Service history German submarine U-106 (1940)

1 service history

1.1 1st patrol
1.2 2nd patrol
1.3 3rd patrol
1.4 4th patrol
1.5 5th patrol
1.6 6th patrol
1.7 7th , 8th patrols
1.8 9th patrol
1.9 10th patrol
1.10 fate
1.11 wolfpacks

service history
1st patrol

u-106 departed kiel first patrol on 4 january 1941 conducted in atlantic ocean. route included negotiating gap between faroe , shetland islands. sailed north-west of rockall , sank 2 ships: zealandic on 17th , sesostris on 29th. there no survivors either vessel.

the boat docked in lorient in occupied france on 10 february.

2nd patrol

for second patrol, u-106 departed lorient on 26 february 1941. not return france until 17 june, 112 days later. boat headed coast of west africa. first victim on patrol memnon, went bottom 200 nmi (370 km; 230 mi) west of cape blanco, french west africa on 11 march. sank 7 more ships , damaged 2 others, including battleship hms malaya in vicinity of senegal , cape verde islands. 1 of seven, eastlea, had broken , sank within ten minutes.

3rd patrol

sortie number 3 , u-boat failed find targets. had left lorient on 11 august 1941 , returned there month later (on 11 september), having covered ocean west of ireland, west of azores , north of island chain portuguese mainland.

on 2 sept., submarine met german freighter anneliese essberger @ 37 degrees 55 minutes n , 37 degrees 24 minutes w. escorted freighter until 8 sept., when reached western cape of spanish north coast. freighter continued onwards bordeaux.

4th patrol

any success on boat s fourth sally marred on 23 october 1941 discovery entire watch, (four men), had been washed overboard in heavy seas on western edge of bay of biscay. u-106 sank 1 ship, king malcolm on 28th , damaged 1 other, uss salinas, on 30th. hunted 9 hours , damaged escort vessels of convoy on-28.

5th patrol

for fifth patrol, u-106 sailed along eastern coast of united states , sank 5 ships, during so-called second happy time . amongst them ss empire wildebeeste , tanker ss rochester, latter ship being dispatched 10.5 cm deck gun. had left lorient on 3 january 1942 , returned on 22 february.

6th patrol

patrol number 6 benefitted change of operational area gulf of mexico, boat sank 5 more ships , damaged sixth. 1 of them, tanker faja de oro, on 21 may 1942, second ship sunk helped facilitate mexico s declaration of war on germany on 1 june.

7th , 8th patrols

u-106 attacked vickers wellington of no. 311 squadron raf in bay of biscay on 27 july 1942. first watch officer (1wo) killed; commander wounded, forcing boat put about, returning lorient on 29th, 5 days after setting out.

the submarine crossed atlantic once more, sinking waterton in gulf of st. lawrence on 11 october 1942.

9th patrol

this foray comparatively uneventful, starting on 17 february 1943 , finishing on 4 april. no ships attacked.

10th patrol

the u-boat s 10th , final patrol began on 28 july 1943; sunk on 2 august of year off northern spain, after being damaged wellington of no. 407 squadron rcaf.

fate

u-106 tried join e-boats (german surface torpedo boats), spotted sunderland flying boat of 228 squadron flown flying officer reader hanbury. although anti-aircraft guns on u-106 fended off british machine, u-106 finished off sunderland of no. 461 squadron raaf flown flight lieutenant a. f. clarke.

according allied crews , photographs taken of attack, u-boat partially exploded, before sinking vertically. 22 of u-106 s 48-man crew killed. 26 survived attack , later picked german e-boats.

wolfpacks

u-106 took part in 3 wolfpacks, namely.

raubritter (1–15 november 1941)
westwall (1–16 december 1942)
unverzagt (12–22 march 1943)




^ giese, o., 1994, shooting war, annapolis: united states naval institute, isbn 1557503079
^ kemp 1999, p. 138.
^ bowyer 1977, p. 46.