Hitler’s U-Boat War- The Hunted 1942-45

by Clay Blair

  Beginning in early April, the nearly constant Arctic daylight and the need to prepare for Overlord again forced the Admiralty to suspend Murmansk convoys. Two heavily escorted convoys, RA 58 (thirty-six empty merchant ships) and RA 59 (forty-five empty merchant ships), departed Kola Inlet on April 7 and 28. The U-boats attacked both convoys, shooting many torpedoes, but only one boat got a hit. She was the U-711, commanded by Hans-Günther Lange, who sank the American Liberty ship William S. Thayer in convoy RA 59 with a FAT on April 30.

  The “jeep” carriers Activity and Fencer formed part of the heavy escort of the last homeward convoy, RA 59. Aircraft from Fencer’s Squadron 842 sank three more newly arrived Arctic U-boats on May 1 and 2. These were the new U-277, commanded by Robert Lübsen, age twenty-seven; the U-674, commanded by Harald Muhs, age twenty-four; and the new U-959, commanded by Friedrich Weitz, age twenty-four. There were no survivors of these boats.

  Churchill had promised Stalin that the British would send 140 shiploads of armaments to Kola Inlet in the winter of 1943-44. In fact, the British sent 188 vessels, exceeding the pledge by forty-eight shiploads. In this campaign the U-boats sank only five merchant ships (three with cargoes and two returning empty), two British destroyers, Hardy II and Mahratta, and damaged British destroyer Obdurate.

  At the peak, in the first five months of 1944, the Arctic U-boat force numbered thirty boats. In this campaign, British ASW forces sank twelve of these, plus the U-961 en route from Norway to France.* Of the approximately 650 men on these thirteen boats, 311 survived, all to become POWs.

  Throughout the war Dönitz repeatedly deplored the diversion of U-boats to the Arctic as a waste of naval assets. The outcome of those diversions in the winter of 1943-44 vividly proved his point. Moreover, to the ruinous U-boat losses must be added the loss of Scharnhorst and the second crippling of Tirpitz.

  THE MEDITERRANEAN

  When he assumed command of the Mediterranean U-boat force in January 1944, Ritterkreuz holder Werner Hartmann established his headquarters in Château Costabelle, about fifteen miles outside of Toulon, France. The next man of importance in his chain of command was Günter Jahn, crew of 1931, the chief of Combat Flotilla 29, who had won a Ritterkreuz while commanding U-596.

  U-boat operations from Toulon, never less than hazardous, had become increasingly difficult. The possibility of Allied air raids staged from North Africa, Sicily, or Foggia, Italy, had compelled the Germans to draft plans for the construction of a bombproof U-boat pen like those at the five Atlantic bases. Pending the completion of this structure, the Germans had to refit the Mediterranean boats at open docks exposed to air attack. Moreover, the citizenry of Toulon was so hostile to the Germans that no U-boat men wore uniforms on liberty or leave in that area, according to one Allied intelligence report. The great increase of Allied air and surface-ship ASW patrols in 1944 made successful operations at sea almost impossible.

  The Mediterranean U-boat force, consisting of thirteen boats, achieved nothing in January 1944. Army Air Forces bombers destroyed one boat, the U-81, commanded by Johann-Otto Krieg, during a raid on Pola on January 9. A new arrival, U-343, commanded by Wolfgang Rahn, was very nearly sunk two nights after getting through Gibraltar Strait.

  Late in the evening of January 8, a Wellington of British Squadron 179, piloted by W.F.M. Davidson, found U-343 by radar and a full moon. Attacking into heavy flak, Davidson dropped six depth charges. Riddled by flak, the Wellington crashed into the sea, throwing Davidson clear, but the rest of the airmen perished. Davidson found a raft, climbed in, and was later rescued by Allied forces.

  Attracted by the flak tracers, a Catalina of British Squadron 202, piloted by John Finch, arrived and also attacked U-343, flying into heavy flak. Finch dropped six depth charges, but his aircraft, too, was riddled by flak and he had to abort. The damage to U-343 was sufficient that Rahn had to put into Toulon for repairs.

  Three new boats, including U-343, had arrived in January and another three came in February. These arrivals increased the force to nineteen boats. However, on February 4, an Army Air Forces raid on Toulon damaged three boats, Rahn’s newly arrived U-343 and the U-380 and U-642.

