Unterseeboot 96 (1940)

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U-96
The laughing swordfish, the emblem of U-96
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Kriegsmarine
Type	VIIC
Fieldpost number	M 29 052
Shipyard	Germaniawerft, Kiel
Yard number	601
Ordered	30 May 1938
Laid down	16 September 1939
Launched	1 August 1940
Commissioned	14 September 1940
Career
Patrols	11
Flotillas	7. Unterseebootsflottille (Training) 1940-09-14 — 1940-11-30 7. Unterseebootsflottille (Front Boat, 11 patrols) 1940-12-01 — 1943-03-31 24. Unterseebootsflottille (Training) 1943-04-01 — 1944-06-30 22. Unterseebootsflottille (Schoolboat) 1944-07-01 — 1945-03-30
Commanders	Kptlt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock 1940-09-14 — 1942-04-01 Oblt. Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel 1942-03-28 — 1943-03-15 Oblt. Wilhelm Peters 1943-03-16 — 1944-06-30 Oblt. Robert Rix 1944-07-01 — 1945-02-15
Successes
27 ships sunk for a total of 181.206 GRT 4 ships damaged for a total of 33.043 GRT 1 ship a total loss for a total of 8.888 GRT
Fate
Sunk on 30 March 1945 by US bombs in Wilhelmshaven.

Unterseeboot 96 or U-96 was a Type VIIC submarine of the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid down September 16, 1939 by Germaniawerft, of Kiel. She was commissioned September 14, 1940 with Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock in command. Lehmann-Willenbrock was relieved in March of 1942 by Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel. He was relieved in turn in March 1943 by Oblt. Wilhelm Peters. In February 1944 Oblt. Horst Willner took command, turning the boat over to Oblt. Robert Rix in June of that year. Rix commanded the boat until February 1945.

As part of the 7th Flotilla, stationed in Saint Nazaire/France, U-96 conducted 11 patrols, sinking 28 ships totalling 190,094 tons and damaging four others totalling 33,043 tons. On March 30, 1945, U-96 was sunk by US bombs while in the submarine pens in Wilhelmshaven. In her entire career, U-96 suffered no casualties to her crew.

During 1941, a war correspondent named Lothar-Günther Buchheim joined U-96 for a single patrol. His orders were to photograph and describe the U-boat in action for propaganda purposes. From his experiences, he wrote a short story, "Die Eichenlaubfahrt" ("The Oak-Leaves Patrol") and a 1975 novel which was to become an international best-seller, Das Boot, followed in 1976 by U-Boot-krieg ("U-Boat War"), a nonfiction chronicle of the voyage.