area bombing.]

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Battle to protect convoy ON 166 in the North Atlantic continues. Some U-boats are using FAT pattern running torpedoes. U-92 torpedoes Norwegian motor tanker Nielson Alonso (which is again torpedoed by U-92 and then by U-753, but is eventually scuttled by Polish destroyer Burza); Coast Guard cutter Spencer and British corvette Dianthus sink U-225. U-606 torpedoes a trio of merchantmen: US freighters Chattanooga City and Expositor as well as British steamer Empire Redshank. U-606 is counterattacked by Canadian corvette Chilliwack and Polish destroyer Burza who drive her to the surface, where Coast Guard cutter Campbell rams and sinks her. Campbell has her hull torn open and her engines knocked off line. While she conducts emergency repairs she is covered by the Burza.

 

- When engine power cannot be restored at sea, Burza tows Campbell towards Newfoundland until relieved by a tug.  One of Campbell’s complement is K9C (Chief Dog) Sinbad, who has been aboard since 1937. The stray had been enlisted for displaying seamanship including drinking coffee, drinking beer ashore, and reporting to his duty station on hearing the general quarters alarm.

 

Chief Sinbad

 

- He will remain with the ship until he has physical trouble navigating the cutter. In 1948 Sinbad will be honorably discharged and live in retirement at Coast Guard Lighthouse Station Barnegat Point, New Jersey until his death in 1951."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Operation Enclose begins, a trial run at a massive aerial offensive against U-boats crossing the Bay of Biscay, using 115 aircraft. Lessons learned during the two week operation will be applied with greater resources in the forthcoming Operation Derange. Today:

 

- U-448 is attacked by a Wellington but not damaged.

 

- U-107 is attacked by a Whitley but not damaged.

 

- U-338 shoots down a British Halifax bomber and is not damaged.

 

- U-563 is attacked by a Beaufighter and lightly damaged.

 

- U-571 is attacked by a Beaufighter and lightly damaged.

 

- U-665 is attacked by a Whitley and sunk with all hands.

 

Leigh Light equipped Wellington

 

• U-524 is sunk with all hands by an American B-24 north of the Canary Islands.

 

• USAAF heavy bombers raid Wilhelmshaven U-boat pens, sinking German tanker Eurosee."

[BOO]

1 hour ago, cardboard_killer said:

[80 years ago today] 

 

- U-448 is attacked by a Wellington but not damaged.

 

- U-107 is attacked by a Whitley but not damaged.

 

 

 

Leigh Light equipped Wellington

 

 

Hi, pendant alert. That’s a Warwick.  
 

love the generosity of effort you put into this and your other threads.  

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• German blockade runner Himalaya transits the Bay of Biscay escorted by four destroyers and five torpedo boats. British air attacks by Beauforts and Torbeaus are beaten off with all torpedoes evaded but Z-24 damaged by cannon fire. Five aircraft are downed.

Torbeau is a Mark X or XIC Beaufighter equipped with a torpedo. As Coastal Command evolves its maritime strike doctrines over the year, combined attacks will be made using Beaufighters with cannons and rockets suppressing AA fire while Torpbeaus attack at low level."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Dönitz orders damaged type VIIC submarines U-441 and U-256 to be rebuilt as U-flak 1 and U-flak 2 to act as aircraft traps and U-boat escorts in the Bay of Biscay. They will each be armed with two quadruple 20mm mounts and a single new rapid firing Škoda 37mm gun. The idea is to have submarines cross the Bay in groups on the surface at high speed.

 

U-441 after conversion. Five more U-boats will be rebuilt, but only two of them will enter combat before it is decided that the idea isn’t paying off. In November, all will be reconverted back to normal U-boats.

