Feldgrau.net

Hello to all ; a new topic................

A very bad start for U 18.

This boat had a long career with 14 patrols, operating even in the Black Sea, but at the beginning, she had a little happy meeting with the Torpedo boat T-156.

On November 20, 1936 at 09:54 hours during a torpedo launch exercise in the Bay of Lübeck, the U 18 came to close to the surface and was hit by the strong bow of the torpedo boat T -156. Following the ramming the submarine sank. Of her crew, twelve men were rescued/escaped, while eight men drowned in the engine room, including the LI Oblt z. S Fritz Bastian. The Commander at that time was kplt Hans Pauckstadt and the IWO was Lt z. S. Georg -Wilhelm Schulz (U 64 and U 124).

The submersible was recovered, repaired and put back into service almost a year later, on September 30, 1937 under the command of kplt. Heinz Beduhn. The U 18 was assigned to the U- Flottille LOHS in KIEL. This submersible was ordered on February 2, 1935, her keel was laid on July 10, 1935 with the Baunummer # 548 #, was launched on December 7, 1935 and entered service on January 4, 1936. She spent more time in the shipyards for repairs than during her construction.

Sources: http://www.kiel.de/leben/friedhoefe/_ne ... ne/u18.php
http://historisches-marinearchiv.de/pro ... ingabe.php
Photobook- U -Boot- Feindfahrten Atlantikboot - bei - FrontbootTop eBay_de 1918-1945 ( 200556 14_02_10 endet MEZ)

It was the first of three sinkings. Cheers. Raúl M .

Hello to all ; something more...................

Bad time for the U 35!

On June 17, 1938 the U 35 (Kplt. Werner Lott) was involved in another accident, this time much more serious when, during a naval parade the submersble was suctioned and hit the propellers of the "Admiral Graf Spee", suffering serious damage that sent the her to the shipyards.

Brief description: at 10:07 hours while performing maneuvers, U 35 approached the pocket battleship "Admiral Graf Spee" and collided with its propellers causing serious damage to the submersible and one propeller of the "Admiral Graf Spee"

The U 35 was sailing in a depth of 17 meters and both ships were heading in the same direction, but the Spee was faster than the U 35. Suddenly Kplt. Lott noted that the U 35 was too heavy aft, then he heard loud noises on the conning tower. Apparently, the suction of the propeller of the Graf Spee had lifted the bow of the U 35, and the conning tower went to the propeller, shaking the submersible to starboard. The port side of the conning tower struck the rudder of the Graf Spee, and then the propeller of the battleship repeatedly tore the forward superstructure of the U 35.

The U 35 was operational again by the year's end.

Sources: Fotoalbum 175 Bilder U-Boot U33 U40 TOP !!! bei eBay_de 1918-1945 (endet 09_05_09 162928 MESZ).
http://www.u-35.com/prewar/
http://ktb.ubootwaffe.net/1923.doc
Les "U-Boot" de la seconde guerre mondiale en photos, Répertoire photos des U-Boot (WWII).

Cheers. Raúl M .

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Mysterious incident with U 30!

During a peacetime drill in 1938, U-30 was involved with a near-fatal collision with a sister ship. The commander of U-30, Fritz-Julius Lemp, demonstrated remarkable coolness and control in the crisis, earning the praise of Karl Dönitz and Saltzwedel Flotilla commander Hans Ibbeken, as well as his own crew (three officers and forty enlisted men). According to some sources, the sister ship was U-35, but crew members of U-35 do not recall this incident; it was therefore likely a different U-Boat.

Source: http://www.u-35.com/prewar/

Any idea about it because I could not find any more data. Cheers. Raúl M .

Hello to all ; something more...................

War time!. Bad luck for U 25............

Jun 19, 1940.

U 25 was rammed while making a submerged night attack on a convoy. Periscope and bridge damaged. She tried at first to remain in her operations area, but the damage was so heavy that she had to start her return passage.

Jun 29, 1940 - U 25 in Wilhelmshaven.

U 25 missed a battle cruiser (Renown or Repulse) because the firing gear failed in the center shot of a triple fan. She afterwards attacked the convoy which this heavy ship was escorting, but it evaded the attack by making a smoke screen and turning away. U 25 then sank the auxiliary cruiser "Scotstown" off the North Channel and fired on another large steamer with very good firing data. The shot had no effect, clearly because the impact firing unit failed. While making an attack submerged by night she was rammed and the damage to periscope and conning tower forced her to return home. Result: 23.000 tons.

After this trip, the U boat went to the shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, from Jul 01, 1940 to Aug 01, 1940.

Sources: http://www.uboatarchive.net/BDUKTB30267.htm
Fotoalbum 175 Bilder U-Boot U33 U40 TOP !!! Artikelnummer: 390048918974

Cheers. Raúl M .

Thank you for that little bit of information on U-18. I have a citation set belonging to a crewman who served with U-Flottille Lohs pre-war and on U-18 at the start of the war.

Do not mention it, you're welcome. Cheers. Regards. Raúl M .

Hello to all ; something more...................

War time!. Bad luck for U 37............

16 Mar 1941. Convoy U 110:

At present the following may be presumed to be in the convoy area: U 110, 99, 37, 100 and 74. At 12:20 hours U 37 sighted the enemy in AE 8793 and sent a beacon signal. At 17:20 hours U 110 was again up to the convoy and at 19:20 hours U 99 reported on request, that it was in contact with the convoy. During the course of the evening a wireless message was received from U 37, reporting having been rammed beneath the surface. It received orders to return.

