Selected Book
Arctic Convoy PQ8
The Story of Capt Robert Brundle and the SS Harmatris
Michael Wadsworth
Allied Warships
Check out our new extensive section on all the Allied Warships during WWII in all theatres of the war.Over 21,000 ships
Operation Regenbogen
On 30 April, 1945, in order to preserve the honour of the Kriegsmarine, Dönitz ordered that the entire fleet should be scuttled, only ships that would be needed for fishing, transport and mine clearance after the war should remain intact. He kept the hopeless military struggle on for a few more days both in order to rescue as many as possible from the Baltic states and also to ensure the Kriegsmarine commanders had enough time to prepare to scuttle their ships.
The code name Regenbogen was to signal the order to scuttle the ships. But at 1514 hours on May 4 Dönitz was forced to withdraw this order by condition of the Allied commanders. But the U-boat commanders in the Western Baltic believed this new surrender order to be against Dönitz will and scuttled their vessels anyway.
When things settled down 238 U-boats had been scuttled in the Western Baltic. Of these 238 U-boats 16 were not in commission (paid off) and 5 had not been launched.
Location of Scuttled U-boats
This is page showing the locations on a map plus a small summary.
Scuttled U-boats by type
Please note that these are commissioned U-boats (there were also unfinished or paid off boats scuttled).
| Type | Scuttled |
| 1 | |
| Type II | 21 |
| Type IX | 6 |
| Type VII | 66 |
| Type XXI Elektro boats | 84 |
| Type XXIII Elektro boats | 31 |
| Walter boats | 7 |
| 216 |