 

• US Eighth Air Force launches twenty-five B-24s against the U-boat base at Brest while eighty-three B-17s attack Lorient. The attack is hindered by an effective smoke screen and strong fighter opposition. Three B-24s and one B-17 are lost."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Dönitz issues “Standing War Order 483” directing U-boats to remain on the surface and fight off aircraft with anti-aircraft guns. The order allows skippers to dive if safe depth can be reached before the aircraft can conduct an attack. Before the order is revoked three months from now, twenty U-boats will be sunk in the Bay of Biscay and at least 17 damaged. 28 aircraft will be shot down by U-boats, with more damaged."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• U-89 carries out a submerged daylight attack on convoy SL-128 northeast of the Azores. The master of the Greek 3,800 ton Laconikos which is carrying 5,800 tons of manganese ore, spots two torpedoes and tries to evade but one hits astern and sinks the ship within thirty seconds with the loss of 23 crewmen. 11 survivors are picked up by minesweeper HMS Shippigan .

 

• U-195 torpedoes and sinks the American Liberty ship Samuel Jordan Kirkwood in the central South Atlantic. The entire crew is rescued.

 

Biscay Air Offensive

 

- Outbound U-214 is attacked by a British Halifax which dives out of the sun and strafes. Despite being hit by flak, the bomber returns to drop three depth charges. The boat evades both attacks and dives with only minor damage, but the commander is severely wounded by gunfire. The 1st Watch officer takes command and brings U-214 back to base.

 

- U-663 is attacked and badly damaged by an Australian Sunderland.

 

- U-306 is attacked by a British Halifax but not damaged.

 

- U-228 is attacked by a British Halifax which releases six depth charges that overshoot the boat and detonate about 25m astern. The detonations give U-228 a severe shaking and wound the 2nd Watch Officer and one seaman. The Germans observe several AA hits on the aircraft (misidentified as a Lancaster) and see it emit smoke before they dive. The Halifax and its crew of seven never return to base and presumably crash shortly after the attack.

 

• U-447 is sunk west of Gibraltar with all hands by depth charges from two British Hudson aircraft."

 

George Washington Carver sliding down the shipway after launching, Yard No. 1, Kaiser Richmond Shipyards, Richmond, California, United States, 7 May 1943 ww2dbase

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• In US yards, six destroyer escorts (including two for Brazil and one for the UK) are laid down, one is launched, and two are commissioned.

 

• U-128 is attacked and damaged by a Brazilian B-25 and two USN PBM Mariners off Maceió, then finished off by destroyers Moffett and Jouett which are called to the scene. 47 Germans are taken captive.

 

Depth charge attack on U-128

 

• German submarine U-657 is sunk east of Cape Farewell, Greenland, by depth charges from frigate HMS Swale (see 14 May for USN claim that sinking was by a PBY).

 

• U-646 is outbound from Norway when she is sunk with all hands by a Coastal Command Hudson southeast of Iceland.

 

• Soviet submarine S-56 attacks a German convoy off the Kongsfjord, Spitzbergen. The German 1,100 ton tanker Eurostadt is sunk while the 3,700 ton merchant Wartheland is hit by a dud torpedo.

 

• Outbound U-229 is damaged in the Bay of Biscay and forced to RTB by an RAF Catalina.

 

This Sunderland Mark-III is shot down over the Bay of Biscay by a Ju-88C with the loss of all twelve crewmen."

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• A wolfpack is forming to attack slow convoy SC-130. Heavy air support is given and a support group of three frigates and one sloop joins the convoy. U-952 is damaged by frigate HMS Tay and forced to abort. U-273 is sunk by an RAF Hudson while heading for the convoy at high speed. U-954 is on her first patrol and is sunk by frigate HMS Jed and sloop HMS Sennen. Tomorrow, U-258 will be sunk by an RAF Liberator and the attack called off.

 

- SC-130 will lose no ships. Peter Dönitz, the youngest son of the Großadmiral, is lost along with the rest of U-954’s crew."

