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U 115
- KTB -
First War Patrol
(17th war patrol overall)
Tuesday,
6 April 1943 - 12th U.-Flotilla Bordeaux (Korvkpt. Klaus Scholz; ex U 108) -
Daily F.d.U. Briefing
O.K.W.-Report:
a) Axis forces fell back from Wadi Akarit towards Enfidaville, Tunisia, as the British Eighth Army began linking up with US II Corps.
B.d.U.-Report:
a) Captured French torpedo boats Bombarde, La Pomone, and L'Iphigénie, been in Italian service since Dec 1942, are transferred on loan to the German Navy.
b) U 648 (Ob.Ltnt.z.S.d.R. Peter-Arthur Stahl) leaves Kristiansand for a stop-over in Egersund, due to an escort vessel suffering damage from the high sea; leaving Egersund again in the evening without escort.
c) After leaving the Bay of Biscay
U 124 (KrvKpt. Johann Mohr; ex Kptlt. Georg-Wilhelm Schulz) operated against a convoy bound for Gibraltar and reported it for the last time on the 2nd April in CF 3652. Since there were no other boats in the vicinity, U 124 was ordered not to send in further reports on contacts. Later orders to report her position were not answered. She must be considered lost. There is no information from any sighting or operational report.
Cmdr.:
Mohr and U 124 are gone!
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Uboat disposition report from 2 April 1943
Supreme Command of the Navy (O.K.M.)
S. O. Only.
U-boats as of 1.April 1943
I.
In service on the 1st March 1943: 411 (412 incl. U 115)
Put into commission in March: 27
Total: 438 (439 incl. U 115)
Losses in March: 15 (incl. 1 in home waters, U 5)
In service on 1st April 1943: 423 (424 incl. U 115)
Foreign submarines: 9
Total: 432 (433 incl. U 115)
Losses in March:
a) In the Atlantic:
Type VIIc: U 87 - 444 - 633 - 432 - 384 - 665 - 469 = 7
Type IX: U 529 - 130 - 163 - 156 - 524 = 5
b) In the Mediterranean:
Type VII: U 83 - 77 = 2
c) At home:
Type II: U 5 = 1
Total: 15
Details:
a)
In the Atlantic:
Type VIIc:
1) U 87 (Kptlt. Joachim Berger) - Arrived in the Atlantic. Refueled from U 461 for the last time on the 26th February in the North Atlantic. Then did not report again.
2) U 444 (Oblt. Albert Langfeld) - 2nd voyage. Last report was contact with convoy on 11th March in the North Atlantic. Probably sunk by convoy escort.
3) U 633 (Oblt. Bernhard Müller) - 1st voyage. Last report on 3rd March after passing Iceland Passage. No further information.
4) U 432 (Kptlt. Hermann Eckhardt) - Old boat (ex Kptlt. Heinz-Otto Schultz), new Commanding Officer. Last report on the 10th March S.E. Greenland. No information.
5) U 384 (Oblt. Hans-Achim von Rosenberg-Gruszcynski) - 2nd voyage. Last report on 19th March S of Greenland. Probably sunk by convoy escort.
6) U 665 (Oblt.d.R. Hans-Jürgen Haupt) - 1st voyage. Last report on 21st March that she had been off La Pallice for 36 hours. Probably sunk by aircraft bombs.
7) U 469 (Oblt. Emil Claussen) - 1st voyage. No report, no information.
Type IXc:
8) U 529 - (Kptlt. Georg-Werner Fraatz) - New boat (IXc/40), experienced Commanding Officer. Last report was on weather S. of Iceland. No information regarding loss.
9) U 130 (Oblt. Siegfried Keller) - Old boat (ex KrvKpt. Ernst Kals), new Commanding Officer. Last report on 12th March in the North Atlantic. Probably sunk by convoy.
10) U 163 (KrvKpt. Kurt-Eduard Engelmann) - 3rd voyage. No report, no information.
11) U 156 (KrvKpt. Werner Hartenstein) - Old boat. Last report on 7th March from the Caribbean. No information.
12) U 524 (Kptlt. Freiherr Walter von Steinaecker) - 2nd voyage.
b)
In the Mediterranean:
Type VIIc:
13) U 83 (Kptlt. Ulrich Wörisshoffer) - Old boat (ex Kptlt. Hans-Werner Kraus), new Commanding Officer. West Mediterranean.
14) U 77 (Oblt. Otto Hartmann) - Old boat (ex Kptlt. Heinrich Schonder), new Commanding Officer. Badly damaged by aircraft bombs. Sunk 15 miles off Cap de la Nao (Spain). 9 men rescued.
c)
In Home Waters:
Type II:
15) U 5 (IIA; Oblt. Hermann Rahn) - Loss when she tried to dive deep contrary to orders. 16 men rescued.
II.
Distribution:
a)
Operational:
II - 3
VIIa - 0
VIIb/c - 159
VIId - 3
IXb/c - 53
IXD1 - 2
IXD2 - 6 (7 incl. U 115)
XB - 3
XIV - 6
Total - 235 (236 incl. U 115)
b)
On Trial:
II - 0
VIIa - 0
VIIb/c - 93
VIId - 0
IXb/c - 20
IXD1 - 0
IXD2 - 6
XB - 2
XIV - 3
Total - 124
c)
Training:
II - 33
VIIa - 4
VIIb/c - 25 (12 of these temporarily transferred for training purposes)
VIId - 0
IXb/c - 2
IXD1 - 0
IXD2 - 0
XB - 0
XIV - 0
Total - 64
d)
Total overall:
II - 36 (a further 3 temporarily out of service for the Black Sea)
VIIa - 4
VIIb/c - 277
VIId - 3
IXb/c - 75
IXD1 - 2
IXD2 - 12 (13 incl. U 115)
XB - 5
XIV - 9
TOTAL Overall - 423 (424 incl. U 115)
III.
In March:
Further boats detailed for operations: 20
Total number increased by: + 12
Number of operational boats increased by: + 6
Number of trial boats increased by: + 4
Number of training boats increased by: + 2
IV.
Distribution of Operational Boats on 1st April 1943:
In the Atlantic: 194 (195 incl. U 115)
In the Mediterranean: 17
In the North Sea: 21 (to be made up to 23 during April)
In the Black Sea: 3
Total: 235 (236 incl. U 115)
V.
During the Atlantic in March:
Daily average at sea: 116 boats. (117 incl. U 115)
Of these, in operations area: 49 boats.
Outbound transit: 67 boats. (68 incl. U 115)
Of the later on return passage: 28.5 boats.
VI.
Set out in March:
From home waters: 20 boats (21 incl. U 115; 7 into North Sea)
From Western France: 46 boats
RST
KorvKpt.& Cmdr. U 115