  When the Allies landed an amphibious force at Anzio (Shingle) on January 22, 1944, all available U-boats put out on near-hopeless missions to repel the invaders. These boats were armed with T-5s and new electronics, such as the Naxos radar detector. Some of these boats had successes. In brief:

  • The Ritterkreuz holder Horst-Arno Fenski in the experienced U-410 sank three Allied vessels in February: the British light cruiser Penelope, the 1,600-ton American LST 348, and the 7,200-ton British Liberty ship Fort St. Nicolas.

  • Paul Siegmann in the recently arrived U-230 sank two 1,600-ton British warships in February: the LST 305 and the LST 418.

  • Max Dobbert in the newly arrived U-969 hit two 7,200-ton American Liberty ships near Bone, Algeria, the George Cleeve and the Peter Skene Ogden. Although both vessels managed to beach, both were declared a total loss.

  • The veteran U-407, commanded by a new skipper, Hubertus Korndörfer, age twenty-four, hit and damaged the 6,200-ton British tanker Ensis.

  Remarkably, no Allied ASW unit sank a Mediterranean U-boat at sea in January or February 1944. Thus the force remained at a strength, on paper, of nineteen boats. Three more boats arrived from the Atlantic in March,* to raise the force to twenty-two.

  Three U-boats achieved successes in March.

  • Oskar Curio in the recently arrived U-952 sank the 7,200-ton American Liberty ship William B. Woods off the southeast coast of Sicily.

  • Waldemar Mehl, third skipper of the veteran U-371 (the first VII to enter the Mediterranean), sank two ships off the coast of North Africa near Bougie from the fast convoy SNF 17, outbound from Naples. These were the 5,000-ton American freighter Maiden Creek and the 17,000-ton Dutch troopship Dempo. The last sank slowly and the loss of life was slight. For these and past successes Mehl earned a Ritterkreuz.†

  • Peter Gerlach, new skipper of the veteran U-223, sank a British destroyer in a hunter-killer group searching north of Sicily. She was the 1,900-ton Laforey, which had attacked U-223, as will be described.

  The Allies destroyed five U-boats in the Mediterranean in March:

  On March 10, off Cagliari, Sardinia, the British ASW trawler Mull, commanded by R. R. Simpson, sank the newly arrived U-343, commanded by Wolfgang Rahn. There were no survivors.

  • On the same day, off Anzio, four British Hunt-class destroyers of a hunter-killer group found the recently arrived U-450, commanded by Kurt Böhme. Two of the warships, Brecon and Exmoor, attacked “doubtful” sonar contacts with depth charges. In fact, they were echoes from U-450. The missiles caused such heavy damage and flooding that Böhme was forced to surface.

  When the boat popped up, Brecon and Exmoor opened fire with guns and Böhme abandoned ship and scuttled. Brecon and another British destroyer, Urchin, which joined the hunt late, fished out all fifty-one crew of U-450. The Admiralty credited the kill to this hunter-killer group, which also included Blankney and Blencathra.

  • On the next day, March 11, the U.S. Army Air Forces mounted yet another raid on Toulon. The bombs demolished two U-boats: the U-380, commanded by Albrecht Brandi, who wore Oak Leaves on his Ritterkreuz, and the U-410, commanded by the Ritterkreuz holder Horst-Arno Fenski, who had only just sunk the British light cruiser Penelope. Both of these celebrity skippers elected to continue the fight at sea. Brandi took over the newly arrived U-967 (his third command); Fenski got the veteran U-371 from the latest Ritterkreuz winner, Waldemar Mehl, who returned to Germany.

  • In the early hours of March 29, a three-ship British hunter-killer group searching north of Sicily found by sonar the U-223, commanded by Peter Gerlach. The three destroyers, Laforey, Tumult, and Ulster, commenced a relentless chase that lasted about twenty hours. During the day the group was reinforced by three other British destroyers {Blencathra, Hambleton, Wilton), two American destroyers (Ericsson, Kea
rny), and three American PCs (264, 556, 558). In this hunt, the various Allied warships carried out twenty-two separate depth-charge attacks, but Gerlach went very deep (722 feet) and the boat survived.

  Among others, the biggest problems for Gerlach and his crew were the lack of oxygen and battery power. Finally, after about twenty-five hours submerged, Gerlach surfaced in darkness, aired the boat, and tried to creep away on his diesels, charging batteries. Four British destroyers (Blencathra, Hambleton, Laforey, Tumult) detected U-223 and opened fire with guns. Thus trapped, Gerlach shot a T-5 at Laforey, which hit and blew it up. The other ships rescued only sixty-nine of Laforey’s crew; 189 men perished.