 

Peter Dönitz

Edited May 20, 2023 by cardboard_killer
remove swtka

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The escorts of ON-184 continue to repel attacks from wolfpack “Mosel”. U-569 is attacked by a TBF from auxiliary carrier USS Bogue and damaged. As she comes back up a second Avenger attacks her and the U-boat displays a white sheet prompting the aircraft to circle and wait for Canadian destroyer St Laurent which is quickly dispatched. As she arrives on scene, the Germans scuttle and are taken prisoner.

Depth charges hitting the water next to U-569. One can be seen rolling off the hull onto one of the saddle tanks.

 

- U-305 is attacked by a Bogue TBF and forced to break off for repairs. After they are not effective, the boat aborts back to France.

 

- U-218 is damaged by surface escorts and also abandons her patrol.

 

- Lastly, U-468 is attacked by a Bogue aircraft and also forced to RTB with damage.

 

- Convoy ON-184 takes no losses.

 

USS Bogue "

 

[This month, 80 years ago, marks the winning of the Battle of the Atlantic. Germany only produced the number of boats they thought necessary in time to see the Allies had developed a vastly superior technological edge, as well as a material and professional edge.]

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• So far this May, Allied forces have sunk 31 U-boats. This is equivalent to the strength of the U-boat arm in September 1939. Großadmiral Karl Dönitz suspends operations in the North Atlantic in order to re-evaluate the campaign. Detailing a few boats to make radio transmissions to make the Allies think the effort is still there, he orders the rest to proceed with the utmost caution and silence to the area south and southwest of the Azores.

 

- In his memoirs, Dönitz will state that this is the point at which he realized that he has lost the Battle of the Atlantic.

 

• U-594 shoots down a British Sunderland in the Bay of Biscay.

 

• Flak boat U-441 shoots down another Sunderland but is badly damaged and has to return to port.

 

• U-523 is damaged by a Whitley in the Bay of Biscay and has to RTB.

 

• U-178 is attempting to attack a convoy off South Africa when she is attacked by a Dutch PBY and forced to break off. There is no damage but the Germans lose the convoy."

 

uboat wreck

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Canadian frigate Saint John is laid down and Coast Guard frigate Glendale is launched.

 

• German submarine U-154 attacks Brazil → Trinidad convoy BT-14, torpedoing three US merchantmen, none of which sink though the 8,200 ton Standard Oil tanker John Worthington is a total loss. Patrol gunboat (Flower corvette) USS Saucy counterattacks without result.

 

• U-304 is sunk on her first patrol by a British Liberator southeast of Greenland.

 

• U-755 had been damaged by depth charges from a No. 500 Squadron Hudson two days ago and is attempting to return to base. Today she is attacked by a rocket firing Hudson from No. 608 Squadron northwest of Mallorca. Two rockets penetrate the pressure hull, and the submarine sinks shortly afterward. Nine survivors will be rescued by a Spanish destroyer.

 

U-755 under rocket attack 28 May 1943

 

Radar and rocket equipped Hudson of Coastal Command"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• In an operation similar to the targeting of Naval General Yamamoto, a flight of Ju-88C nightfighters fly beyond their normal range in order to shoot down British Overseas Airways Corporation/KLM Flight 777 west of the Bay of Biscay with Winston Churchill aboard.

 

- The intelligence was developed by Abwehr agents who report that Churchill is returning from Algiers to the UK on the flight. After it takes off from a stopover at Gibraltar, the Ju-88s fly to a point 200 miles northwest of La Coruña, Spain, acquire the target on radar, and shoot down the DC-3 airliner, killing all aboard. Churchill is not aboard, but among the thirteen passengers is film star Leslie Howard, best known for playing Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind.

 

- Churchill, who is addressing British troops in the Roman amphitheatre at Carthage today, will upon finding out the reasons for the attack express remorse that his activities cost the lives of those aboard.

 

 

• U-418 is sunk with all hands by rockets from a Coastal Command Beaufighter."

