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Here below is a listing of all U-boats that suffered losses from their crews as listed in our database. It is listed by the U-boats involved. This list is not 100% complete as we did not include all the smaller incidents where perhaps 1-2 men were slighlty wounded.

U 24, 27 May 1944
The boat fought a surface battle with two Soviet patrol boats SW of Poti in the Black Sea. One man was killed and two wounded. [Matrosenobergefreiter Johann Wölbitsch]

U 25, 5 Nov 1939
A man was lost overboard in the Bay of Biscay. [Bootsmaat Wilhelm Lützeler]

U 28, 10 Nov 1940
On U-28, Maschinengefreiter Sachse was severely scalded.

U 43, 31 Mar 1940
U-43 lost a man overboard in the Atlantic. [I WO Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Wilhelm Behrens]

U 46, 27 Sep 1940
The boat lost two men during an unintentional dive.[Oberbootsmaat Heinrich Schenk, Matrosenobergefreiter Wilhelm Reh]

U 46, 25 Oct 1940
Three Hudson bombers from RAF Squadron 228 attacked U-46. One man wounded who died the following day. [Matrosengefreiter Plaep]

U 47, 5 Sep 1940
The boat lost a man overboard during while the deck gun was being fired. [MtrOGfr Heinrich Mantyk]

U 53, 17 Sep 1939
Swordfish torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous fired on the boat and forced her to dive. Some gunners who were left topside perished. Later that day HMS Courageous was sunk by U-29.

U 57, 3 Sep 1940
The boat sank after an accidental collision with the Norwegian steamer SS Rona, taking six of her crew with her. She was raised shortly afterwards and put into service as a training boat. [Obermaschinenmaat Bernhard Henz, Maschinengefreiter Kurt Kopf, Matrosengefreiter Hermann Schneider, Funkobergefreiter Kurt Sparschuh,Matrosenobergefreiter Franz Tatzreiter]

U 66, 3 Aug 1943
21.35 hrs, mid Atlantic: the boat was surprised by a Avenger/Wildcat team (VC-1 USN) from USS Card. The aircraft made several strafing runs and one depth charge apparently exploded directly under the boat. The II.WO, Oblt Kurt Schütze, and Mtrgfr Erich Lorenz were killed and MechGfr Heinz Nitsch died of wounds during the night. The commander and FzS Pfaff were seriously wounded and the I.WO and five ratings were slightly wounded. U-117 was ordered to meet U-66 three days later for medical assistance and to transfer a replacement WO.

U 67, 27 Oct 1942
One man died following an explosion during torpedo loading on U-67 [Matrosenobergefreiter Heinz Hartmann].

U 68, 14 Jun 1943
09.33 hrs, Bay of Biscay, outbound: the boat was strafed by one of four Mosquito aircraft. More details about this incident can be found at U-155. Aboard U-68, the commander, the II.WO and one of the men were wounded. The I.WO, Oblt E. Scherraus, took command. One man was apparently hit while operating an MG38 machinegun, fell overboard and could not be recovered [Obergefreiter Hans Schaumburg]. The boat returned to base in company with U-155. U-68's doctor was later transferred to the other boat.

U 78, 13 Mar 1945
A crew member was wounded during bombardment by Soviet artillery at Pillau, where U-78 was used as electricity generation plant. He died of wounds in a field hospital the next day. [Maschinenmaat Alfred Tebel]

U 81, 5 Apr 1942
One of U-81's crew was injured in an accident.

U 91, 27 Mar 1943
22.45 hrs, Bay of Biscay, inbound: a British Wellington bomber (RAF Sqdn 172/M) made a Leigh Light attack. The boat escaped undamaged, but had dived with three men still on the bridge. It resurfaced immediately and found two still in place, but the PO who had fired the AA gun until the last moment was missing. [Oberbootsmaat Heinrich Hollenborg]

U 92, 29 Nov 1943
A man was lost overboard on this day. [ObGfr Friedrich Witzkonski]

U 93, 7 May 1941
Three men were wounded in an accident with the machinegun.

U 97, 3 Mar 1941
A man was lost overboard in the Bay of Biscay. [Bootsmaat Artur Mei]

U 97, 24 Oct 1941
The IIWO of U-97 was badly injured in an accident on board, forcing the boat to return to base.

U 101, 4 Jun 1941
Mid Atlantic: one of the gun crew was lost overboard. [Matrosenobergefreiter Horst Jackl]

U 105, 5 May 1941
The 105mm gun exploded during firing, wounding six men.

U 106, 23 Oct 1941
A tragic event occurred in heavy weather. When the replacement watch opened the conning tower hatch they found that all four men of the previous watch had been lost overboard. [Oberleutnant zur See Werner Grüneberg, Fähnrich zur See Herbert von Bruchhausen, Oberbootsmannmaat Karl Heemann, Matrose Ewald Brühl]

U 106, 27 Jul 1942
15.30 hrs, Bay of Biscay, outbound: strafing and bombing by a Wellington (311 Sqn RAF/A) killed the I WO, Oberleutnant zur See Günter Wißmann and wounded the commander. The boat had only left Lorient two days earlier and was forced to return to base by severe damage.

U 106, 1 Aug 1943
The boat was attacked by a British B-24 Liberator (59 Sqn RAF/K, pilot F/L M. Charlton) in the Bay of Biscay. No damage from the two depth charges dropped, but strafing killed one crewman and wounded two others. [Matrosengefreiter Rolf Ebeling]

U 107, 4 Jan 1944
19.34 hours, Bay of Biscay: the inbound boat fought off an attack by a four-engined aircraft. No bombs dropped, one crewman slightly wounded by strafing.

U 110, 23 Mar 1941
The 105mm deck gun exploded, wounding three men.

U 117, 8 Nov 1942
While refuelling U-454 on 8 Nov Leutnant zur See der Reserve Helmut Schwenzel from U-117 was lost overboard.

U 119, 29 Apr 1943
At 11.24 hours, the outbound boat was strafed and bombed by an Australian Sunderland flying boat (RAAF Sqdn 461/P). The boat was not damaged, but one man was killed by gunfire. [Bootsmaat Alfred Schmidt]

U 123, 27 Mar 1942
After being torpedoed by U-123 off the US east coast, the American Q-ship USS Atik (AK 101) took the Germans by surprise with their counter-attack. One man from U-123 was fatally wounded and the Q-ship was sunk with all hands. [Fähnrich zur See Rudi Holzer]

U 123, 7 Nov 1943
09.44 hrs, Bay of Biscay, inbound: the first recorded attack by a 'Tsetse' aircraft (RAF Sqdn 618, pilot F/O Al Bonnett RCAF), a Mosquito with a 6pdr (57mm) antitank cannon in the nose, scored a hit on the conning tower which left the boat with one dead, two wounded and unable to dive due to a hole measuring 18 x 6.5cm (7 x 2.5 in). [Bootsmaat Günther Struve]

U 129, 21 May 1943
During refueling by U-459 two men from the boat were washed overboard by a big wave. One of them was soon recovered, but the other remained missing. [Matrosengefreiter Hans Rüchel]

U 134, 15 Jan 1943
One of the crew commited suicide.

U 135, 10 Aug 1942
18.25 hrs, north of Cape Ferrol, Spain, outbound: the boat was strafed by a Czech-crewed Wellington (RAF Sqdn 311/H, pilot F/O J. Nývlt) which also dropped four depth charges. The boat returned fire with the 20mm AA gun during the first attack, and survived six more depth charges dropped after diving.

