Events on this day

21 November

This is a run-down from several databases on our site. It's meant to give a clear picture of events on this date, all year round.

U-boat Shipyard report

Ordered (29)	Laid down (4)	Launched (4)	Commissioned (3)
1936: U-41, U-42, U-43, U-44, U-45, U-46, U-47, U-48, U-49, U-50, U-51 1940: U-337, U-338, U-387, U-388, U-389, U-390, U-449, U-450, U-731, U-732, U-733, U-734, U-771, U-772, U-773, U-774, U-775, U-776	1939: U-551, U-553 1940: U-160 1942: U-370	1942: U-737, U-762, U-957, U-958	1939: U-55 1940: U-110 1944: U-2521
These are commissioned boats. For more see our Shipyard pages.

Allied Ships hit on this date

	U-boat	Commander	Name of ship	Tons	Country	Convoy
1939
	U-16 [Mine]	Wellner	Ste. Claire	57	fr
	U-21 [Mine]	Frauenheim	HMS Belfast (35) (d)	11,500	br
	U-33	Dresky	Sulby	287	br
	U-33	Dresky	William Humphries	276	br
	U-41	Mugler	Les Barges II	296	fr
1940
	U-103	Schütze	Daydawn	4,768	br	OB-244
	U-103	Schütze	Victoria	6,085	gr	OB-244
1942
	U-160	Lassen	Bintang	6,481	nl
	U-163	Engelmann	Empire Starling	6,060	br
	U-518	Wissmann	British Promise (d)	8,443	br	ON-145
	U-518	Wissmann	British Renown (d)	6,997	br	ON-145
	U-518	Wissmann	Empire Sailor	6,140	br	ON-145
				57,390
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk. (d) = damaged See all Allied ships hit by U-boats during WWII.

Attacks on this day

1940

U-103. During an attack on convoy OB 244 NW of Ireland in which two ships were sunk, one of the convoy vessels turned to ram the surfaced U-103. U-103 fired a torpedo at the vessel, which missed, and just managed to evade ramming. (Blair, vol 1, page 208)

1942

U-518. 04.26 hrs, approx 200 miles (322km) SE of Sydney, Nova Scotia: following a successful attack on convoy ON 145, U-518 was forced to dive when taken under fire by several ships in bright moonlight.

HMCS Buctouche made for the tracer fire, obtained an Asdic contact at 04.42 hrs and carried out an immediate attack with four depth charges set at 100 ft (30m). A whistle effect was heard afterwards, but as the contact had been lost and classified as non-sub, the escort rejoined the convoy.

The depth charges caused no damage, but unknown to the crew, U-518 was in serious trouble, because the mounting of the heating plug in the third torpedo tube had broken loose, causing uncontrollable flooding of the bow torpedo room from a thick jet of water, as the bow cap could not be closed. At 05.18 hrs, the boat was forced to surface, and escaped undetected to the north. It took almost three hours to pump the compartment out, and U-518 was forced to return to base because the damage left her unfit for combat. (ADM 199/1268)

1943

U-648. Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
British Liberator BZ819 (53 Sqn RAF/A, pilot W/C H.R.A. Edwards, AFC)

0412hrs, vicinity of convoy SL-139: the aircraft was apparently hit by flak in making a strafing run using the Leigh Light, and its depth charges fell wide. On the return flight three engines failed and the pilot was forced to ditch. He was the sole survivor, rescued on 22 November by HMS Lincolnshire.

(Franks/Zimmerman)

U-575. At 07.40 hrs the boat was approached by a Leigh Light Liberator and opened fire with the AA guns. The aircraft withdrew without dropping bombs and U-575 dived unscathed. (Franks/Zimmerman)

U-967. At 06.12 hrs the boat fought off a "Halifax" aircraft with flak. This was probably B-24 Liberator A for Able from 53 Sqdn RAF, pilot W/C H.R.A. Edwards, AFC), escorting convoy SL 139, which was unable to attack because its Leigh Light failed. (Franks/Zimmerman)

U-155. U-155 was severely damaged by enemy aircraft.

U-boats lost

1942: U-517 , U-184 +
1943: U-538 +

106 men died when those 3 U-boats were lost on this date. 52 men survived.

Survivors from U-boats almost always landed in allied captivity.
U-boats marked with + were lost with all hands.

- For more information on U-boat losses check out our Fates section.

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

There were no men lost from U-boats on this date, 21 November.

- For more information on Men lost from U-boats check out this page.

Personnel Information

The following men were born on this day:
Ernst Hechler (1907), Christian Reich (1915).

The following men died on this day:
Günther Dangschat (1942), Johann-Egbert Gossler (1943), Friedrich Petran (1981), Werner-Karl Schulz (1960), Hubert Verpoorten (1995).

See the entire U-boat commander listing showing all U-boat commanders.
We might include more officers (Allied and Axis) at a later date.

U-boat departures and arrivals on 21 November

This section shows the U-boat departures and arrivals from bases on this day of the year. Current country names shown with harbour names. Boats entering port display days at sea during that patrol.

1939

U-boats entering base:
To Kiel, Germany: U-60 (18 days)

1941

U-boats entering base:
To Bergen, Norway: U-38 (38 days)
To Lorient, France: U-373 (22 days)
To St. Nazaire, France: U-93 (35 days)

1942

Sailed:
From Brest, France: U-254 (lost 18 days later)
From La Spezia, Italy: U-83
From Lorient, France: U-513
From St. Nazaire, France: U-135

U-boats entering base:
To Brest, France: U-218 (28 days)
To Narvik, Norway: U-657 (4 days)
To St. Nazaire, France: U-381 (52 days)

1943

Sailed:
From Brest, France: U-92, U-415, U-653
From Tromsö, Norway: U-636

U-boats entering base:
To Brest, France: U-413 (51 days)

1944

Sailed:
From Horten, Norway: U-802
From Narvik, Norway: U-293, U-387 (lost 19 days later), U-965, U-997
From Skjomenfjord: U-315
From Trondheim, Norway: U-299

U-boats entering base:
To Bergen, Norway: U-483 (50 days)
To Skjomenfjord U-315 (3 days)

U-boats at sea on 21 November

Boats entering port on this day are not counted, but boats departing for patrol are. (+) indicates the boat was lost during this patrol.

General Events on 21 November

1939

U-20 laid 9 mines off Yarmouth, resulting in two ships sunk later that year.

1942

U-163 sank the Empire Starling and captured her skipper.

1947

U-858 was scuttled by the US Navy off New England, USA after being used for torpedo trials.

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Add more events! - If you know of an interesting event that happened on this day that's missing, or an upcoming event that you'd like to share, please contact us. We already have 782 entries that will appear in due course, so your suggestion may not appear immediately, but we are continuously updating the database.

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Commander file

U-boat of the day

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Events on this day

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U-boat Shipyard report

Allied Ships hit on this date

Attacks on this day

1940

1942

1943

U-boats lost

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

Personnel Information

U-boat departures and arrivals on 21 November

1939

1941

1942

1943

1944

U-boats at sea on 21 November

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

General Events on 21 November

1939

1942

1947

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