 

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by cardboard_killer

[Heliopause]

The Bristol-Lisbon flights where flown by a small number of KLM machines since July 1940. The machine shot down on flight 777 being DC-3 G-AGBB / PH-ALI "Ibis". It had been attacked twice before on this route (Nov. 15th 1942 a route to Chivenor and April 19th 1943 towards Lisbon). Captain Tepas was flying the machine on this date. He was a very experienced pilot having flown the Amsterdam - Batavia (Java) route almost fifty times in the 1930's.

 

Q. Tepas started his flying career in the Dutch Navy. In 1924 he started flying for KLM. 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Heliopause

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• American sub chaser PC-565 is escorting convoy NG-365 from New York to Guantánamo Bay when U-521 is picked up on sonar southeast of Baltimore. The first depth charge run forces the submarine to the surface but she quickly dives again while under 20mm fire (the sub chaser's 3" gun malfunctions). After the third run lights fail in the submarine and she plummets below 500 feet. Kapitänleutnant Klaus Bargsten blows all ballast and she slowly reaches the surface. He clambers onto the conning tower to see the sub chaser a quarter mile away and the submarine settling fast. He shouts down the hatch to abandon ship but within seconds water is pouring in and knocking men off the ladder. U-521 sinks and Bargsten is the only survivor.

 

PC-565 after the action with a crossed out swastika on the bridge

 

- On interrogation, Bargsten will claim to be anti-Nazi and relate a great deal of information on party activities in the Kriegsmarine and the U-boat force in general in the form of personal anecdotes. Although informative, little of it is useful for the war effort. After the war Bargsten will be invited to and attend a PC-565 reunion.

 

Kapitänleutnant Bargsten under Marine guard at Norfolk, Virginia.

 

• Sloop HMS Starling gets her first of fourteen U-boat kills today while escorting HX-241 southeast of Greenland. After Huff-Duff picks up a sighting report from U-202, Captain Johnnie Walker runs down the bearing and conducts a fifteen hour hunt of the veteran submarine which is on her 9th war patrol.

 

HMS Starling as a navigation training ship after the war - she is the top submarine killer of all time.

 

- After forcing the crippled submarine to the surface and bringing her under gunfire, the Germans scuttle. Once the thirty survivors are brought aboard and secured including Kapitänleutnant Günter Poser, a jubilant Walker issues an order to splice the main brace.

 

• U-105 is attacked off Senegal by depth charges from the Potez-CAMS 141 flying boat of the French Aéronavale flying out of Dakar. The first attack only damages the boat, but the flying boat has thirty hours of endurance and circles at high altitude waiting for her to come back up. When the veteran IXB boat finally does, she is attacked again and sunk with all hands.

 

- An excellent design which first flew in 1938, the Potez-CAMS 141 was intended to replace the older flying boats in the Aéronavale, but only the prototype (named Antarès) was complete by the time of the fall of France. Flown to Africa to prevent the Germans from getting control of her, she served Vichy and now the Allies.

 

Potez CAMS 141 Antarès while under Vichy"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Wolfpack “Trutz” is being formed south of the Azores to intercept slow convoy UGS-9. Although it doesn’t have enigma decrypts, American Support Group 6 triangulates the assembly area and steams to the center of it. Aircraft from USS Bogue attack and damage U-228, U-603, and U-641 and sink U-217 with all hands. U-boat Control calls off the operation. Also in this large expanse of ocean are returning convoys GUS-8 (covered by auxiliary carrier USS Card) and GUS-9 (covered by USS Santee).

 

USS Santee in June, 1943

 

- None of the three slow convoys will suffer any losses."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "Biscay Air Offensive

 

• North of La Coruña: four Mosquito aircraft (three Polish and one Canadian) attack a group of five outbound boats (U-68, U-155, U-159, U-415 and U-634). U-155 is badly damaged with five wounded despite intense flak that knocks out an engine on one Mosquito, forcing it to belly land on returning to base. The U-boat aborts to base with U-68, whose doctor is transferred to treat the wounded on the way.