U-135 sustained only minor damage, but one man was killed by gunfire and another died from wounds an hour after the attack. [Matrosenobergefreiter Emil Hafner, Matrosenobergefreiter Erhard Pömpner]

U 154, 12 May 1944
U-154s commander, Oblt. Oskar Kusch, was executed on 12 May "for his anti-Hitler views" after his IWO, Oblt. Ulrich Abel,* reported him for sedition. He was convicted in late January. His photo is to the right.

* The former lawyer went down with U-193 as captain when the boat was lost with all hands on 24 April 1944.

U 155, 10 Mar 1942
On the return from the US eastern seaboard, I WO Oberleutnant zur See Gert Rentrop was lost overboard.

U 155, 19 Aug 1942
A man was lost overboard during an air attack off the coast of French Guyana, S. America. [Maschinengefreiter Konrad Garneier]

U 155, 14 Jun 1943
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
Polish Mosquito HJ648 (307 Sqdn RAF/B, pilot S/L S. Szablowski)

09.29 hrs, Bay of Biscay north of Corunna: four Mosquito aircraft (three from 307 Polish Sqdn RAF and one from 410 Sqdn RCAF) attacked a group of five outbound boats (U-68, U-155, U-159, U-415 and U-634). The leading Mosquito first strafed U-68 and then U-155, but its port engine stopped after being hit by flak and the aircraft was forced to return to base at Predannack, Cornwall, where it made a belly landing. A Mosquito piloted by F/O J. Pelka then made an attack run, but without firing, and the remaining aircraft were held off by an intense barrage of flak.
Five of the crew of U-155 were wounded, two badly. The boat returned to base with U-68, whose doctor was transferred to treat the wounded on the way.

U 155, 23 Jun 1944
A Mosquito (248 Sqn RAF/P) attacked the boat. Two men were killed and seven wounded. The boat was close to port when attacked and reached Lorient the same day. [Matrosenobergefreiter Karl Lohmeier, Mechanikerobergefreiter Friedrich Feller]

U 156, 16 Feb 1942
U-156 began to shell the oil refinery at Aruba in the Caribbean, but the gun crew forgot to remove the water plug from the barrel, causing an explosion that killed one man [Matrosengefreiter Heinrich Büssinger]. The gunnery officer [II WO Leutnant zur See Dietrich von dem Borne, see right] lost his right leg in this incident, and so had to be put ashore into captivity at Martinique on 21 February. The commander decided to saw off the ruined portion of the gun barrel, and using this shorter barrel, on 27 February U-156 sank a 2,498-ton British steamer.

U 160, 14 Dec 1941
U-160 lost 7 men dead and one wounded in a fire at Danzig during the boat´s working up exercises. [Maschinenmaat Melchior Schwipp, Matrosengefreiter August Männel, Matrosengefreiter Heinrich Meckenstock]

U 167, 8 Jan 1943
The first man lost from a U-boat in 1943 was during a storm when one man was washed overboard while saving the I WO. Also the commander was wounded and so the boat was brought back to base with the IWO in command on 16 Jan. [Obersteuermann Walter Schliephake]

U 172, 11 Aug 1943
An unidentified aircraft attacked U-172 while the boat was rescuing the crew of U-604 following her scuttling. One man from U-172 was killed. [Maschinenobergefreiter Fritz Schiemann]

U 177, 23 Sep 1942
On 23 Sept at 06.05 hrs a man was lost overboard. [Bootsmannmaat Erwin Henning]

U 181, 11 Apr 1943
The new 37mm anti-aircraft cannon on U-181 exploded in action while on patrol in the South Atlantic killing one man and wounding two more. [Matrosengefreiter Wilhelm Williger]

U 183, 13 May 1944
One man was killed in an accident working in a diving cell while preparing U-183 for the next patrol in the Far East. The boat sailed from Penang on 17 May. [Obermaschinenmaat Erich Adelsheimer]

U 185, 3 Aug 1943
While seeking the crippled U-604 a US Liberator aircraft (VB-107 USN) instead attacked the accompanying U-185, depth charging her and wounding one man.

U 188, 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]

U 190, 18 Oct 1943
A lookout suffered a broken arm in a storm off Vigo, Spain.

U 193, 6 Jul 1943
An unidentified aircraft hit the boat, wounding two men and destroying the Metox radar detector.

U 195, 20 Jul 1943
One man was lost in an air attack in the Bay of Biscay. [Matrosenobergefreiter Arthur List]

U 197, 4 Nov 1942
Obermaschinist Alfred Wernicke died following an accident in Kiel.

U 197, 20 May 1943
The boat was strafed and bombed by an American B-25 Mitchell bomber northeast of Ascension Island. The periscope was damaged and one man wounded by gunfire, who died the next day. [Bootsmaat Viktor Rainer]

U 198, 19 Jul 1944
The boat was depth charged by a corvette after launching torpedoes at a freighter. No damage to either vessel.

U 201, 13 Dec 1941
An explosion in Brest (France) harbor killed 1 man, Maschinenobergefreiter Josef Zander.

U 203, 11 Sep 1942
The commander of U-203 (Kptlt. Rolf Mützelburg) died in a unique accident on this day. He had stopped the boat to allow the crew to swim in the sea, and as he dived from the conning tower, the boat moved and he hit the saddle tank, suffering serious injuries. He died the next day.

U 205, 30 Sep 1941
Fähnrich zur See Fritz Säger took his own life.

U 209, 9 Jul 1942
Two men died during an accident on the harbour quay at Bergen, Norway. The boat next went on patrol on 17 July. [Funkgefreiter Edmund Kiepulski, Funkgefreiter Alfons Kuklinski]

U 214, 7 May 1943
10.14 hrs, Bay of Biscay, outbound: British Halifax bomber HR745 (RAF Sqdn 58/S, pilot W/C W.E. Oulton), attacked from out of the sun. Despite being hit by flak, it returned to drop three depth charges. The boat evaded both attacks and dived with only minor damage, but the commander, Kptlt Günther Reeder was severely wounded by gunfire (he no longer served in U-boats after this). The I WO, Oblt Rupprecht Stock took command and brought U-214 to base.

This aircraft was formerly credited with the destruction of U-663 in this attack, but U-663 sank following an attack by Australian Sunderland flying boat W/William, 10 Sqdn RAAF.

U 218, 2 May 1943
One of the crew broke a leg.

U 218, 2 Aug 1943
Six men were wounded in an attack by a Wellington bomber (547 Sqdn RAF/B). The U-boat sustained only minor damage from the depth charges dropped, but abandoned the mine-laying mission due to the casualties, arriving at Brest on 6 August.

U 220, 16 Oct 1943
Two men were lost overboard in the North Atlantic. [Bootsmaat Georg Koerner, Matrosenobergefreiter Gerhard Lange]. Thus only 54 men were on board when the boat was sunk 12 days later.

U 221, 22 Mar 1943
A captured seaman from the tanker Jamaica (sunk two weeks earlier) jumped overboard.

U 223, 11 May 1943
The British destroyer HMS Hesperus brought U-223 to the surface by depth charging and then rammed her. Two men were lost overboard: one died, but the other was rescued by U-359 and returned to U-223 on 14 May (U-359 had managed to escape the destroyer's attacks unscathed). U-223 was left unable to dive, but returned to port on 24 May. She did not sail again until 14 Sept, while still under repair. [Matrosengefreiter Heinz Hoog]

U 228, 7 May 1943
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
British Halifax bomber HR792 (RAF Sqdn 58/A, pilot Sgt N.F. Robertson, RAAF)

10.50 hrs, Bay of Biscay, outbound: The Halifax was forced to break off an initial attack by heavy flak, but then made a strafing attack from the bow and released six depth charges, which overshot the boat and detonated about 25m (82ft) astern. The detonations gave U-228 a severe shaking and wounded the II WO and one seaman. The Germans observed several AA hits on the aircraft (misidentified as a Lancaster) and saw it emit smoke before they dived. The Halifax and its crew of seven failed to return to base and presumably crashed shortly after this attack.