  Concluding that U-223 was doomed, Gerlach ordered the crew to assemble on deck in life jackets and abandon ship. The engineer, Ernst Sheid, age twenty-one, who set the scuttling charges, was the last man out of the boat. Skipper Gerlach told Sheid that he, Gerlach, was “no good without his boat” and elected to go down with her. While the boat was under way at full speed, Sheid and the others leaped over the side. As the destroyers hammered the boat with gunfire, it suddenly circled back through the men in the water. Her propellers and the gunfire probably killed many Germans. Blencathra, Hambleton, and Tumult found only twenty-seven of the fifty Germans, including engineer Sheid.

  A senior British naval officer in the Mediterranean sent the following signal to all the ships which participated in this hunt:

  The destruction of U-223 this morning was a magnificent example of skilful and determined hunting and reflects great credit on all who took part. I feel sure you will mourn with me the loss of H.M.S. Laforey, leader of the attack, at the moment of victory.

  In April, the Mediterranean U-boat force was reinforced by one more boat from the Atlantic* However, two more boats were lost in April, reducing the force to fifteen. One of the losses in April was the recent arrival U-455, commanded by Hans-Martin Scheibe. Some time after April 6, she disappeared without a trace and her loss remains a mystery.

  The other U-boat loss in April was a recent arrival, the U-421, commanded by Hans Kolbus. On April 29, the Army Air Forces mounted another big raid on Toulon—480 bombers this time—which destroyed that boat, moored at a pier, and for the second time damaged the U-642, commanded by Herbert Brünning.

  The Mediterranean boats achieved only two confirmed successes in April. Off Alexandria, the veteran U-407, commanded since January by Hubertus Korndörfer, attacked the heavily guarded inbound convoy UGS 37 (sixty merchant ships and six LSTs). He hit two 7,200-ton American Liberty ships. One, Meyer London, sank. The other, Thomas G. Masaryk, was towed into Alexandria, but was declared a total loss.

  Among the many preparations to repel the Allied invasion of Occupied France, the Germans had initiated a little-known project to build “small battle units,” developed by a German admiral, Hellmuth Heye. These armed craft included one-man “chariots,” one-man “midget” submarines, two-man “midget” submarines, and little radio-controlled speedboats.

  The Germans mass-produced two types of “chariots,” Neger† and Marder. These consisted of two G7e (electric) torpedoes, mounted one atop the other. The operator “rode” the upper (“mother”) torpedo, which had a cockpit with a plastic dome in place of a warhead and released the lower (“child”) live torpedo at the target. The Marder (Marten) was a slightly larger version of the Neger. The Germans produced approximately two hundred Negers and three hundred Marders. A third prototype, Hai (Shark), was not put into production.

  The one-man midget submarines Biber (Beaver) and Molch (Salamander) were infinitely more complex. Both carried two live torpedoes and both could dive like a U-boat and run surfaced or submerged. For surface cruising, the Biber had a gasoline engine. The Molch was all-electric. The Germans produced 324 Bibers and 383 Molchs, but these little craft proved to be too complex for one man to manage and they were not very seaworthy.

  More sophisticated yet were the two-man midget submarines Hecht (Pike) and Seehund (Seal), which bore U-boat designations. The thirty-four-foot, 12-ton Hecht carried one torpedo or limpet mines. The Germans built fifty-three Hechts (U-2111 to U-2113 and U-2251 to U-2300 but all were relegated to school boats. The slightly larger thirty-nine-foot, 15-ton Seehund carried two torpedoes or mines. The Germans planned to produce one thousand Seehunds but completed only 285 (U-5501 to U-5786) before the end of the war.

  The least sophisticated of the “small battle units” was the little radio-controlled speedboat Linse (Lentil). About fifteen feet long, built of wood, these boats were armed with a 900-pound explosive charge. Working in pairs, volunteers steered these two flimsy boats close to the target, then dived overboard. A third “mother” or “pilot” speedboat picked up the drivers and steered the two pilotless boats onward to the target by means of radio controls.

  The first combat use of “small battle units” took place in the Mediterranean on the morning of April 21, 1944. Thirty-seven one-man “mother-child” Neger “chariots” set off from a German-held beach in Italy near the besieged Allied enclave at Anzio to attack shipping off Nettuno. Fourteen Negers beached on a sandbar and were abandoned. The other twenty-three mounted attacks but none had any success. Only thirteen of the thirty-seven returned to the launching beach. A British report on the interrogation of the captured German survivors stated:

  Prisoners were all young, their ages varying from 17 to 22 years. None of them exceeded 5 feet 8 inches in height* and all were very fit. They were found to be normally intelligent and security conscious. All had been volunteers for service in this new arm.