 

• While proceeding in company with U-257 and U-600, U-615 is attacked by a British Wellington. There is no damage but one of the deck crew operating an AA gun is killed.

 

• The damaged U-564 is inbound escorted by U-185. An RAF Whitley attacks and sinks the damaged boat with 28 crewmen lost, but is so badly shot up that it has to ditch, with its crew being taken prisoner. A Canadian Hampden arrives in the area but before it can attack U-185 it is shot down by a Ju-88C that is providing cover for the approaching German destroyer Z-24.

 

• A group of three outbound submarines (U-257, U-600 and U-615) is attacked by a British B-17 Fortress. U-600 and U-615 observe AA hits on the aircraft and claim it as shot down, but the crippled Fortress is apparently finished off by a Ju-88C fighter about 90km northwest of Cape Ortegal. All nine crew are lost.

 

• Admiral Ernest King agrees to a request from Air Marshal Sir John Slessor of Coastal Command for a loan of American squadrons for the Biscay Air Offensive. Five long range radar equipped B-24 squadrons (three Army, two Navy), one PV-1 Ventura, and one PBY Catalina squadron will be placed under British operational control."

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• After a two month transition period, Douglas Digbys (B-18As) have been replaced in the RCAF for maritime patrols by B-24 Liberators. The Digbys will be relegated to use as transports.

 

• A Fido homing torpedo launched from a Canadian B-24 severely damages U-420 east of Newfoundland, killing two men. The boat will manage to reach Lorient.

 

• The unescorted American 7,200 ton Elihu B. Washburne is struck by one torpedo from U-513 off the coast of Brazil southwest of Rio de Janiero. The explosion either knocks off the propeller or breaks the shaft. The Liberty ship turns 90° to port and loses way. The crew abandons ship. 25 minutes after the first hit, a second torpedo strikes the hapless vessel at the #3 bulkhead. This explosion lifts the bow out of the water and throws water over the ship. Fifteen minutes later a third torpedo puts the Liberty ship under. All hands survive and reach the island of São Sabastião early the next morning.

 

• An American PBM Mariner attacks U-199 off the Brazilian coast but is shot down with no survivors.

 

• An American B-24 attacks U-359 west of Portugal. Both U-359 and U-466 score flak hits and the bombs fall wide. The aircraft is seen heading back to Morocco emitting smoke but it is never seen again.

 

• In the Bay of Biscay, a British Liberator drops eighteen 35 lb anti-submarine bombs on U-628 in the first use of this new weapon. The bomber follows up with four depth charges, sinking the submarine. Survivors are seen in the water but none will be recovered.

 

• U-126 is sunk with all hands in the Bay of Biscay by depth charges from a British Wellington."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• U-134 is damaged by depth charges from a PBM Mariner off Bermuda.

 

U-134 under attack. She will remain on patrol.

 

• U-510 attacks convoy TJ-1 off Brazil, sinking a Norwegian and American ship, and damaging a Latvian steamer.

 

• The outbound U-505 is engaged by three British destroyers in the Bay of Biscay and held down for 36 hours. After escaping, the damaged boat aborts back to Brest.

 

• U-232 is sunk with all hands by depth charges from an American B-24 west of Oporto.

 

• U-514 is sunk with all hands by rockets fired from a Coastal Command Liberator off Finisterre."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years and two days ago] "• U-506 is sunk in the North Atlantic west of Vigo, Spain, by 7 depth charges from a USAAF B-24 aircraft.

 

U-506 under attack by the B-24. 48 crewmen are killed with six survivors being picked up after three days by a British destroyer.