U 231, 22 Apr 1943
03.00 hrs, SE of Iceland: a British Catalina flying boat (190 Sqn RAF/T) strafed U-231 and dropped two bombs. The boat was undamaged, but one man was lost overboard. [Obersteuermann Walter Krause]

At 12.29 hrs, a second Catalina (190 Sqn RAF/E) dropped four bombs, this time with no effect.

U 237, 19 Oct 1944
A crew member fell overboard during exercises in the Baltic Sea and could not be found by the U-boat despite a search for several hours. Obermaschinist Paul Volkmann drowned.

U 238, 30 Nov 1943
Avenger from the escort carrier USS Bogue attacked, killing two men and wounding five. [Matrosenobergefreiter Jakob Philipp]

U 244, 25 Jul 1944
Two Norwegian Mosquito aircraft (Sqdn 333, E & F) attacked, killing one man and wounding seven. The boat was forced to return to base.

U 249, 3 Oct 1944
A crew member was washed overboard during exercises off Danzig at 1410hrs. He was rescued and given artificial respiration, but could not be revived. [Matrosenobergefreiter Franz Albrecht]

U 255, 11 Mar 1944
Two men were wounded in an aircraft attack. After a failed attempt to meet U-608, which had a doctor on board, the men's wounds were treated and the boat continued on patrol.

U 257, 14 Jun 1943
16.05 hrs, Bay of Biscay, outbound: while proceeding in company with U-600 and U-615 U-257 was strafed by a British Whitley bomber (10 OTU RAF/P, pilot P/O Orr), wounding one man. Three depth charges caused minor damage.
Whitley (10 OTU RAF/E, pilot Sgt Manson) exchanged gunfire with this group shortly afterwards, but this aircraft had used up its depth charges in an earlier attack.

U 258, 22 Sep 1942
The navigator was lost overboard from U-258. [Obersteuermann Heinrich Wittmann]

U 258, 12 Jan 1943
During heavy weather in the North Atlantic a lookout on U-258 broke his arm.

U 262, 18 Aug 1944
Three men were killed and wounded during an air raid on La Pallice. The boat left for her next patrol and transit to Germany on 23 August, reaching Flensburg on 5 November.

U 265, 28 Jun 1942
Three crew members drowned while bathing at the seaside resort Heringsdorf-Neuhof when U-265 was based at the nearby Swinemünde for trials. [Obermaschinist Fredy Schönbeck, Maschinenobergefreiter Hinrich Engelkes, Mechanikergefreiter Helmut Fritz Wolfgang Olbrich]

U 268, 22 Jan 1943
Leutnant zur See Wilhem Deutsch was lost by washing overboard. (When U-268 was sunk four weeks later only 44 men were killed, instead of the normally reported figure of 45 men.)

U 270, 4 Apr 1943
Three men were injured during severe weather.

U 271, 21 Oct 1943
One of the crew was killed when U-271 was attacked by two Avengers from USS Core while serving as a flak boat.

U 276, 2 May 1944
Two men were wounded in an accident with the anti-aircraft gun.

U 276, 25 May 1944
01.50 hrs, Norwegian Sea: surprise attack by a British B-24 Liberator (59 Sqdn RAF/C) in bad weather. The aircraft strafed the U-boat heavily and carried out two bombing runs, dropping six and then two depth charges. However, the bomb aimer had accidentally turned off the fusing switches while adjusting his intercom plug during the approach, which meant the depth charges didn't detonate. U-276 could only put up light and inaccurate flak at first because the 37mm gun malfunctioned after the first round, three of the 20mm twin gun crew were wounded, and two more men were injured when hit by waves. The U-boat escaped by crash diving after the second attack and made for Trondheim to land the wounded. [Maschinenmaat Hans Liedtke died from his wounds on 26 May]

U 286, 18 Jul 1944
North Sea south of Norway, outbound: a Norwegian Mosquito aircraft (Sqdn 333/K) attacked U-286. Despite being left damaged and with casualties of one dead and seven wounded, the boat reached Kristiansand, Norway the same day.

U 290, 14 Jun 1944
An attack by a Norwegian Mosquito (333 Sqdn RAF/H, crew Erling U. Johansen and Lauritz Humlen) damaged U-290 and wounded eight of the crew. The boat reached base at Bergen, Norway two days later.

U 299, 16 Jul 1944
The commander was wounded in an aircraft attack. The boat, part of a defence line off Norway, reached Bergen four days later.

U 306, 7 May 1943
06.55 hrs, inbound: British Halifax bomber HR745 (RAF Sqn 58/S, pilot W/C W.E. Oulton, DFC) dropped six depth charges about 15 seconds after U-306 dived. No damage.

U 309, 30 Sep 1943
A man was lost in the North Atlantic while working on deck. [Mechanikergefreiter Erich Jungmann]

U 331, 10 Oct 1941
The boat fought a gun duel with 3 British landing craft off Sidi Barrani and damaged HMS TLC-18 (A 18), but was itself slightly damaged. Two men of the gun crew were wounded, one of them mortally. [Bootsmann Hans Gerstenich]

U 333, 6 Oct 1942
The boat fought an epic battle with the British corvette HMS Crocus off the coast of Sierra Leone, west Africa on 6 Oct. 1942. The U-boat lost three men (including the IWO) and several men were wounded, including the commander, Peter Erich Cremer. The boat was heavily damaged and limped back to base with the help of a replacement WO, Kptlt. Lorenz Kasch, from U-107. The doctor from the milch cow boat U-459 tended the wounded. Cremer then spent three months in hospital. [Oberleutnant zur See Bernhard Hermann, Bootsmaat Heinz Kurze, Maschinenobergefreiter Erwin Levermann].

U 334, 13 Apr 1942
A day before U-334 reached base at Trondheim, Norway 19 year old Matrosengefreiter Otto Mayerhofer was lost overboard.

U 338, 17 Jun 1943
The Obersteuermann died and three men were wounded in an attack by a British Fortress aircraft (206 Sqn RAF/F) that also damaged the boat. [Obersteuermann Paul Trefflich]

U 340, 25 Aug 1943
U-340 rescued five Luftwaffe aircrew off Spain on 25 August. Shortly afterwards the boat was attacked by an aircraft. One man died and five were wounded. The boat suffered minor damage.

U 343, 8 Jan 1944
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
British Wellington (RAF Sqdn 179/R, pilot F/O W.F.M. Davidson)

Following two aircraft attacks on the boat the previous day, the Allies initiated a Swamp operation, and at 21.40 hrs Wellington "B for Baker" of 36 Sqdn RAF located U-343 SW of Cartagena. She was then attacked by a Wellington from 179 Sqdn piloted by W/C J.H. Greswell DFC, followed by a second aircraft from 179 Sqdn. Wellington R-Robert dropped six depth charges, but several AA hits set the port wing on fire and the aircraft crashed into the sea, killing five of the crew. Only the pilot survived, after being thrown clear. U-343 passed close to his dinghy twice, but the Germans did not take him prisoner because they had "more important things to do". He was picked up by HMS Active the next morning and later received the DFC.

The boat had already sustained damage in these attacks, but there was more to come, as a Catalina (202 Sqdn RAF, pilot F/L J. Finch) then continued the attack. The aircraft broke off the attack at 23.00 hrs, and only then because flak had damaged the port wing, fuselage and both fuel tanks and wounded the flight engineer. U-343, badly damaged and unable to dive, managed to escape in the darkness, with only one man wounded by strafing, and following repairs at sea managed to reach her new base at Toulon.

