List of all U-boats

U-101

Type

VIIB

 
Ordered15 Dec 1937
Laid down31 Mar 1939 F. Krupp Germaniawerft AG, Kiel (werk 595)
Launched13 Jan 1940
Commissioned11 Mar 1940Kptlt. Fritz Frauenheim (Knights Cross)
Commanders
11 Mar 1940 - 18 Nov 1940  Kptlt. Fritz Frauenheim (Knights Cross)
18 Nov 1940 - 31 Dec 1941  Kptlt. Ernst Mengersen (Knights Cross)
1 Jan 1942 - 3 Feb 1942  Oblt. Karl-Heinz Marbach (Knights Cross)
4 Feb 1942 - 31 Mar 1942  Oblt. Friedrich Bothe
May, 1942 - 25 Oct 1942  Oblt. Ernst von Witzendorff
15 Sep 1942 - 22 Oct 1943  Oblt. Helmut Münster
Career
10 patrols
11 Mar 1940-31 Mar 1940  7. Flottille (training)
1 Apr 1940-28 Feb 1942  7. Flottille (active service)
1 Mar 1942-31 Mar 1942  26. Flottille (training)
1 Apr 1942-31 Aug 1942  21. Flottille (school boat)
1 Sep 1942-31 Aug 1943  24. Flottille (training)
1 Sep 1943-22 Oct 1943  23. Flottille (training)
Successes22 ships sunk, total tonnage 111,673 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,190 tons
2 ships damaged, total tonnage 9,113 GRT
Fate

Decommissioned on 22 October 1943 and used as instructional boat.

Sunk on 3 May 1945 at Neustadt, in position 54.07N, 10.50E, by rockets from four British Typhoon aircraft (175 Sqn RAF). Wreck broken up.

See the 25 ships hit by U-101 - View the 10 war patrols

Wolfpack operations

U-101 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
   Rösing (12 Jun 1940 - 15 Jun 1940)
   West (2 Jun 1941 - 20 Jun 1941)
   Grönland (12 Aug 1941 - 27 Aug 1941)
   Reissewolf (21 Oct 1941 - 29 Oct 1941)

Attacks on this boat and other events

23 May 1940
For the second day in a row, the outbound boat encountered an enemy submarine in the North Sea. This time a torpedo track was seen passing the bow at a distance of about 50m (55 yards).

29 May 1940
16.30 hrs, Celtic Sea, SW of Lands End: an unidentified aircraft dropped two depth charges, causing minor damage. (Sources: Ritschel)

31 May 1940
After a successful attack on convoy HGF 31 in the English Channel west of Guernsey, the boat endured an attack of four hours during which 34 depth charges were dropped. On going to periscope depth at 22.00 hrs, an armed trawler attacked again, dropping seven depth charges which caused moderate damage. (Sources: Ritschel)

4 Jun 1940
20.14 hrs, south of Lands End: an unidentified aircraft dropped one bomb. No damage. (Sources: Ritschel)

23 Jun 1940
04.08 hrs, off the Shetland Isles, inbound: an unidentified aircraft dropped three bombs on the boat, damaging the periscope. (Sources: Ritschel)

3 Sep 1940
While U-101 was searching for a convoy west of Ireland, an escort launched a series of depth charges over five runs, causing moderate damage, and flooding that the crew were able to control. (Sources: Ritschel)

19 Oct 1940
Despite being shelled by an armed freighter, U-101 completed the launch of torpedoes in a final attack on convoy SC 7 north of Ireland. The shells missed, landing astern as U-101 was turning away and zig-zagging. (Sources: Ritschel)

29 Jan 1941
04.16 hrs, North Atlantic west of Ireland: gunfire from a destroyer forced U-101 to dive as she was attempting to attack convoy SC 19. Three depth charges launched subsequently caused no damage. (Sources: Ritschel)

23 Apr 1941
The boat encountered a British submarine in the North Atlantic, which fired two torpedoes, but both missed.

24 Aug 1941
09.53 hrs, near Rockall: an unidentified aircraft dropped two depth charges. No damage from this attack, but U-101 was subsequently forced to dive to evade aircraft operating in the area on five other occasions over the 24th-25th of August. (Sources: Ritschel)

28 Aug 1941
03.03 hrs, North Atlantic, west of Ireland: the boat was forced to dive by a destroyer while operating against convoy OS 4. Several escorts then dropped a total of 30 depth charges on the boat during a series of attacks that lasted three hours. The attacks were accurate, but the only serious damage was a disabled periscope. (Sources: Ritschel)

13 Oct 1941
10.45 hrs, Bay of Biscay, outbound: a twin-engined aircraft dropped three depth charges, causing minor damage. The attack also apparently caused an oil leak, because three more depth charges were dropped on the submerged boat at 16.42 hrs. (Sources: Ritschel)

12 recorded attacks on this boat.

Men lost from the boat

4 Jun 1941
Mid Atlantic: one of the gun crew was lost overboard. [Matrosenobergefreiter Horst Jackl]

  Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -

U-boat Emblems

We have 2 emblem entries for this boat. See the emblem page for this boat or view emblems individually below.


Shield with Hatchet and Leaf

Man with Sword and Beermug

Media links


U-Boat Attack Logs

Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor


amazon.co.uk
(£ 38.25)


U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 1

Wynn, Kenneth


German U-Boat Losses During World War II

Niestle, Axel


Hitler's U-boat War

Blair, Clay

There was another U-101 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 1 Apr 1917 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 15 May 1917. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about SM U 101 during WWI.




As an Amazon Associate uboat.net earns a commission from qualifying purchases.