Service history German submarine U-558

1 service history

1.1 1st, 2nd , 3rd patrols
1.2 4th , 5th patrols
1.3 6th , 7th patrols
1.4 8th, 9th , 10th patrols
1.5 fate
1.6 wolfpacks

service history

she member of 9 wolf packs, although group ziethen not on uboat.net s list. however, u-558 mentioned part of ziethen in michael gannon s book operation drumbeat (on p. 200).

1st, 2nd , 3rd patrols

u-558 departed kiel on 1 july 1941 , entered atlantic via north sea , gap between iceland , faroe islands no major encounters, arriving @ new home port of brest in occupied france on 28th.

her second patrol relatively uneventful.

the submarine s third patrol, 25 august 16 september 1941, became interesting when came upon british convoy os 4 330 miles northwest of fastnet rock. torpedoed , sank otaio, 10,300-ton cargo ship, on 28 august.

4th , 5th patrols

her fourth patrol, began on 11 october 1941, first saw action off ireland when torpedoed , sank unescorted vancouver island, canadian merchant ship of 9,472 tons, on 15 october. 2 days later on 17 october, u-558 involved in devastating attack on convoy sc 48 in north atlantic. during battle, u-558 sank 3 ships: 9,552-ton british merchant steamer w.c. teagle, , norwegian merchant steamers erviken (which broke in 2 , sank in 3 minutes) , rym, 6,595 , 1,369 tons respectively u-558 took hit depth charge dropped catalina flying boat, did not sustain serious damage , continued shadow convoy. returned brest on 25 october 1941, having sunk 4 ships in 15 days of fourth patrol.

u-558 s fifth patrol began on 24 november 1941. on 2 december, british aircraft spotted u-boat attempting enter mediterranean sea , called surface support. u-558 took serious damage depth charges dropped 2 ships responded. able escape, had return brest repairs, arriving 7 december 1941 after 14 days @ sea, having had no success.

6th , 7th patrols

u-558 required significant repairs , remained in port until 10 february 1942, when embarked on sixth patrol. on 21 february convoy ons 67 spotted, moved position along 5 other submarines. 8 of ships sunk u-boats, 2 left damaged. on 24 february, u-558 torpedoed 8,009-ton british tanker anadara, escaped. same day torpedoed , sank 9,432-ton norwegian tanker eidanger , 5,578-ton british steamer inverarder. returned brest on 11 march 1942.

u-558 departed brest begin seventh patrol of war on 12 april 1942 . on 12 may, sank 913-ton british armed trawler hmt bedfordshire off coast of ocracoke island, north carolina, ship had been assisting united states navy anti-submarine patrols. 6 days later on 18 may, sank 1,254-ton dutch steamer fauna. on 21 may sank 1,925-ton canadian steamer troisdoc in caribbean. off jamaica on 23 may, u-558 torpedoed 7,061-ton american merchant steamer william boyce thompson, tanker used evasive maneuvers , reached safety of guantanamo bay, cuba repairs. still in caribbean on 25 may, u-558 next attacked 3,451-ton american merchant steamer beatrice. when torpedo hit ship failed detonate, u-558 surfaced , trained deck guns on vessel, ordered abandoned, , subsequently sunk. remaining in caribbean, u-558 next torpedoed , sank 2,622-ton united states army transport jack on 27 may. last target during patrol 2,078-ton dutch steamer triton, shelled , sank on 2 june 470 miles southeast of bermuda. u-558 returned brest end seventh patrol on 21 june 1942, having sunk 6 ships , damaged one.

8th, 9th , 10th patrols

u-558 s eighth patrol began when left brest on 29 july 1942. on 25 august, encountered 1,987-ton british steamer amakura, had been travelling convoy wat 15 had fallen behind. u-558 torpedoed , sank approximately 90 miles southeast of port morant, jamaica. u-558 encountered convoy tag 5 on 13 september; torpedoed , sank 7,241-ton british cargo ship empire lugard , 7,915-ton dutch steamer suriname. same day hit convoy s 6,672-ton norwegian tanker vilja, crew abandoned ship able reboard after u-558 left area. vilja did not sink, later deemed total loss. on 16 september u-558 torpedoed , sank 2,606-ton american steamer commercial trader 75 miles east of trinidad. u-558 returned port on 16 october, having sunk 4 ships , damaged fifth.