U 348, 6 May 1944
Two men stepped on a land mine near Stavanger, Norway. One was killed, the other wounded. The boat departed for its second patrol from Bergen on the 20th. [Bootsmaat Günter Labahn]

U 348, 28 Jan 1945
One man drowned in a diving accident near Gotenhafen, while checking the damage sustained by U-348 after it ran aground near Hela the day before. [Matrose Hermann Witthöft]

U 349, 5 May 1945
When the boat was scuttled Obermaschinist Wilhelm Hegenbarth set the charges off and refused to leave the boat.

U 351, 9 Mar 1945
U-351 was only limitedly able to dive after being slightly damaged by bombs during a Soviet air raid on Pillau, where it was used as electricity generation plant. Three crew members were killed, one seriously (who later died in a field hospital) and three lightly wounded. [Matrosenobergefreiter Karl-Heinz Kober (died on 11 March), Matrosenobergefreiter Franz Anton Xaver Lummer, Maschinenmaat Herbert Schwichtel, Matrosengefreiter Gottfried Storm]

U 354, 11 Nov 1942
A crew member was washed overboard and drowned after his safety belt broke in heavy seas in the Denmark Strait at 1800hrs. [Fähnrich zur See Horst Meyn]

U 354, 12 Mar 1943
A man from U-354 took his own life. [Maschinenmaat Helmut Richter]

U 370, 23 Sep 1944
In the Baltic Sea a man was washed overboard. [Matrosengefreiter Erwin Stiegeler]

U 372, 23 Nov 1941
During stormy weather, a lookout was badly injured on U-372.

U 373, 10 Nov 1943
A lookout on U-373 broke his arm in rough weather.

U 375, 16 Dec 1941
18.19 hrs, Mediterranean: An unidentified flying boat dropped seven depth charges on U-375 after the boat crash-dived. No damage.

U 376, 27 Jan 1943
The boat had to break off her one-day old patrol in the North Atlantic after some of the crew were wounded in an air attack.

U 376, 31 Jan 1943
U-376 left Bergen, Norway on 30 Jan. for her 6th patrol, only to return at 0057 hrs on the 31st after the the 3rd Watch Officer was lost overboard. After collecting his replacement she sailed again the same day. [Obersteuermann Heinz Richter]

U 377, 22 Sep 1943
On 22 Sept a British B-24 Liberator (Sqdn 10) attacked U-377, wounding the commander. The boat had to return to port under the command of the I WO.

U-377 on arrival at Brest. The wounded commander, Oblt.z.S. Kluth is wearing a white cap, standing to the left of the flotilla commander

U 380, 11 Mar 1944
Sunk on 11 March 1944 at the Missiessy Docks in Toulon, France, in position 43.07N, 05.55E by bombs during US air raid (15th AAF). There was one fatality. [Maschinenmaat Jonny Christoph]

U 393, 4 May 1945
U-393 and U-733 were proceeding from Flensburg to Horten together when they were attacked and badly damaged by US fighter bombers (XXIX TAC, 9th AF) in the Gelting Bay at 1740hrs. Both U-boats were scuttled by their crews the next day. U-733 had no casualties, but the commander and a crewman from U-393 were mortally wounded during the air attack. [Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich-Georg Herrle, Bootsmaat Erich Schneider]

U 404, 3 Sep 1941
A crew member was washed overboard off Cape Arkona during transfer from Kiel to Danzig and searched in vain by the U-boat for two hours until darkness set in. Matrosengefreiter Walter Skau drowned, his body was later washed ashore and buried at Copenhagen.

U 406, 23 Aug 1943
An aircraft attack killed two men and wounded three.

U 407, 9 Jan 1944
When the U-boat pens were hit during an air raid on Pola 4 U-407 crew were killed and 1 wounded. The boat next sailed on 29 Jan. [Oberleutnant (Ing) Heinz Weser, Leutnant zur See Eberhard Baumgart, Maschinenobergfreiter Rudolf Güttge, Maschinenobergefreiter Heinz Bönisch]

U 415, 14 Jun 1943
In the afternoon a British Whitley bomber (10 OTU RAF/E, pilot Sgt Manson) found a group of three outbound boats (U-159, U-415 and U-634) and sent a contact report instead of attacking. When the boats dived, the aircraft attacked, dropping four depth charges on U-415 at 15.54 hrs. No damage.

U 422, 23 Sep 1943
The boat was depth charged and strafed by an allied aircraft identified as a Halifax. Three men were wounded, two of them seriously. After requesting medical assistance the boat rendezvoused with milch cow U-460 on the 29th of September.

U 441, 12 Jul 1943
This flak boat was strafed by three British Beaufighters from 248 Sqdn RAF in the Bay of Biscay. Ten men died and 13 were wounded, including all officers except the ship's doctor. Dr Paul Pfaffinger took over command from Kplt von Hartmann, treated the wounded and brought the boat back to Brest. He was subsequently awarded the German Cross in Gold. This action led to the abandonment of the flak boat experiment, and all the boats involved were returned to their original armament configuration.

U 442, 10 Oct 1942
On board U-442, bad weather caused an accident in which one man was badly injured.

U 443, 9 Oct 1942
During very bad weather in the North Atlantic a lookout broke his arm.

U 450, 6 Jun 1943
A British Flying Fortress (220 Sqn RAF/A) caught U-450 on the surface 250km (155 miles) SE of Iceland, killing one man and wounding seven others. The boat was severely damaged and only managed to reach base at Brest with the assistance of other U-boats.

U 450, 5 Feb 1944
A man was lost overboard in the Mediterranean. [Matrosengefreiter Thomas Heneka]

U 453, 13 Oct 1942
One man was killed and three wounded in an accident with the machine gun. [Matrosengefreiter Horst Saupe + on 13th Oct., Steuermannsgefreiter Helmut Lorenz died 2 months later]

U 453, 24 Feb 1944
During test firing of the machine gun at base in Salamis, Greece, two men (not U-453 crew) were killed .

U 454, 26 Feb 1942
Matrosengefreiter Josef Kauerlost was lost overboard when U-454 was two days out from Trondheim, Norway.

U 455, 24 Mar 1943
A crewman was injured in an accident with the anti-aircraft machine gun.

U 462, 21 Jun 1943
This milch cow suffered one dead and four wounded from an attack by Mosquito aircraft from RAF Squadrons 151 & 456. [Matrosengefreiter Ferdinand Brunnbaur]. The boat had to break off patrol and return to port.

U 466, 24 Jul 1943
An attack by a B-24 Liberator caused minor damage but left five wounded, one, the 1st Officer, severely.

U 471, 23 Dec 1943
An attack by a British B-24 Liberator bomber (Sqdn 120/O) on 23 Dec wounded three men.

U 476, 24 May 1944
Following crippling damage from an attack by a British Catalina flying boat (210 Sqn RAF/V) at 07.18 hrs on this day, the boat was scuttled on 25 May. U-990 saved the commander and 20 men of the crew, but 34 went down with the boat due to bad weather that made the rescue operation difficult. U-990 was then herself sunk by a B-24 Liberator aircraft on 25 May. Three men from U-476 were lost.

