German submarine U-68 (1940)
Career (Nazi Germany) | ![]() |
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Name: | U-68 |
Ordered: | 7 August 1939 |
Builder: | DeSchiMAG AG Weser, Bremen |
Yard number: | 987 |
Laid down: | 20 April 1940 |
Launched: | 22 October 1940 |
Commissioned: | 1 February 1941 |
Fate: | Sunk 10 April 1944 north-west of Madeira, Portugal. 56 dead and 1 survivor[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: | 24,880 nmi (46,080 km; 28,630 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 117 nmi (217 km; 135 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) |
Complement: | 48 to 56 |
Armament: |
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Service record | |
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Commanders |
K.Kapt. Karl-Freidrich Merten (11 February 1941–21 January 1943) Oblt.z.S. Albert Lauzemis (21 January–16 June 1943) Oblt.z.S. Ekkehard Scherraus (14 June–July 1943) Oblt.z.S. Gerhard Seehausen (July–29 July 1943) Oblt.z.S. Albert Lauzemis (30 July 1943–10 April 1944) |
Operations |
Ten: 1st patrol: 30 June–1 August 1941 2nd patrol: 11 September–25 December 1941 3rd patrol: 11 February–13 April 1942 4th patrol: 14 May–10 July 1942 5th patrol: 20 August–6 December 1942 6th patrol: 3 February–7 May 1943 7th patrol: 12–16 June 1943 8th patrol: 14 August–15 August 1943 9th patrol: 8 September–23 December 1943 10th patrol: 22 March–10 April 1944 |
Victories |
32 ships sunk (197,453 GRT) one auxiliary warship sunk (545 GRT) |
German submarine U-68 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 20 April 1940 at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser yard at Bremen as yard number 987, launched on 22 October and commissioned on 1 January 1941 under the command of Korvettenkapitän Karl-Friedrich Merten as part of 2nd U-boat Flotilla.
U-68 conducted ten combat patrols, sinking 32 merchant ships, for a total of 197,453 gross register tons (GRT); she also sank one auxiliary warship of 545 GRT. She was a member of one wolfpack.
On 10 April 1944, during her tenth patrol, she was sunk northwest of Madeira by US aircraft from the escort carrier Guadalcanal.
Service record
1st patrol
U-68 left Kiel on 30 June 1941 for the Atlantic Ocean via the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She was unsuccessfully attacked with 24 depth charges by the British corvette HMS Rhododendrun west northwest of Cape Finisterre in Spain.[3] She docked at the port of Lorient, on the French Atlantic coast, on 1 August. She would be based there for the rest of her career.
2nd patrol
Heading for the south Atlantic, the boat came across Silverbelle southwest of the Canary Islands and sank her on 22 September 1941. A month later, she sank Darkdale while the unfortunate ship was at anchor in Jamestown harbour, St. Helena on 22 October. Her third victim, Hazelside, was destroyed on the 28th, 600 nmi (1,100 km; 690 mi) southeast of St. Helena. U-68 also sank Bradford City west of South West Africa (now Namibia) on 1 November. The U-boat collided with the stricken ship while diving underneath her. The submarine's bow was bent.
Nevertheless, the submarine returned to Lorient on 25 December.
3rd patrol
U-68 's third sortie was also conducted off the west coast of Africa. She sank Helenus on 3 March 1942 200 nmi (370 km; 230 mi) south of Freetown in Sierra Leone, followed by Baluchstan on the 8th. The boat's crew were kept busy, sinking Baron Newlands on the 16th and Ile de Batz on the 17th; all the vessels met their end in the vicinity of Liberia.
She also sank Scottish Prince about 180 nmi (330 km; 210 mi) west of Takoradi in Gold Coast[4] and Allende, both on the 17th.
U-68 had turned for home when she sank Muncaster Castle with two torpedoes south southwest of Monrovia.[4] More than ten lifeboats were seen by the Germans; there were 329 survivors.
4th patrol
For her fourth patrol U-68 moved to the Caribbean Sea, leaving Lorient on 14 May 1942. On the night of 5 June she sank MV C.O. Stillman, which was then the largest oil tanker in the World.
On the night of 10 June, northeast of the Panama Canal, she torpedoed the 8,600-ton British freighter Surrey. 5,000 tons of dynamite in the cargo detonated after the ship sank. The shock wave lifted the U-boat out of the water as if she had suffered a torpedo hit; both diesel engines and the gyrocompass were disabled.[5]
Another victim was Port Montreal. She was sunk with what Merten noted in the boat's war diary as a lucky [torpedo] hit.
In all, U-68 sank seven ships during this patrol before returning to Lorient on 10 July.
5th patrol
The submarine left Lorient on her fifth patrol on 20 August 1942. She would not see her base again until December. At 109 days, this was to be her longest and most successful sally. Heading once more into the South Atlantic, she attacked and sank Trevilley east northeast of Ascension Island on 12 September. The Master and Chief Officer were taken prisoner.
She travelled further south, sinking ships such as Gaasterkerk on 8 October and Sarthe on the same date, both in the area of the Cape of Good Hope. She also disposed of Belgian Fighter on the 9th.
Turning for home on 16 October, she sank City of Cairo on 6 November. U-68 returned a month later to Lorient on 6 December.
6th patrol
The boat's sixth patrol in the first half of 1943 was again to northern South America. Having sunk two ships, she was attacked by a US Mariner flying boat on 2 April; damage was slight.
