U-557

Type

VIIC

Ordered

25 Sep 1939

Laid down

6 Jan 1940

Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (werk 533)

Launched

22 Dec 1940

Commissioned

13 Feb 1941

Oblt. Ottokar Paulshen

Commanders

13 Feb 1941

16 Dec 1941

KrvKpt. Ottokar Arnold Paulssen

Career
4 patrols

13 Feb 1941	-	1 May 1941	1. Flottille (training)
1 May 1941	-	4 Dec 1941	1. Flottille (active service)
5 Dec 1941	-	16 Dec 1941	29. Flottille (active service)

Successes

6 ships sunk, total tonnage 31,729 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 5,220 tons

Fate

Sank on 16 December 1941 in the Mediterranean Sea west of Crete, in position 35.31N, 23.19E, after erroneous ramming by the Italian torpedo boat Orione. 43 dead (all hands lost).

Loss position

See the 7 ships hit by U-557 - View the 4 war patrols

On 9 December 1941 U-557 left Messina for her last patrol. Six days later she sank the British cruiser HMS Galatea off the Egyptian coast. The U-boat headed back the same day for the base of the 23rd Flotilla at Salamis.

At 1806hrs on 16 December, U-557 sent a short radio signal indicating that she was 18 hours from port. At 1800hrs on the same day, the Italian torpedo boat Orione (TV M. Gambetta) left the Cretan port of Suda. The commander had no knowledge that a German U-boat was in the area off Crete and he did not receive any information to this effect during his patrol.

When the Italian commander saw a submarine at 2144hrs, heading in a northerly direction, he decided to ram it, supposing it to be British. U-557 sank immediately with all hands; the now-damaged Italian torpedo boat headed back to base.

During the investigation of this incident, it was realized that word about U-557's location had reached the Italian Navy first at 2200hrs or later. The position of the incident was given by the Italian commander as 35.31N, 23.19E.

Wolfpack operations

U-557 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
   West (25 May 1941 - 20 Jun 1941)
   Bosemüller (28 Aug 1941 - 2 Sep 1941)
   Seewolf (2 Sep 1941 - 15 Sep 1941)

General notes on this boat

During the training in the Baltic Sea, the boat had a diving accident and got stuck on the bottom and one man lost his like, his name was Eckstein.

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-557 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.