List of all U-boats
U-620
Type | VIIC | |||||||||
| Ordered | 15 Aug 1940 | |||||||||
| Laid down | 19 Jun 1941 | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (werk 596) | ||||||||
| Launched | 9 Mar 1942 | |||||||||
| Commissioned | 30 Apr 1942 | Oblt. Heinz Stein | ||||||||
| Commanders |
| |||||||||
| Career 2 patrols |
| |||||||||
| Successes | 1 ship sunk, total tonnage 6,983 GRT | |||||||||
| Fate |
Sunk on 13 February 1943 in the North Atlantic north-west of Lisbon, Portugal, in position 39.18N, 11.17W, by five depth charges from a British Catalina aircraft (202 Sqn RAF/J). 47 dead (all hands lost). (FDS/NHB, September 1988). | |||||||||
| Loss position | ||||||||||
Previously recorded fate
- Sunk by the British Catalina aircraft (RAF 202/J) on 14 Feb, 1943 in position 39.27N, 11.34W. (Postwar assessment)
Notes. This attack was instead against the U-381 causing no damages to that boat.
Wolfpack operations
U-620 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
Luchs (27 Sep 1942 - 6 Oct 1942)
Panther (6 Oct 1942 - 11 Oct 1942)
Leopard (12 Oct 1942 - 19 Oct 1942)
Südwärts (24 Oct 1942 - 26 Oct 1942)
Delphin (26 Dec 1942 - 13 Feb 1943)
Attacks on this boat and other events
16 Sep 1942
1935hrs, NE of the Faeroe Islands: the boat was located by a Whitley aircraft (612 Sqn RAF/R) on A/S sweep which used cloud cover in an attempt to surprise U-620, but she was already submerging as six 260lb depth charges were dropped ahead of the bows. No damage. (Sources: KTB U-620/ADM 199-1783)
12 Oct 1942
U-620 escaped with minor damage after being hunted by escorts from convoy ONS-136 for six hours. Date is approximate. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 39.)
24 Oct 1942
An unidentified land-based aircraft attacked and seriously damaged the boat while she was hunting convoy ON-139. The boat abandoned the attack and moved to a new area. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 43.)
10 Nov 1942
1430hrs, 15 miles NNW of El Ferrol, Spain, inbound: boat was attacked by a British Whitley (502 Sqn RAF/G). The aircraft made a sharp turn to starboard to evade AA fire from the U-boat during the first approach and then turned again to attack from less than half a mile with the front gunner returning fire. The AA gunners had not anticipated this maneouver, and as they had opened fire too early their clips were empty as the Whitley attacked from the starboard beam and dropped six depth charges about 100ft (30m) ahead of the boat. The explosions were too far away to cause damage, but machine gun fire from the rear gunner mortally wounded one man [Bootsmaat Josef Leisten]. U-620 escaped further attacks by crash diving immediately afterwards. (Sources: KTB U-620, ADM 199/1783)
4 recorded attacks on this boat.
Men lost from the boat
10 Nov 1942
1430hrs, 15 miles NNW of El Ferrol, Spain, inbound: boat was attacked by a British Whitley (502 Sqn RAF/G). The aircraft made a sharp turn to starboard to evade AA fire from the U-boat during the first approach and then turned again to attack from less than half a mile with the front gunner returning fire. The AA gunners had not anticipated this maneouver, and as they had opened fire too early their clips were empty as the Whitley attacked from the starboard beam and dropped six depth charges about 100ft (30m) ahead of the boat. The explosions were too far away to cause damage, but machine gun fire from the rear gunner mortally wounded one man [Bootsmaat Josef Leisten]. U-620 escaped further attacks by crash diving immediately afterwards.
Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -
Media links
|
|
|
|
As an Amazon Associate uboat.net earns a commission from qualifying purchases.