 

• U-flak 1 (former U-441) is in the Bay of Biscay to escort an inbound U-boat when she is strafed by three Coastal Command Beaufighters. She is severely damaged with ten men killed and thirteen others wounded, including all of the line officers. Dr Paul Pfaffinger, an experienced U-boat doctor takes command, and brings the boat safely back to Brest, subsequently being awarded the Deutsche Kreuz in Gold. By this time the U-flak boats are considered a failure and U-flak 1 will be converted back to her original configuration and redesignated U-441.

 

• U-709 is outbound beyond the Bay of Biscay when a torpedo accident on board kills two men and forces a return to base.

 

• U-409 is sunk in the Mediterranean north-east of Algiers by depth charges and gunfire from British destroyer Inconstant. Eleven crewmen are killed with 37 taken prisoner.

 

U-409 under fire from HMS Inconstant."

 

[80 years ago yesterday] "• Against the wishes of the British, who feel that it will jeopardize ULTRA, Admiral King has directed the locations of milch cow refueling be “sanitized” and provided to American ASW forces. King argues that the U-tankers are a force multiplier and every one sunk will limit the patrols of many attack boats. Five Type XB and XIV boats will be sunk in the next three weeks but the Germans, serenely confident in Enigma and beset with multiple U-boat losses from other sources, do not connect it with their communications.

 

• Milch cow boat U-487 is attacked by carrier aircraft from USS Core after a refuelling meeting is reported by ULTRA. Anti-aircraft fire downs one F4F Wildcat, killing the pilot and the first TBF depth charge drop misses. Another Avenger/Wildcat team attacks and the TBF drops four depth charges on target, breaking U-487’s back and sinking her.

 

U-487 amid depth charge detonations. 33 survivors will be picked up by flush deck destroyer USS Barker.

 

• Submarine HMS Sea Nymph spots U-592 and U-669 travelling in company in the Bay of Biscay. She fires six torpedoes but they all miss.

 

• U-607 is sunk in the Bay of Biscay by depth charges from a British Sunderland and a Halifax."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• German submarine U-509 is sunk in the mid-Atlantic south of the Azores by an aerial homing torpedo dropped from a TBF Avenger from USS Santee.

 

• U-759 is sunk with all hands in the Caribbean Sea east of Jamaica, by depth charges from a US PBM Mariner aircraft.

 

• U-572 sinks the Barbadian 172 ton sailing vessel Gilbert B. Waters by deck gun east of Trinidad.

 

• The unescorted British 4,600 ton Harmonic is torpedoed and sunk by U-172 about 600 miles east of Rio de Janeiro.

 

• German submarine U-135 fires three torpedoes at convoy OS-51 off the Canary Islands and damages the British 4,700 ton Twickenham. The steamer is able to reach Dakar for repairs. Escorts and a US Navy PBY conduct a two hour hunt, forcing the submarine to the surface where she is rammed and sunk by corvette HMS Mignonette. Five crew are killed with forty-one captured.

 

SS Twickenham after being torpedoed

 

HMS Mignonette and U-135 after depth charge attack

 

HMS Mignonette rams U-135"

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• US Navy blimp K-74 picks up U-134 on radar at night in the Florida Straits. After circling the submarine and radioing a sighting report, standing orders to stay out of gun range are ignored and LT Nelson Grills makes a ponderous attack on the U-boat, opening fire with the .50 caliber machine gun when the Germans begin firing with 20mm flak guns. K-74s bag is holed several times and the depth charges fail to release as she passes over the target, after which the blimp settles to the surface. The crew swim rapidly away in case the depth charges go off but the blimp has enough buoyancy to not sink. The Germans take some gear from the blimp’s gondola and depart. One of the crewmen is killed in the water by a shark before sub chaser SC-657 picks up the survivors in the morning.

 

- LT Grills will receive a court-martial for violating standing orders and losing his airship but be acquitted after he argues that the U-boat would have attacked two nearby ships had he not attacked it.

 

Navy blimps in Richmond NAS hangar Florida

 

Launching a blimp"