u-558 remained in port until end of 1942, , embarked on ninth war patrol on 9 january 1943. on 23 february, torpedoed , sank 9,811-ton british steam tanker empire norseman south of azores, had been travelling convoy uc 1 drifting unmanned after being torpedoed u-382 , u-202. found no other targets during ninth patrol, ended when returned brest on 29 march 1943.

her tenth—and last—patrol began on 8 may 1943. u-558 ran difficulty many times during patrol. @ 1 point, manoeuvred attack large eastbound convoy, destroyer harried retreat. off lisbon on 14 july, british wellington bomber no. 179 squadron raf dropped depth charges; u-558 not hit, , damaged plane anti-aircraft fire. 3 days later off porto on 17 july, british liberator 224 squadron dropped 24 35-pound anti-submarine bombs, u-558 able escape crash-diving; plane took damage anti-aircraft fire , own malfunctioning bombs.

fate

in bay of biscay on 20 july, american b-24 liberator 19th bombardment squadron, united states army air forces, called sea hawk dropped depth charges on u-558; boat undamaged, , returned fire, shooting down bomber.

later same day, second liberator 19th bombardment squadron, 479th group, piloted charles f. gallmeier, dropped 7 depth charges on u-558. sub severely damaged , unable dive. liberator, port inner engine taken out u-558 s anti-aircraft flak guns, left scene , relieved halifax bomber 58 squadron, piloted geoffrey r. sawtell. although u-boat devastated previous attack, , germans attempting scuttle , abandon ship, sawtell in halifax brutally attacked u-558 8 depth charges, slaughtering germans on deck , in water, finishing them machine guns , depth charges.captain krech, badly wounded in spine, , 4 of crew miraculously escaped in raft, , picked on 24 july hmcs athabaskan. . others 41 perished. sank @ position 45°10′n 09°42′w / 45.167°n 9.700°w / 45.167; -9.700coordinates: 45°10′n 09°42′w / 45.167°n 9.700°w / 45.167; -9.700 north-west of spain in bay of biscay.

wolfpacks

u-558 took part in 9 wolfpacks, namely.

bosemüller (28 august - 2 september 1941)
seewolf (2–12 september 1941)
delphin (24 january - 14 february 1943)
rochen (16–28 february 1943)
tümmler (1–22 march 1943)
oder (17–19 may 1943)
mosel (19–24 may 1943)
trutz (1–16 june 1943)
trutz 1 (16–29 june 1943)




^ helgason, guðmundur. type viic boat u-558 . german u-boats of wwii - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ gannon, michael - operation drumbeat - dramatic true story of germany s first u-boat attacks along american coast in world war ii, 1990, harper , row publishers, isbn 0-06-016155-8, p. 200.
^ helgason, guðmundur. otaio . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. vancouver island . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. w.c. teagle . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 3 december 2008. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. erviken . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 3 december 2008. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. rym . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 3 december 2008. 
^ d/s erviken . warsailors.com. retrieved 4 december 2008. d/s rym . warsailors.com. retrieved 4 december 2008. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. anadara . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. eidanger . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. helgason, guðmundur. inverarder . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ m/t eidanger . warsailors.com. retrieved 4 december 2008.
^ runyan, timothy j.; jan m. copes (1994). die gallantly: battle of atlantic, westview press. isbn 0-8133-2332-0. p. 163. retrieved 3 december 2008.
^ helgason, guðmundur. fauna . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. troisdoc . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. william boyce thompson . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. beatrice . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. jack . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. triton . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. amakura . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. empire lugard . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. helgason, guðmundur. suriname . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. vilja . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ m/t vilja . warsailors.com. retrieved 4 december 2008.
^ helgason, guðmundur. commercial trader . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ helgason, guðmundur. empire norseman . ships hit u-558 - uboat.net. retrieved 28 december 2014. 
^ u.558 interrogation of survivors , p. 2. admiralty report adm186/808. uboatarchive.net. retrieved 3 december 2008.
^ hitler s u-boat war, hunted, clay blair, p345
^ u.558 interrogation of survivors , p. 4. admiralty report adm186/808. uboatarchive.net. retrieved 3 december 2008.