U 481, 12 Dec 1944
U-481 met the homebound U-958 (Groth) in the Gulf of Finland to transfer a midshipman and to take over spare parts. However, the rubber dinghy with four crew members capsized after bringing Fähnrich Jähners to U-958 which managed to rescue Matrosenobergefreiter Toni Setzwein, but the other three men drowned. [Oberbootsmaat Johannes Lenz, Matrosenobergefreiter Josef Fallert, Matrosenobergefreiter Felix Pulkner]

U 483, 12 Oct 1944
During a Schnorchel failure the crew suffered a CO₂ poisoning where 1 man died. [Funkmaat Gustav Hoffmann]

U 488, 15 Oct 1943
A man died of illness on 15 Oct. [Maschinenmaat Karl Bergmann]

U 488, 25 Nov 1943
A man fell overboard, he was rescued died of heart failure shortly afterwards. [Matrosenobergefreiter Heinz Heinlein]

U 505, 10 Nov 1942
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
British Hudson V9253 (53 Sqn RAF/L, pilot F/S R.R. Sillcock, RAAF)

The II WO and a lookout were seriously wounded in a surprise air attack out of low cloud by a Hudson bomber SE of Trinidad. Four depth charges were released and a direct hit was scored, but the explosion also destroyed the aircraft and the five aircrew. Heavy damage cased the boat to abandon the patrol. 12 days later the II WO was transferred to the milch cow U-462.

U 505, 24 Oct 1943
The commander of U-505, Kptlt. Peter Zschech, committed suicide during heavy depth charging on 24 Oct. This was the only such case of the war. The IWO, Oblt. Meyer took over and brought the boat back to port.

U 507, 5 May 1942
One of the crew broke his arm during the handling of a torpedo.

U 513, 3 Apr 1943
Two bombs dropped by a British Hudson bomber (RAF Sqdn 233/U) in an encounter north of the Canary Islands caused minor damage.

U 514, 3 Jun 1942
An officer lost his life during a rescue operation in the Baltic. [I WO Leutnant zur See der Reserve Rolf Kühl]

U 515, 20 Sep 1942
A gunner from U-515 was killed by a misfire on the 2cm machine gun. [Matrosengefreiter Matthias Biazza]

U 515, 15 Jun 1944
Following his capture when U-515 was sunk on 9 April, Kptlt. Werner Henke, one of the top aces, committed suicide by pretending to attempt escape from his POW camp on 15 June after being put under psychological pressure by his US captors.

U 533, 25 Apr 1943
The boat was attacked by an American PBY-5A Catalina of VP-84/P-5. Three of U-533´s gun crew were injured by .30 cal. gunfire. (Bootsmaat Buttkus, Matrosengefreiter Ludwig and Matrosengefreiter Fekken). All recovered from their wounds to return to active service. Buttkus and Ludwig both perished when U-533 was sunk in October 1943.

U 541, 12 Nov 1944
One man from U-541 died on 22 Nov following an accident in Flensburg. [Maschinengefreiter Valentin Seile]

U 545, 26 Jan 1944
The I WO was lost overboard in the North Atlantic. [Oberleutnant zur See Hans Wilkening]

U 546, 16 Feb 1944
A Sunderland flying boat attacked U-546 in mid Atlantic. Although one man died and there was some minor damage to the diesel engines, the boat reported it was able to continue the patrol. [Matrosengefreiter Wilhelm van de Kamp]

U 548, 30 Aug 1944
One man was missing after crash diving. [Mechanikergefreiter (A) Walter Heise]

U 550, 22 Feb 1944
A Catalina aircraft (RCAF Sqdn 162/S, pilot Flying Officer C. C. Cunningham) dropped four depth charges and strafed the boat south of Iceland, killing two men. The boat was lost on the same patrol on 16 April.

U 562, 6 Dec 1941
4 men from the boat were injured in an accident while reloading torpedoes.

U 563, 7 Apr 1943
A British B-24 Liberator (86 Sqn RAF) dropped three depth charges which caused only minor damage, but two men were lost when the boat dived. [Oberbootsmaat Christian Wieland, Matrosengefreiter Rudolf Schädlich]

U 564, 28 Mar 1943
A man was lost in the North Atlantic. [Fähnrich zur See Heinrich Feuerhake]

U 571, 22 Apr 1943
The boat had to return to base because the commander was badly injured in an accident on the conning tower.

U 575, 25 Jan 1942
During bad weather in the North Atlantic a lookout on U-575 broke his arm.

U 575, 5 Oct 1942
A man was lost overboard. [Oberbootsmaat Herbert Bühler]

U 582, 10 Jan 1942
During heavy weather in the North Atlantic a lookout on U-582 broke his arm.

U 584, 31 Dec 1941
A lookout broke his arm during heavy weather in the Arctic.

U 584, 10 Oct 1943
One man was lost overboard in the mid Atlantic south of Iceland. (Thus only 52 men were aboard when the boat was sunk 3 weeks later, rather than 53 as given in most sources).

U 585, 5 Feb 1942
21 year old Fähnrich zur See Eberhardt Vollmer (Crew 1940) was lost overboard in the south Barents Sea.

U 590, 21 Mar 1943
On U-590 a crew member broke his arm.

U 591, 29 Jan 1942
A lookout broke his arm in rough seas west of Bantry Bay, Ireland.

U 591, 15 May 1943
12.36 hrs, west of the Bay of Biscay: the boat was strafed and bombed by a British Whitley bomber (RAF Sqdn 10 OTU/M, pilot F/Sgt G.W. Brookes). The boat was not damaged, but the commander, Kptlt. Hans-Jürgen Zetzsche, and one of the crew were wounded by gunfire, forcing the boat to return to base.

U 594, 25 May 1942
A man was lost when crash diving on patrol in the Caribbean. [Matrosengefreiter Walter Kunde]

U 595, 1 Jun 1942
A crew member fell overboard and drowned during gunnery training off Hela in the Gulf of Danzig at 1523hrs. [Matrosengefreiter Günther Hoppe]

U 596, 30 Aug 1942
U-596 lost a man overboard in the North Atlantic. [Fähnrich zur See Wolfgang Aldag]

U 598, 5 Aug 1942
While U-598 was refuelling in the Middle Atlantic by U-463 one of its men drowned during maintenance work on the hydroplanes and propellers. [Maschinenmaat Willi Bredereck]

U 600, 16 Jun 1943
09.04 hrs, NW of Finisterre, outbound: a group of three boats was attacked by British B-24 Liberator Mk.V bomber FL973 (59 Sqdn RAF/C, pilot F/O E.E. Allen, RCAF) . The aircraft dropped six depth charges on the boat in the centre of the formation, U-600, which suffered only minor damage, whereas the aircraft was hit four times by AA fire from all three boats. Strafing by the tail gunner killed one man [Matrosengefreiter Georg Laub]. As the pilot backed off to assess the damage, the boats began to dive. The aircraft dropped its remaining depth charges ahead of the diving point of the starboard boat before returning to base.

U 601, 4 May 1943
The II WO on U-601 was killed in a machine gun misfire.

U 604, 30 Jul 1943
U-604 was attacked by a US Ventura (VB-129 USN) off the coast of Brazil on 30 July, and both the IWO and Coxswain were killed in action. [Oberleutnant zur See Frank Aschmann (see right) and Oberbootsmaat Herbert Lurz]. The boat was left in a crippled state, but managed to escape from the area.

U 608, 17 Oct 1943
A lookout broke an arm during heavy weather.

U 610, 16 Dec 1942
During heavy weather in the North Atlantic a lookout on U-610 broke his arm.

U 610, 22 Apr 1943
During heavy weather a lookout on U-610 broke his arm.

