List of all U-boats

U-188

Type

IXC/40

 
Ordered15 Aug 1940
Laid down18 Aug 1941 AG Weser, Bremen (werk 1028)
Launched31 Mar 1942
Commissioned5 Aug 1942Oblt. Siegfried Lüdden (Knights Cross)
Commanders
5 Aug 1942 - 9 Aug 1944  Kptlt. Siegfried Lüdden (Knights Cross)
Career
3 patrols
5 Aug 1942-31 Jan 1943  4. Flottille (training)
1 Feb 1943-20 Aug 1944  10. Flottille (active service)
Successes8 ships sunk, total tonnage 49,725 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,190 tons
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 9,977 GRT
Fate

Decommissioned on 20 August 1944 at Bordeaux and laid up in the U-boat pen. Scuttled there on 25 August 1944 as the unseaworthy boat was unable to escape the Allied advance. Wreck broken up in 1947.

See the 10 ships hit by U-188 - View the 3 war patrols

Wolfpack operations

U-188 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
   Seeteufel (21 Mar 1943 - 29 Mar 1943)
   Adler (7 Apr 1943 - 13 Apr 1943)
   Meise (13 Apr 1943 - 20 Apr 1943)

Attacks on this boat and other events

2 May 1943
10.14 hrs, Bay of Biscay, inbound: British Whitley aircraft (612 Sqn RAF/W) strafed U-188 and dropped four depth charges. Gunfire wounded the commander, KptLt Siegfried Lüdden, and one of the crew, who died in hospital in Paris on 14 May. [Matrosengefreiter Leo Rupp] (Sources: Rohwer/Ritschel)

1 recorded attack on this boat.

General notes on this boat

HMS Beverly took part in sinking U-188's sister ship U-187 on 4 Feb, 1943.

19 Jun 1944. U-188 arrived at Bordeaux with a cargo of tin, wolfram, opium and quinine after leaving Penang, Sumatra on the 9th January. U-boat HQ had assumed U-188 was sunk because the boat's radio had failed and it had been unable to send messages since early May.

Men lost from the boat

2 May 1943
10.14 hrs, Bay of Biscay, inbound: British Whitley aircraft (612 Sqn RAF/W) strafed U-188 and dropped four depth charges. Gunfire wounded the commander, KptLt Siegfried Lüdden, and one of the crew, who died in hospital in Paris on 14 May. [Matrosengefreiter Leo Rupp]

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

U-boat Emblems

We have 1 emblem entry for this boat. See the emblem page for this boat or view emblems individually below.


Globe and U-boat

Media links


U-188

Klaus Willmann


amazon.co.uk
(£ 17.99)


U-Boat Attack Logs

Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor


amazon.co.uk
(£ 38.25)


German U-Boat Losses During World War II

Niestle, Axel


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

Wynn, Kenneth


Hitler's U-boat War, Vol II

Blair, Clay




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