Patrol info for U-37
| Departure | Arrival / Fate | Duration | ||
| 5 Oct 1939 | Wilhelmshaven | 8 Nov 1939 | Wilhelmshaven | 35 days |
Commander | Officers * |
 KrvKpt. Werner Hartmann |
1WO Oblt. Ernst Bauer |
The translated war diary of U-37 for this patrol is available on our partner website: uboatarchive.net
Daily positions, sinkings and allied attacks during the patrol of U-37
We have daily positions for all 35 days on this patrol.
Departure from Wilhelmshaven on 5 Oct 1939.
6 Oct 1939 - 7 Oct 1939 - 8 Oct 1939 - 9 Oct 1939 - 10 Oct 1939 - 11 Oct 1939 - 12 Oct 1939 - 13 Oct 1939 - 14 Oct 1939 - 15 Oct 1939 - 16 Oct 1939 - 17 Oct 1939 - 18 Oct 1939 - 19 Oct 1939 - 20 Oct 1939 - 21 Oct 1939 - 22 Oct 1939 - 23 Oct 1939 - 24 Oct 1939 - 25 Oct 1939 - 26 Oct 1939 - 27 Oct 1939 - 28 Oct 1939 - 29 Oct 1939 - 30 Oct 1939 - 31 Oct 1939 - 1 Nov 1939 - 2 Nov 1939 - 3 Nov 1939 - 4 Nov 1939 - 5 Nov 1939 - 6 Nov 1939 - 7 Nov 1939 -
Arrival at Wilhelmshaven on 8 Nov 1939.
Ships hit by U-37 during this patrol
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Oct 1939 | U-37 | Werner Hartmann | Vistula | 1,018 |  | sw | A | ||
| 12 Oct 1939 | U-37 | Werner Hartmann |  | Aris | 4,810 |  | gr | B | |
| 15 Oct 1939 | U-37 | Werner Hartmann | | Vermont | 5,186 |  | fr | C | |
| 17 Oct 1939 | U-37 | Werner Hartmann | | Yorkshire | 10,183 |  | br | HG-3 | D |
| 24 Oct 1939 | U-37 | Werner Hartmann | | Menin Ridge | 2,474 | | br | E | |
| 24 Oct 1939 | U-37 | Werner Hartmann | | Ledbury | 3,528 | | br | F | |
| 24 Oct 1939 | U-37 | Werner Hartmann | Tafna | 4,413 | | br | G | ||
| 30 Oct 1939 | U-37 | Werner Hartmann | | Thrasyvoulos | 3,693 | | gr | H | |
| 35,305 | |||||||||
8 ships sunk (35,305 tons). Legend | |||||||||
General Events during this patrol
We have no events listed for this patrol.
Add more events! If you know of an interesting event either missing from this date or an upcoming event that you'd like to share please contact us. We continuously update these databases.
Attacks on U-37 during this patrol
24 Oct 1939
Between 11.47 and 12.12 hrs, the boat was depth charged by several aircraft after attacking Tafna about 100 miles (161km) WSW of Gibraltar. U-37 dived to 105m (345ft) and was not damaged by the depth charges, which exploded far above. Hartmann wisely decided to run silent at a depth of 80m (263ft) and ordered most of the crew to lie down and rest, because shortly afterwards HMS Keppel, HMS Vidette and HMS Watchman arrived from Gibraltar and began an anti-submarine sweep of the area. At 16.45 hrs HMS Keppel dropped a full pattern of five depth charges set for 250ft (76m) after obtaining a good Asdic contact in position 36°03N/07°33,5W, and observed an air bubble and possibly oil rise to the surface afterwards, but failed to regain contact. The Germans had switched off the hydrophones and were caught off guard by the accurate detonations, which were felt as severe blows in the boat, which then dived to 95m (312ft). At 18.20 hrs HMS Watchman dropped a single depth charge set for 150ft (46m) from the port thrower on an Asdic contact in position 36°02N/07°18W, and lost contact after dropping the remaining four depth charges of the pattern in a follow up attack. Hartmann heard these detonate at some distance, but knew that they could not stay submerged all night as the crew had already begun to breathe through potash cartridges, so ordered the boat to be prepared for scuttling before surfacing with all guns manned at 21.45 hrs. However, the destroyers were no longer nearby and the boat was able to leave the area undetected, heading SW with a deck gun out of action due to the breech plug being jammed in place by extreme pressure at depth.
(Sources: KTB U-37, ADM 199/145)3 Nov 1939
The boat suffered slight damage after an air attack.
About this data
If you believe we have missed an attack on a German U-boat in this listing please let us know.
See all patrols for U-37
* These are officers that later became commanders themselves.