U 612, 6 Aug 1942
During working up exercises in the Baltic U-612 sank after colliding with U-444. Two men from U-612 died. The boat was later raised and used for training. [Obermaschinist Wilhelm Merz, Maschinenobergefreiter Gerhard Ehrlich] (The I WO, Herbert A. Werner, described this event in his book Iron Coffins)

U 615, 14 Jun 1943
2112hrs, Bay of Biscay, outbound: while proceeding in company with U-257 and U-600, U-615 was strafed by a British Wellington aircraft (547 Sqn RAF/H, pilot P/O J.W. Hermiston). One of the deck crew operating a gun was killed. [Bootsmaat Heinz Wilke]

U 620, 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.

U 621, 13 Jan 1944
While serving as a flak boat U-621 was attacked by a British B-24 Liberator (59 Sqn RAF/A) off the Bay of Biscay. Matrosengefreiter Heinz Thomas was mortally wounded and later buried at sea, and six others were wounded. The commander decided to return to base. U-621 took ten days to limp back to Brest.

U 625, 2 Jan 1944
2138hrs, Bay of Biscay, inbound: a British Liberator aircraft (224 Sqn RAF/G, pilot P/O J.E. Edwards) made a Leigh Light attack. U-625 initially opened fire with the AA guns, and a hit was scored on the port side of the aircraft, wounding the radio operator with shrapnel, but the boat then began to dive. Her commander, Kptlt. Hans Benker countermanded the order to dive so that he and one of the crew could recover the Naxos radar warning device, but the dive continued, causing both men to drown.

U 629, 15 Oct 1942
Two crew members were washed overboard while trying to repair a leakage about 6nm north of Rixhöft at 1037hrs and drowned. The U-boat on transfer from Gotenhafen to Kiel searched in vain for them until 1248hrs. [Leutnant (Ing.) Gerhard Helmholz, Maschinengefreiter Wilhelm Köhl]

U 629, 16 Dec 1943
A lookout broke his arm during a severe storm.

U 631, 8 Oct 1943
The commander broke his hand in an accident while on patrol.

U 634, 10 Mar 1943
A man was lost overboard. [Bootsmaat Ernst Adam]

U 635, 15 Feb 1943
A man from U-635 took his own life in Hamburg. [Maschinengefreiter Werner Grande]

U 636, 13 Dec 1944
Four men were wounded when the machine gun exploded during an air attack.

U 637, 26 Apr 1945
Norwegian MTBs (motor torpedo boats) 711 and 723 claimed a German U-boat sunk near Utsira, Norway. Their target was U-637, which was not sunk. The commander of U-637 shot himself after being seriously wounded in the face. The Engineering Officer brought the boat to port. Several of the crew died in action. [Kapitänleutnant Wolfgang Riekeberg]

U 650, 4 Dec 1944
Seeman Edgar Schmidt suffered an accident while in port, and the boat left for her last patrol without him. He was posted to U-901 when fit. Date is approximate.

U 653, 18 Aug 1942
A British B-24 Liberator (Sqdn 120/F) attacked U-653 near convoy SL 119 in the Atlantic west of Portugal. One man was lost when the boat dived. (although there was a report that the man was saved by a British destroyer.) The boat was seriously damaged and had to limp back to base, reaching Brest on 30 August. [Matrosengefreiter Willi Pröhl]

U 653, 22 Dec 1942
A man was lost overboard at 08.10hrs in the Atlantic west of Portugal. [Bootsmaat Heinz Wendler]

U 653, 13 Feb 1943
U-653 lost an officer overboard in heavy weather in the mid Atlantic south of Greenland. [Oberleutnant zur See Werner Laudon]

U 653, 9 Mar 1943
A man was lost overboard. [Bootsmaat Walter Mayer]

U 654, 12 Jan 1942
During heavy weather in the North Atlantic a lookout on U-654 broke his arm.

U 657, 14 Dec 1941
Oblt. Hans-Jürgen Radke of U-657 was killed in a fire on the submarine depot ship Black Prince on 14 Dec. 1941. 28 men died. The boat was undergoing trials at the time.

U 657, 27 Apr 1942
The boat was damaged in an air raid on the harbour at Trondheim, Norway. One of the crew was injured.

U 668, 16 May 1944
17.15 hrs, WNW of Ålesund, Norway: Norwegian-crewed Sunderland JM667 (330 Sqdn RAF/V, pilot S/Lt C.T. Johnsen) attacked as U-668 was transiting between Bergen and Skjomenfjord. U-668 met the initial approach with heavy flak and evaded the single depth charge dropped. Four depth charges dropped on the port side during the second run caused minor damage, and one crewman suffered a bullet wound. The Sunderland was hit by flak in the fuselage and starboard wing, damaging both starboard engines, and a shell which exploded in the cockpit killed the bow gunner and wounded two more crew. The Sunderland barely made it back to Sullom Voe on three engines.

U 669, 25 Jul 1943

While the boat was docked at St.Nazaire one of the crew died in an air raid on Hamburg while on leave for his birthday. This raid was the beginning of the "Battle for Hamburg". [Bootsmaat Erich Bergner].

U 701, 31 Dec 1941
An officer was washed overboard from the U-701, being the last casualty of the year. [Leutnant zur See Bernhard Weinitschke]

U 703, 29 Mar 1942
One crew member on U-703 was badly injured in an accident off Heligoland.

U 703, 6 Mar 1944
At 1705hrs the boat was attacked by a Swordfish aircraft (816 Sqn FAA/X) of the British escort carrier HMS Chaser while operating against the convoy RA-57 in the Norwegian Sea. U-703 was surprised by the aircraft that used patchy clouds to stalk it, but opened fire with the quadruple and both twin 20mm AA guns just as it started to dive, strafing the U-boat and firing eight rockets in four salvoes. One rocket was seen to ricochet over the top of the conning tower after it struck the railing. The defensive fire stopped at once when six crew members were wounded, three of them seriously, but they were quickly replaced and the Swordfish kept at distance by very accurate fire until the U-boat was able to escape by crash diving after sustaining only minor damage. However, two of the injured men died after submerging and another died the following day while U-703 was returned to Narvik, where they were buried. [Funkobermaat Paul Kretschmar (died on 7 March), Bootsmaat Erich Junker, Maschinengefreiter Heinz Schade]

U 706, 27 Oct 1942
Three men were washed overboard: two died but the third was rescued by U-463. [Leutnant zur See Erich Eichmann, see right, Matrosenobergefreiter Ralf Köhler]

U 709, 12 Jul 1943
A torpedo explosion left two dead and one wounded.

U 711, 30 Sep 1943
A man died when the boat docked at Narvik. [Maschinengefreiter Heinz Schiefelbein]

U 717, 14 Oct 1944
Two of the crew were killed and three wounded in an air raid on Libau (Liepaja), Latvia. [Matrosenobergefreiter Walter Steube, Maschinenobergefreiter August Großdonk]

U 731, 4 Oct 1943
Six men were wounded, including the commander, when a British Hudson bomber (Sqdn 269/S) attacked. The boat was able to continue the patrol despite being damaged.

U 733, 3 Mar 1945
The commander of the boat died after an accident in Wesermünde. [Oberleutnat zur See Hans Hellmann]

U 734, 9 Dec 1943
During heavy weather a lookout broke his arm on U-734 in the North Atlantic.

U 737, 22 Oct 1944
The boat was attacked by a Soviet aircraft in the Barents Sea. Three men were injured and the boat suffered slight damage.

U 738, 3 Aug 1943
Two men were lost overboard in the Baltic Sea. [Bootsmaat Heinz Richter, Matrosengefreiter Josef Häseling]

U 743, 20 Jun 1944
An attack by a British B-24 Liberator (86 Sqdn RAF/K) left one dead and two wounded. The boat returned to Bergen, Norway.

