Unterseeboot 155 (1941)

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U-155
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Kriegsmarine
Type	IXC
Fieldpost number	M 01 188
Shipyard	AG Weser, Bremen
Yard number	997
Ordered	September 25, 1939
Laid down	October 1, 1940
Launched	May 12, 1941
Commissioned	August 23, 1941
Career
Patrols	10
Flotillas	4. Unterseebootsflottille 10. Unterseebootsflottille 33. Unterseebootsflottille
Commanders	Adolf Cornelius Piening Johannes Rudolph Ludwig-Ferdinand von Friedeburg Erwin Witte Friedrich Altmeier
Successes
25 ships sunk for a total of 126.664 GRT 1 warship sunk for a total of 13.785 tons 1 auxiliary warship damaged for a total of 6.736 GRT
Fate
Transferred June 30, 1945 from Wilhelmshaven to Loch Ryan, Scotland for Operation Deadlight. Sunk on December 21, 1945.

Unterseeboot 155 or U-155 was a German Type IXC U-boat of the Kriegsmarine during World War II. Her keel was laid down on October 1, 1940 by AG Weser in Bremen. She was commissioned on August 23, 1941, with Kapitänleutnant Adolf Cornelius Piening in command. Piening was relieved in February of 1944 (after being promoted to Korvettenkapitän) by Oberleutnant zur See Johannes Rudolph.

Leutnant zur See Ludwig-Ferdinand von Friedeburg relieved Rudolph from August to November 1944, when Rudoph resumed command for another month. During these four months, U-155 had the youngest U-boat commander during the war since Von Friedeburg was only 20 years old. In December, Kptlt. Erwin Witte took over, and was relieved in April 1945 by Oblt. Friedrich Altmeier. Altmeier commanded the boat for one month before being ordered to surrender her.

[edit] Career

U-155 conducted 10 patrols, sinking 26 ships totalling 140,449 tons and damaging one other grossing 6,736 tons.

On 15 November 1942 she sank the escort carrier HMS Avenger and the British troop transport ship Ettrick, and damaged the cargotransport ship USS Almack.

On May 4 1945, the boat shot down a P-51 Mustang from the 126th RAF Squadron.

U-155 lost only five crewmen during her career:

On March 10 1942, she was returning from the US east coast when I WO Oberleutnant zur See Gert Rentrop was lost overboard.

On August 19 1942, during an aircraft attack Maschinengefreiter Konrad Garneier was lost overboard.

On June 14, 1943, Bootsmaat Heinz Wilke was killed when a Wellington aircraft of the 547th RAF Squadron attacked in the Bay of Biscay. Also on that day, four Mosquito aircraft of the 307th Polish Squadron attacked, wounding five men. U-155 shot down one of the attacking aircraft.

On June 23 1944, Mosquito aircraft of the 248th Polish Squadron attacked, killing Matrosenobergefreiter Karl Lohmeier and Mechanikerobergefreiter Friedrich Feller and wounding seven others.