7th and 8th patrols
U-68 was attacked by one of four British De Havilland Mosquitos on the western edge of the Bay of Biscay on 14 June 1943. One man was killed, three were wounded
Patrol number eight was relatively uneventful.
9th patrol
The boat returned to her most successful hunting ground - the South Atlantic. In another mammoth patrol (107 days), she sank four more ships.
One of them, the Norwegian tanker Litiopa, had numerous torpedoes and rounds from the deck gun fired at her, but stubbornly refused to succumb. Having been initially encountered at night on 21 October 1943, it was not until the following day that she sank.
The Litiopa 's sole escort was the mine-sweeping trawler HMS Orfasy. She was sunk relatively easily on 21 October before the attack on the tanker.
The other two ships were New Columbia, (sunk southwest of Bingerville, Ivory Coast) on 31 October and the French Fort de Vaux on 30 November. The latter vessel met her end after 'Aphrodite' radar decoys had been used to lure the escort vessels away.
U-68 's inbound route took her close to the northwest Spanish coast. She docked at Lorient on 23 December 1943.
10th patrol and loss
The boat left Lorient for the last time on 22 March 1944. On 10 April, she was sunk northwest of the Portuguese island of Madeira, by depth charges and rockets from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft from the United States escort carrier Guadalcanal. U-68 was lost at position 33°24′N 18°59′W / 33.400°N 18.983°WCoordinates: 33°24′N 18°59′W / 33.400°N 18.983°W.
56 men died; there was one survivor.
Wolfpacks
U-68 took part in one wolfpack, namely.
- Eisbär (25 August - 1 September 1942)
Summary of raiding career
Date | Ship | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate[6] |
---|---|---|---|---|
22 September 1941 | Silverbelle | ![]() |
5,302 | Sunk |
22 September 1941 | Darkdale | ![]() |
8,145 | Sunk |
28 October 1941 | Hazelside | ![]() |
5,297 | Sunk |
1 November 1941 | Bradford City | ![]() |
4,953 | Sunk |
3 March 1942 | Helerus | ![]() |
7,366 | Sunk |
8 March 1942 | Baluchistan | ![]() |
6,992 | Sunk |
16 March 1942 | Baron Newlands | ![]() |
3,386 | Sunk |
17 March 1942 | Allende | ![]() |
5,081 | Sunk |
17 March 1942 | Ile de Batz | ![]() |
5,755 | Sunk |
17 March 1942 | Scottish Prince | ![]() |
4,917 | Sunk |
30 March 1942 | Muncaster Castle | ![]() |
5,853 | Sunk |
5 June 1942 | L.J. Drake | ![]() |
6,693 | Sunk |
5 June 1942 | C.O. Stillman | ![]() |
16,436 | Sunk |
10 June 1942 | Ardenvohr | ![]() |
5,025 | Sunk |
10 June 1942 | Port Montreal | ![]() |
5,882 | Sunk |
10 June 1942 | Surrey | ![]() |
8,581 | Sunk |
15 June 1942 | Frimaire | ![]() |
9,242 | Sunk |
23 June 1942 | Arnaga | ![]() |
2,345 | Sunk |
12 September 1942 | Trevilley | ![]() |
5,298 | Sunk |
15 September 1942 | Breedijk | ![]() |
6,861 | Sunk |
8 October 1942 | Gaasterkerk | ![]() |
8,679 | Sunk |
8 October 1942 | Koumoundouros | ![]() |
3,598 | Sunk |
8 October 1942 | Sarthe | ![]() |
5,271 | Sunk |
8 October 1942 | Swiftsure | ![]() |
8,207 | Sunk |
9 October 1942 | Belgian Fighter | ![]() |
5,403 | Sunk |
9 October 1942 | Examelia | ![]() |
4,981 | Sunk |
6 November 1942 | City of Cairo[7] | ![]() |
8,034 | Sunk |
13 March 1943 | Ceres | ![]() |
2,680 | Sunk |
13 March 1943 | Cities Service Missouri | ![]() |
7,506 | Sunk |
21 October 1943 | HMT Orfasy | ![]() |
545 | Sunk |
22 October 1943 | Litiopa | ![]() |
5,356 | Sunk |
31 October 1943 | New Columbia | ![]() |
6,574 | Sunk |
30 November 1943 | Fort de Vaux | ![]() |
5,186 | Sunk |
Total amount of tonnage: | 201,430 tons |
References
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC boat U-68". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 105-6.
- ↑ The Times Atlas of the World, 1995, p. 15
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Times Atlas of the World, 1995, p. 48
- ↑ Blair, Clay (1996). Hitler's U-boat War: The Hunters, 1939–1942. Random House. p. not cited. ISBN 0-394-58839-8.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-68". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- ↑ "Record dive rescues $50m wartime silver from ocean floor". BBC. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
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.
- Blair, Clay (2000). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted, 1942–1945. New York: Modern Library. ISBN 0-679-64033-9.
- Dunmore, Spencer (2002). Lost Subs: From the Hunley to the Kursk. The Greatest Submarines Ever Lost – and Found. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81140-5.
- Morisson, Samuel (1956). The Atlantic Battle Won, May 1943 – May 1945. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II X. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. OCLC 768913584.
- The Times Atlas of the World (Third, revised ed.). 1995. ISBN 0-7230-0809-4.
External links
- uboataces.com webpage with insignia for U-66
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC boat U-68". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 68". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2014.
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