Events on this day

24 December

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 (0)	Laid down (4)	Launched (3)	Commissioned (1)
No U-boat orders on this date	1940: U-178 1941: U-648, U-672 1942: U-805	1941: U-610 1942: U-489, U-490	1941: U-460
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
1940
	U-65	Stockhausen	British Premier	5,872	br	SLS-60
1941
	U-568	Preuss	HMS Salvia (K 97)	925	br	TA-5
1943
	U-275	Bork	USS Leary (DD 158)	1,090	am
	U-415	Neide	HMS Hurricane (H 06)	1,340	br	OS-62
	U-515	Henke	Dumana	8,427	br	STL-8
1944
	U-486	Meyer	Leopoldville	11,509	be	WEP-3
	U-637	Riekeberg	BMO-594 (No 90)	39	sj
	U-806	Hornbostel	HMCS Clayoquot (J 174)	672	ca	XB-139
	U-862	Timm	Robert J. Walker	7,180	am
				37,054
* 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

1944

U-806. After sighting two convoys the boat attacked and sank one of the escorts, the Canadian minesweeper HMCS Clayoquot. The escorts aggressively hunted U-806, but she eluded them and escaped. (Blair, vol 2, page 648)

U-boats lost

No U-boats were lost on this date, 24 December.

- 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, 24 December.

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

Personnel Information

The following men were born on this day:
Hermann Böhm (1910), Hans Hildebrandt (1911), Paul Just (1915), Arno Leisten (1919).

The following men died on this day:
Max Bernd Dieterich (1980), Eduard Turre (1998).

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 24 December

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-21 (8 days), U-22 (12 days)

1940

Sailed:
From Kiel, Germany: U-105

1941

Sailed:
From Kiel, Germany: U-87, U-135, U-156, U-753
From Kirkenes: U-134

U-boats entering base:
To Lorient, France: U-128 (14 days)
To Messina, Italy: U-74 (16 days)
To St. Nazaire, France: U-581 (12 days)

1942

Sailed:
From Kiel, Germany: U-337 (lost 11 days later), U-632

U-boats entering base:
To Brest, France: U-439 (43 days)
To Kiel, Germany: U-209 (6 days), U-601 (10 days)
To La Spezia, Italy: U-562 (33 days)
To St. Nazaire, France: U-758 (41 days)

1943

U-boats entering base:
To Bergen, Norway: U-1062 (7 days)

1944

Sailed:
From Bergen, Norway: U-1233
From Horten, Norway: U-735 (lost 5 days later)

U-boats entering base:
To Kilbotn U-318 (4 days)
To Kristiansand U-1223 (119 days)

U-boats at sea on 24 December

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

1939

U-30, U-46.
2 boats at sea.

General Events on 24 December

1944

On Christmas Eve 1944 U-486 torpedoed the SS Leopoldville in the English Channel 5 miles from the port of Cherbourg, France. The troopship was transporting 2235 American soldiers from regiments of the 66th Infantry Division. The ship finally sank 2 1/2 hours later. Everything that could, went wrong: calls for help were mishandled, rescue craft were slow to the scene and the weather was unfavourable. 763 American soldiers died that night, making this the worst loss an American infantry division suffered from a U-boat attack during the war. The Allied authorities were embarrassed by the incident and decided to bury the case. Many loved ones were told the men were missing in action although they were already dead by then, later to be classified as killed in action. The files were not opened to the public until 1996. U-486 had not said her last word, as she sank the British frigates HMS Affleck and Capel only two days later in the same area before returning on 15 Jan, 1945 to Bergen, Norway. The wreck of the SS Leopoldville was discovered by Clive Cussler with the help of his shipwreck-hunting organization NUMA (National Underwater & Marine Agency). His book The Sea Hunters contains a chapter on the sinking which describes the incident from eyewitness accounts, and includes the story of the wreck's discovery.

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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

U-boat Finder

Events on this day

24 December

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U-boat Shipyard report

Allied Ships hit on this date

Attacks on this day

1944

U-boats lost

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

Personnel Information

U-boat departures and arrivals on 24 December

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

U-boats at sea on 24 December

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

General Events on 24 December

1944

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