List of all U-boats
U-188
Type | IXC/40 | |||||||||
Ordered | 15 Aug 1940 | |||||||||
Laid down | 18 Aug 1941 | AG Weser, Bremen (werk 1028) | ||||||||
Launched | 31 Mar 1942 | |||||||||
Commissioned | 5 Aug 1942 | Oblt. Siegfried Lüdden (Knights Cross) | ||||||||
Commanders |
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Career 3 patrols |
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Successes | 8 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. | |||||||||
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
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