U 755, 26 May 1943
06.26 hrs, 13 miles north of Alboran Island in the Mediterranean: the boat was attacked by a British Hudson bomber (500 Sqdn RAF, pilot S/L H.G. Holmes, DFC). Three depth charges were dropped by the aircraft during the first attack run, despite being hit in the port engine by flak, and followed up with two dive-bombing attacks, dropping first two and then one A/S bomb, one of which exploded only five yards (4.6m) off the port beam. The engine damage then forced the aircraft to return to base. One of U-755s crew was killed and two wounded by strafing, and the boat was forced to return to base due to heavy damage. She was sunk in another air attack two days later.

U 758, 8 Jun 1943
19.18 hrs, S of the Azores: U-758 was attacked by aircraft (VC-9 USN) from USS Bogue escorting convoy GUS 9. U-758 had just sighted the convoy and reported its position when it was attacked by an Avenger piloted by Lt (jg) L.S. Bailliett. Its four depth charges exploded astern, but the boat remained on the surface and put up heavy flak. After 30 minutes a second Avenger, piloted by Lt (jg) W.S. Fowler, dropped three depth charges despite sustaining heavy damage during the approach. AA hits wounded one of the crew and damaged the engine, the starboard wing and the bomb bay, forcing the plane to return to the carrier. A third Avenger, piloted by Lt (jg) F.D. Fodge, then attacked, assisted by a strafing run from a Wildcat piloted by Lt (jg) P. Perabo. The boat dived before depth charges were dropped and then successfully evaded the USS Clemson.

The Germans reported beating off an attack by eight carrier aircraft (identified as Martlet, Lysander (!) and Mustang) with their powerful new quadruple flak gun and claimed one shot down and four damaged. U-758 suffered only minor damage but seven men were wounded, forcing her to return to base.

U 760, 26 Feb 1943
A man from U-760 was killed during an air raid on Wilhelmshaven. [Obermaschinist Jakob Ippendorf]

U 760, 12 Aug 1943
At 1815hrs the boat was strafed and attacked with three depth charges by a US Liberator aircraft (VB-103 USN, pilot Lt(jg) Thueson) about 470nm south of Newfoundland. It fought off the attack with intense AA fire and escaped by crash diving, but one man was lost overboard. [Matrosenenobergefreiter Günter Werner]. U-760 sustained damage to the periscopes and forward torpedo tubes and had to break off the patrol.

U 762, 8 Oct 1943
A British B-24 Liberator (Sqdn 120, pilot Bryan W. Turnbull) attacked the boat and drove her under. A destroyer joined the attack but the boat escaped, although two men were wounded and one of the diesel engines was damaged.

U 764, 23 May 1944
The boat was attacked by an enemy aircraft and damaged slightly. One man was wounded.

U 801, 16 Mar 1944
The boat was attacked by an Avenger aircraft from the escort carrier USS Block Island in mid Atlantic. One man died and nine were wounded. U-801 was sunk the following day.

U 802, 11 Apr 1944
An accident required the amputation of a man's finger.

U 803, 11 Apr 1944
Five men from the boat died during an air raid on Stettin (Szczecin, Poland).

U 804, 16 Jun 1944
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
Norwegian Mosquito FB Mk.VI HP860 (333 Sqn RAF/R, pilot Lt Jacob M. Jacobsen)

The aircraft was on anti-submarine patrol and attacked U-804 at 2259hrs west of Bergen, but was hit by AA fire and forced to ditch 13 minutes later. Eight men from U-804 were wounded in the action. The two aircrew were rescued by U-1000 at 0215hrs on 18 June and taken to Norway for interrogation.

U 845, 14 Feb 1944
One man died and another was wounded in an air attack in which a British B-24 Liberator (RAF Sqdn 10, pilot A. P. V. Cheater) dropped eight depth charges.

U 847, 26 Jan 1943
During training in Wesermünde an accident occured while the machine gun was being fired. Casualties were one dead, one heavily wounded.

U 853, 17 Jun 1944
Two F-4F Wildcat fighters from the US escort carrier USS Croatan made repeated strafing attacks on U-853 about 30 miles (48km) south of the carrier. The boat dived and escaped before the carrier's Avenger bombers arrived, but had to return to base due to the many casualties: two dead and twelve wounded [Bootsmann Kurt Schweichler, Maschinengefreiter Karl-Heinz Löffler].

U 859, 5 Jul 1944
The boat was attacked by a Catalina (262 Sqdn RAF/L) in the Indian Ocean. One dead and three wounded. [Matrosenobergefreiter Hans Boldt]

U 860, 21 Apr 1944
Two men died when they were stranded topside during an emergency dive to avoid an incoming aircraft. [Matrosengefreiter Alfons Robalewsky, Bootsmaat Rudolf Versic]

U 873, 29 Jul 1944
During an air raid on Bremen, Germany on 29 July the boat was damaged and four men were wounded. One of them died in December 1944. [Matrosenhauptgefreiter Fritz Grusa]

U 873, 19 May 1945
Former commander Kptlt. Friedrich Steinhoff committed suicide while being kept in jail in Boston, USA instead of a POW camp.

U 921, 24 May 1944
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
Canadian Sunderland flying boat DV990 (RCAF Sqn 422/R, pilot F/O G.E. Holley)

14.20 hrs, off Norway: the boat was attacked while searching for U-476, which had been badly damaged in an air attack earlier in the day. The Sunderland was hit by flak during the attack run and and crashed into the sea after dropping three depth charges (no damage). The crew of 12 all died.

U 921, 24 May 1944
After shooting down one Sunderland at 14.20 hours, U-921 was sighted shortly afterwards by Sunderland DW111 (RCAF Sqn 423/S, pilot F/L R.H. Nesbitt), responding to a Mayday call, which had apparently observed the first Sunderland crash from a distance of about 12 miles (19 km). U-921 avoided the five depth charges it dropped, but strafing wounded three men, including the commander, Oblt. Wolfgang Leu. Oblt. Leu got both wounded crewmen below as the boat was diving, then closed the hatch, sacrificing himself to prevent the boat sinking. U-921 reached Trondheim on 26 May under the command of the I WO. (An American submarine commander was awarded the Medal of Honor for the selfsame act of heroism in the Pacific).

U 953, 9 Jul 1943
The boat was attacked by an aircraft on 9 July. Casualties were one dead and two wounded. [Matrose I Egon Döring]

U 957, 20 Mar 1943
The commander was lost during a diving accident in the Baltic Sea. [Oberleutnant zur See Franz Saar (see right)]

U 958, 26 May 1944
One man died and two were wounded in an attack by two Mosquito aircraft (RAF Sqdn 333/N/E). [Maschinenobergefreiter Herbert Frank]

U 959, 12 Aug 1943
A crew member was washed overboard during aircraft exercise about 40nm north of Rixhöft at 1602hrs. Despite wearing a life jacket he was not found during a search of four hours by six U-boats and the submarine tender Isar and drowned. [Bootsmaat Johann Toifl]

U 960, 27 Mar 1944
The inbound U-763 and U-960 were attacked by seven Mosquitos (two Mk.XVIII from 618 Sqdn and five Mk.VI from 248 Sqdn RAF) at the rendezvous point with their escort of two Sperrbrecher and four minesweepers off La Pallice. The Tsetse Mosquitos (L for Love, pilot F/O D. J. Turner and HX903/I Item, pilot F/O A. H. Hilliard) strafed U-960 and injured 14 crew, four of them seriously, including the commander with a wound above the left knee. The boat claimed one aircraft probably shot down, but while I Item was indeed badly damaged by a hit to the nose, it managed to reach base.

U 963, 26 Mar 1944
While at sea off Brest, France the boat was attacked by an unidentified Allied aircraft, leaving nine men wounded, two of them badly. The boat docked at Brest (not her base) the next day.

