German submarine U-161 (1941)
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-161 |
| Ordered: | 23 December 1939 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Schiff und maschinenbau AG, Bremen |
| Yard number: | 700 |
| Laid down: | 23 March 1940 |
| Launched: | 1 March 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 8 July 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk on 27 September 1943[1] |
| General characteristics [2] | |
| Class and type: | Type IXC submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,120 t (1,100 long tons) surfaced 1,232 t (1,213 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 76.76 m (251 ft 10 in) overall 58.7 m (192 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.76 m (22 ft 2 in) overall 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged 9-cylinder diesel engines, 4,000 hp (2,983 kW) 2 × SSW 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (746 kW) |
| Speed: | 18.3 knots (33.9 km/h; 21.1 mph) surfaced 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 13,450 nmi (24,910 km; 15,480 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 64 nmi (119 km; 74 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Complement: | 48 to 56 |
| Armament: |
|
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
Kriegsmarine 4th U-boat Flotilla (8 July–31 December 1941) 2nd U-boat Flotilla (1 January 1942–27 September 1943) |
| Commanders: |
|
| Operations: | Six patrols |
| Victories: |
12 ships sunk for a total of 60,107 GRT one warship sunk, (1,130 tons) five ships damaged, (35,672 tons) one warship damaged, (5,450) one ship a total loss, (3,305 tons) |
German submarine U-161 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II. The keel for this boat was laid down on 23 March 1940 at the Deutsche Schiff und maschinenbau AG, Bremen yard as yard number 700. She was launched on 1 March 1941 and commissioned on 8 July under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans-Ludwig Witt (Knight's Cross).
The U-boat's service began with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla. She then moved to the 10th flotilla on 1 January 1942 for operations. She sank 12 ships, totalling 60,107 gross register tons (GRT); one warship of 1,130 tons and damaged five others, for 35,672 tons. She also damaged one warship (5,450 tons) and caused one merchant vessel to be declared a total loss (3,305 tons).
She was sunk by an American aircraft in September 1943.
Operational career
1st and 2nd patrols
The submarine's first patrol took her from Kiel on 3 January 1942, across the North Sea and into the Atlantic Ocean through the gap between the Faroe and Shetland Islands. She arrived at Lorient, in occupied France, on 3 May. She would be based at this Atlantic port for the rest of her career.
U-161 's second sortie proved to be successful, damaging British Consul and Mokihana on 19 February 1942 while the ship rode at anchor in the Gulf of Paria off Port of Spain, Trinidad.[3] She went on to sink ships such as Circe Shell, Lihue the petrol tanker Uniwaleco off St Vincent and daringly she made her way at night through the narrow passage into Castries Harbour, St Lucia where she damaged the Lady Nelson and Umtata. One ship sunk by U-161, Sarniadoc, sank in 30 seconds after her boiler exploded. There were no survivors. On 15 March 1942, while en route alone from Curaçao, Netherlands West Indies to Antigua, British West Indies, the Speedwell-class USCGC Acacia, the former U.S. Army mine planter General John P. Story of 1919 transferred to the United States Lighthouse Service at no cost in 1922,[4] was sunk by gunfire from the German submarine U-161 approximately 150 miles south of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The entire crew of Acacia abandoned ship before she sank and all were rescued unscathed. She was the only U.S. tender sunk by enemy action during the war.
3rd patrol
The boat's third patrol took her past the Azores and Cape Verde Islands, to the Brazilian coast north of Fortaleza. She then followed that coastline north until she reached the Caribbean. On 16 June 1942 she stopped the sailing ship Neuva Altagracia with gunfire and sank the vessel with scuttling charges. She also attacked San Pablo while the ship was being unloaded in Puerto Limón, Costa Rica on 3 July. Although the ship sank, she was raised with the intention of repair; but she was declared a total loss and sunk as a target on 25 September.
She crossed the Atlantic in an easterly direction, but turned about and returned to the Caribbean. Having commenced the return leg to France, she encountered Fairport 500 nmi (930 km; 580 mi) north of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands on 16 July and sank her. The boat returned to Lorient on 7 August.
4th patrol
Her fourth foray was to west Africa. This patrol was her longest—113 days. She damaged the light cruiser HMS Phoebe six miles and 282° from Pointe Noire, French Equatorial Africa on 23 October 1942 and sank theWest Humhaw 60 nmi (110 km; 69 mi) southwest of Takoradi in Ghana on 8 November.
5th patrol
The boat's fifth patrol involved another Atlantic crossing and sinking a second sailing ship, Angelus, north of Bermuda, again with gunfire. Ten survivors abandoned the vessel; only two were still alive when their lifeboat was discovered.
6th patrol and loss
The U-boat departed Lorient for the last time on 8 August 1943. Returning to the Brazilian coast, she sank St. Usk on 20 September and Itapagé on the 26th. She was sunk with all hands (53 men), on 27 September 1943 by an American PBM Mariner aircraft of VP-74 in the South Atlantic.
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 February 1942 | British Consul |  United Kingdom |
6,940 | Damaged |
| 19 February 1942 | Mokihana |  United States |
7,460 | Damaged |
| 21 February 1942 | Circe Shell | United Kingdom |
8,207 | Sunk |
| 23 February 1942 | Lihue | United States |
7,001 | Sunk |
| 7 March 1942 | Uniwaleco |  South Africa |
9,755 | Sunk |
| 10 March 1942 | RMS Lady Nelson |  Canada |
7,970 | Damaged |
| 10 March 1942 | Umtata | United Kingdom |
8,141 | Damaged |
| 14 March 1942 | Sarniadoc | Canada |
1,940 | Sunk |
| 15 March 1942 | USCGC Acacia |  United States Coast Guard |
1,130 | Sunk |
| 16 June 1942 | Nueva Altagracia |  Dominican Republic |
30 | Sunk |
| 22 June 1942 | E.J. Sadler | United States |
9,639 | Sunk |
| 3 July 1942 | San Pablo |  Panama |
3,305 | Total loss |
| 16 July 1942 | Fairport | United States |
6,165 | Sunk |
| 23 October 1942 | HMS Phoebe |  Royal Navy |
5,450 | Damaged |
| 8 November 1942 | Benalder | United Kingdom |
5,161 | Damaged |
| 8 November 1942 | West Humhaw | United States |
5,527 | Sunk |
| 29 November 1942 | Tjileboet |  Netherlands |
5,760 | Sunk |
| 12 December 1942 | Ripley | United Kingdom |
4,997 | Sunk |
| 19 May 1943 | Angelus | Canada |
255 | Sunk |
| 20 September 1943 | St. Usk | United Kingdom |
5,472 | Sunk |
| 26 September 1943 | Itapagé | .svg.png){kind=small} Brazil |
4,998 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Kemp 1999, p. 147.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 105-7.
- ↑ Kelshall, Gaylord: The U Boat War in the Caribbean. pub by The Naval Institute Press
- ↑ Grover 1987, p. 122.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-161". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
Bibliography
- Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945. Der U-Boot-Krieg (in German) IV (Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler). ISBN 3-8132-0514-2.
- Gröner, Erich (1985). U-Boote, Hilfskreuzer, Minenschiffe, Netzleger, Sperrbrecher. Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815-1945 (in German) III (Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe). ISBN 3-7637-4802-4.
- Grover, David (1987). U.S. Army Ships and Watercraft of World War II. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-766-6. LCCN 87015514.
- Kemp, Paul (1999). U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. London: Arms & Armour. ISBN 1-85409-515-3.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IX boat U-161". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- U-161 at ubootwaffe.net
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 161". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2014.
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