  By May 1, the Mediterranean U-boat force was engaged in a losing fight for survival. Because of the urgent need to amass all available VIIs in Norway and France to repel Allied invaders, Berlin had decreed that no more were to go to the Mediterranean. Those boats of the remaining fifteen that were in shape to mount patrols confronted ever-greater ASW measures and, owing to the increased number of Allied ASW ships for hunter-killer groups, the probability of hunts to exhaustion, like that which destroyed U-223.

  The veteran Mediterranean boat U-371, commanded by Ritterkreuz holder Horst-Arno Fenski (from the U-410, destroyed in an air raid), sailed from Toulon on April 23 to patrol the coast of Africa near Algiers. Like Fenski, most of the other fifty-two Germans of the crew were from U-410. However, first watch officer Mueller, who joined the boat for this patrol, was new. He had lived in California as a youth and had attended Los Angeles Junior High School.

  While Fenski was on the surface charging batteries in the early hours of May 3 near Bougie, he came upon a huge convoy bound for the States. This was GUS 38 (107 empty merchant ships) guarded by fourteen escorts. Fenski dived and fired a T-5 from his stern tube at a “destroyer.” This hit a Coast Guard-manned American destroyer escort, Menges, killing thirty-one men, wounding twenty-five others, and wrecking the stern section. The British tug Aspirant and Free French tug Bombardier towed Menges into Bougie, and later the American Navy tug Carib towed her to New York.*

  Fenski went deep and crept toward the coast. Other escorts got U-371 on sonar and pounced, dropping countless depth charges that caused damage and flooding. The boat had dived without a full charge, so the battery power quickly seeped away. In spite of the heavy flooding, Fenski eased down to 757 feet and lay doggo on the bottom the whole day and late into the night. In the early hours of May 4, when the water inside U-371 was “knee deep,” Fenski broke the boat out of the mud and surfaced.

  Six Allied warships by that time had gathered at the scene. These included two American destroyer escorts, Joseph E. Campbell and Pride (another Coast Guard-manned warship), the American minesweeper Sustain, the British destroyer Blankney, and two Free French destroyers, L’Alcyon and Senegalais. These vessels closed on the fleeing U-371 in the dark with guns firing. In desperation, Fenski fired a stern T-5, which hit and damaged Senegalais and killed forty-nine of the 179 men on board. She survived, however, and her sister ship L’Alcyon towed her into Bougie.

  With no
hope of escape, Fenski ordered his crew to gather on deck, abandon ship, and scuttle. The engineer, Ferdnand Ritschel, and a rating went below to open ballast-tank vents and were never seen again. The American minesweeper Sustain, destroyer escort Campbell, and other American vessels picked up forty-six survivors, including Fenski, and took them to Algiers. Senegalais picked up three Germans and took them into Bougie. Three Germans perished.

  The convoy, GUS 38, continued westward toward Gibraltar. In the early hours of May 5, the celebrity skipper Albrecht Brandi, in his newly acquired command, U-967, fired a T-5 and hit another of the warships, the American destroyer escort Fechteler. She blew up, broke amidships, and was gone in thirty minutes. The destroyer escort Laning and other vessels rescued 186 men (twenty-six wounded) from Fechteler; twenty-nine men perished.

  When Brandi returned to Toulon from this patrol, he claimed he had sunk two “destroyers” and a 5,000-ton freighter. However, only the destroyer escort Fechteler was confirmed. Even so, Hitler and Dönitz bestowed yet another high honor on Brandi: Swords to his Ritterkreuz with Oak Leaves. This award placed Brandi in an elite circle of German submariners, consisting of Otto Kretschmer, Wolfgang Lüth, Reinhard Suhren, and Erich Topp.

  At the time of this high award, Brandi’s claims were impressive indeed: twenty-six ships sunk for about 100,000 tons and thirteen ships for about 100,000 tons damaged. The claimed sunk included ten important warships: two light cruisers and eight destroyers. Inasmuch as ships and tonnage sunk in the Mediterranean were doubled for award purposes and warships sunk added bonus credits, Brandi easily qualified for the Swords. However, his actual (or confirmed) sinkings continued to be startlingly less: for the entire war a total of only twelve ships for about 32,000 tons. Of that dozen, only four were classified as warships: two destroyer escorts (the 1,050-ton British Puckeridge and the 1,300-ton American Fechteler), SL minelayer (the 2,650-ton British Welshman), and an ocean tug (the 810-ton British St. Issey).