Sources: http://www.uboatarchive.net/BDUKTB30285.htm
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com.ar/20 ... dalam.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

Hello to all ; something more...................

War time!. Bad luck for U 37............

Happy homecoming. Due to severe damage the Boat was taken out of service as a front boat and found use as a school and training boat. The U 37 had on this date 8 patrols with 48 enemy merchant ships = 194658 BRT plus 1 British cruiser sunk (sic).

In the North-Atlantic was rammed by freighter during an underwater attack. Water intrusion through the bent gonio, nevertheless still able to dive up to 60 m.

Sources: http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com.ar/20 ... dalam.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

Hello to all ; more (picture again)...................

Bad time for U 35!

Sources: http://historicalsocietyofgermanmilitar ... ousel-9152

Cheers. Raúl M .

Hello to all ; more ...................

The U 333 (Type VII C).

Sources: https://www.u-historia.com/uhistoria/hi ... 3/u333.htm
http://www.strijdbewijs.nl/uboot/lapallice.htm

Cheers. Raúl M .

Hello to all ; correction of the post on Sun 04 Feb 2018 22:12 actually should be .........................

The U 333 (Type VII C).


U 333 arrives at home damaged but triumphant (4 pennants) on May 26, 1942. On the sail the emblem of the three fish due to triple three. In this patrol she was under Kplt. Peter-Erich Cremer; the IWO was Oblt.z.S. Klemens Schamong and the IIWO was Lt.z.S. Helmut Kandzior ......................................

Sources: https://www.u-historia.com/uhistoria/hi ... 3/u333.htm
http://www.strijdbewijs.nl/uboot/lapallice.htm
https://uboot-recherche.de/en/u333-boot ... id=1&pid=1

Cheers. Raúl M .

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A bad start for the U 126!

This U boat Type IX C carried out 6 war patrols, with 497 days at sea during which she sank or damaged 32 ships for a total of 163,688 gross registered tons. Nevertheless at the beginning and during her period of trials and training, on May 15, 1941 in the Baltic Sea, by the Swedish island of Gotland collided with the German steamer Seeburg ...............

Sources: http://www.ebay.de/itm/Foto-U-boot-U-12 ... 0005.m1851

Cheers. Raúl M .

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Collision of U-161 (Type IX C) !.

U 161, under Kapitänleutnant Albrecht Achilles, sailed from Lorient on April 28, 1942 to conduct her third operational patrol. The submersible was to operate in the North Atlantic, the Caribbean, off the coast of Brazil, off Puerto Limón and Costa Rica. On June 14, 1942 at 18:23 hours, she reported contact with a convoy (8 ships and two escorts) in the grid ED72; On June 15, 1942, at 00:12, she attacked the convoy by launching two torpedoes on an unknown ship in ED 73 and at 00:14 hours (sailing in immersion) she suffered a collision with a merchant in ED43, suffering damage to the conning tower.

Source: http://www.u-historia.com/uhistoria/his ... 1/u161.htm
https://historisches-marinearchiv.de/pr ... var2=wert2
http://theudericus.free.fr/Mer_Ocean/U- ... ter114.jpg

Cheers. Raúl M .

Hello to all ; more...................

Collision of U 161 (Type IX C) !.

Source: https://reibert.info/threads/foto-ebay- ... 259/page-3

Cheers. Raúl M .

Hello to all ; something more...................

War time!. Bad luck for U 25............

Wednesday June 19, 1940.

U 25 - North Atlantic - 00:30 - Convoy in sight. Submerged to attack one tanker. 01:28 - Torpedo launched. Impact, violent detonation. The French BRUMAIRE was damaged. As the second tanker was about to be attacked, the submersible was rammed. Descent to 90 m. nearby destroyer. Without wabos (depth charges). At periscope depth after 30 minutes. The periscopes are fixed. To surface. The conning tower hatch cannot be opened. Galley hatch used. The ship scraped the starboard side of theconning tower and dented the bridge forward. Both periscopes out of service. Impacted tanker is 2500m away. Impossible a coup de grâce although the tanker seems to be sinking and the submersible is not ready for action. The tanker sinks a little later (incorrect observation). Convoy out of sight. Sailing west for repairs. 12:00 - Outgoing radio message: "Ramming during submarine attack on convoy, bridge dented. Both periscopes out of order. Begin march back." 16:00 Tower hatch can be opened halfway again, ability to dive restored. Rear periscope in service according to order. The Commander: "Take advantage of favorable weather conditions for as long as possible before you have to return. Continue the trade war as soon as the hatch is fully operational again." 20:00 - Repair work on deck (BF 4483). No more occurrences. PQ: BF 4391 → BF 4378 → BF 4531 → BF 4542 → BF 4483. Under Kapitänleutnant Heinz Beduhn (May – August 1940).

Source: http://www.ubootarchiv.de/ubootwiki/ind ... 19.06.1940
Photoalbum 175 Bilder U-Boot U33 U40 TOP. eBay auction (expired)
http://uboot-recherche.de/en/u25-bilder#&gid=1&pid=2

First photo, center foreground Kplt. Heinz Beduhn? Cheers. Raúl M .