U 963, 12 Aug 1944
One man died in an air raid on the base at Brest, France and another was wounded so badly that he died a day later. [Bootsmaat Albrecht Sekula, Maschinenobergefreiter Helmut Laskosky]

U 963, 21 Aug 1944
A man was lost overboard during a crash dive at night (0017hrs) in the Bay of Biscay. [Bootsmaat Hans Reiter]

U 965, 6 Feb 1944
The IWO fell overboard and drowned. [Leutnant zur See Gustav-Günther Schoop]

U 965, 20 Jul 1944
13.05 hrs, Norwegian Sea: a British Liberator bomber (RAF Sqdn 59/N, pilot FO D.A. Willows) on A/S patrol attacked after locating U-965 on radar. The Liberator passed two miles astern to take up a favourable attack position on the starboard beam. As it approached, the 37mm AA gun jammed on firing the first round and both men manning the 20mm twin gun on the port side were hit by machine gun fire [Matrosenhauptgefreiter Willibald Niederle died and Bootsmaat Lütjen was wounded]. Luckily for the U-boat, the depth charges failed to release when the Liberator passed over her stern because the lock-select lever was not fully engaged. U-965 then escaped by diving, and seven depth charges were dropped about 40 seconds afterwards. Two small streaks of oil, an oval life raft and two pieces of wood were sighted by the crew of the Liberator when it returned to the scene approx. 90 minutes later, but the U-boat was undamaged, and remained submerged until the aircraft departed. Mhg Niederle was buried at sea at 22.05 hrs.

U 965, 22 Aug 1944
The boat was attacked by two RAF Martlet aircraft (modified Grumman Wildcat). Three men were killed and eight wounded. [Bootsmaat Kurt Pesch, Matrosengefreiter Heinz Schade, Maschinengefreiter Thiel]

U 967, 12 Oct 1943
The boat lost a man overboard in the North Atlantic on 12 October. [Mechnikergfreiter Hans Brackert]

U 968, 19 Jul 1944
11.40 hrs, Norwegian Sea west of Narvik, outbound: U-968 was depth charged twice by a British B-24 Liberator (RAF Sqdn 86/R, pilot F/L W.F.J. Harwood), causing minor damage. Strafing killed one AA gunner and wounded six more [Bootsmaat Werner Hahne]. The boat returned to Bogenbucht for repairs and to replace the casualties.

U 984, 22 Jan 1944
A man was lost overboard in the North Atlantic. [Maschinenobergefreiter Hermann Keller]

U 989, 7 Jun 1944
A Leigh Light attack by a British Wellington bomber (179 Sqn RAF, pilot W.J. Hill) in the Bay of Biscay caused minor damage. A B-24 Liberator and a flight of Mosquitos then joined in, wounding the U-boat commander and forcing U-989 to return to base.

U 993, 1 Jun 1944
One man was killed in an air attack and another wounded, who died one day later (Aulich). [Maschinenobergefreiter Matthias Giefing, Mechanikergefreiter Horst Aulich]

U 993, 12 Sep 1944
A man died of jaundice during a patrol in the North Atlantic. [Matrosenobergfreiter Wilhelm Lucksnat]

U 994, 17 Jul 1944
The boat was attacked by a Norwegian Mosquito aircraft (Sqdn 333/L). Some damage, and five wounded. The boat reached Bergen the same day.

U 995, 21 May 1944
An attack by a Canadian Sunderland flying boat (4 OTU RCAF/S) wounded five men.

U 997, 24 Feb 1945
The boat lost a man overboard in the Arctic Ocean. [Bootsmaat Erich Sachse]

U 1003, 7 Feb 1944
During the boat's trials in the Baltic near Hela one man died when he fell overboard while transferring to an outpost boat (V-Boot). [Funkgefreiter Werner Guhl]

U 1014, 16 Sep 1944
The boat suffered casualties of two dead and three wounded in a Soviet air raid on the harbour of Libau (Liepaja), Latvia.

U 1018, 17 Jun 1944
An accident took place on 17 June during U-1018's working up exercises in the Baltic in which one man died and two were wounded. [Obersteuermann Walter Nellsen]

U 1061, 11 Apr 1944
On the U-1061 a lookout broke his leg during heavy weather.

U 1062, 22 Dec 1943
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
Canadian Beaufighter LZ452 (RCAF Sqdn 404/H, pilot F/O I. Gillespie, RCAF)
Canadian Beaufighter NE323 (RCAF Sqdn 404/F, pilot F/L R. Munro, RCAF)

11.34 hrs, south of Farsund, Norway: the boat was attacked by eight Beaufighters while en route to Bergen escorted by the German minesweeper M-489. Four Beaufighters of 144 Sqdn RAF carried torpedoes and four from 404 Sqdn RCAF acted as flak suppressors. Both vessels were slightly damaged by strafing but all torpedoes missed. Flak brought down two Beaufighters, killing all four aircrew. One crew member aboard the minesweeper and three crew members aboard the U-boat were seriously wounded. Oberfunkmaat Rudolf Polzhuber from U-1062 died shortly before arrving at Egersund.

U 1169, 23 Apr 1944
During the Baltic exercises the boat lost one man off Pillau. [Matrosengefreiter Alfred Friedl]

U 1169, 11 Oct 1944
Two men were killed and one wounded when a torpedo exploded on board.

U 1192, 17 May 1944
A crew member on U-1192 was wounded when the 3,7 cm anti-aircraft gun exploded.

U 1203, 29 May 1944
During exercises in the Baltic the boat one man was lost during a crash dive north of Danzig. [Maschinengefreiter Johann Igel]

U 1221, 25 Sep 1944
One man was lost overboard from the boat. It seems that he jumped overboard in the North Atlantic after a punishment for sleeping on the watch. [Matrosengefreiter Emil-Heinz Motyl]

U 1228, 18 Sep 1944
22.53 hrs, Norwegian Sea: a British B-24 Liberator (RAF Sqdn 224/R, pilot FO P.M. Hill) dropped six depth charges in a Leigh-Light attack. Most overshot, but one fell close, causing only minor damage, but with serious consequences. On diving, damage to the schnorchel caused carbon monoxide poisoning of the crew. One man died and the boat was forced to return to base. [Matrosenobergefreiter Matthias Mittler]

U 1302, 17 Sep 1944
One of the crew took his own life with a pistol in the port of Gotenhafen.

U 2502, 8 Apr 1945
U-2502s commander, Kptlt. d. Res Gert Mannesmann, died in an air raid on Hamburg.

U 2503, 3 May 1945
A rocket from a Beaufighter aircraft penetrated the control room, killing the commander and twelve of the crew. U-2503 was scuttled the following day.

U 2524, 3 May 1945
British Beaufighters from Sqdns 236 and 254 attacked U-2524, killing one man and leaving the boat severely damaged. She was scuttled later that day. The LI refused to leave and went down with the boat. [Oberleutnant (Ing) Werner Braun]

U 2539, 21 Apr 1945
U-2539s commander, Oblt. Erich Jewinski, died in an air raid on Kiel.

U 3012, 28 Apr 1945
After a misfiring of the 2cm AA machine gun on 28 April the I WO Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang Schlett was killed instantly. The commander of the boat, Kapitänleutnant Hans Bungards, was heavily wounded and died next night in the Navy hospital at Travemünde.

U 3507, 21 Jan 1945
One man died in an accident. [Maschinengefreiter Rudi Grötzschel]

Total numer of losses:
610 men in 256 incidents (262 dead and 348 wounded)

Return to U-boat Crew Casualties