U 201

German submarine ''U-201'' was a Type VIIC U-boat of the ''Kriegsmarine'' in World War II.

The submarine was laid down on 20 January 1940 by Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft yard at Kiel as yard number 630, launched on 7 December 1940, and commissioned on 25 January 1941 under the command of ''Kapitänleutnant'' Adalbert Schnee. Attached to the 1st U-boat Flotilla, she made nine successful patrols in the North Atlantic, the last two under the command of ''Oberleutnant zur See'' Günther Rosenberg. She was a member of eight wolfpacks.

She was sunk on 17 February 1943 in the North Atlantic, by depth charges from a British warship. All 49 hands were lost.

Design

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. ''U-201'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8–27 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to .

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of but a maximum submerged speed of only . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at .

''U-201'' was armed with five torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern) and fourteen torpedoes, one SK C/35 naval gun with 220 rounds, and a C/30 cannon for anti-aircraft defence. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.

Service history

First patrol

''U-201'' departed Kiel for her first patrol on 22 April 1941. Her route took her across the North Sea, through the gap separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands and into the Atlantic Ocean. Her first 'kill' was ''Capulet'' which she sank on 2 May south of Iceland. The ship had already been torpedoed by ; her back was broken, she had caught fire and been abandoned.

Moving east of Greenland, she sank ''Greglia'' on 9 May and damaged ''Empire Cloud'' on the same day.

She was attacked over five hours by three escorts from Convoy OB 318. A total of 99 depth charges were dropped, severely damaging the boat, but she escaped at night. Damage to a fuel tank curtailed the patrol and it returned to Lorient in occupied France on 18 May.

Second patrol

The submarine's second foray passed without major incident: starting on 8 June 1941, finishing on 19 July but in Brest. (For the rest of her career she would be based in this French Atlantic port).

Third patrol

''U-201''s third sortie began from Brest on 14 August 1941. On the 19th in mid-Atlantic she took part in a wolfpack attack on Convoy OG 71. Firing one spread of four torpedoes she hit the cargo ship ''Ciscar'' and passenger liner , which was carrying the Convoy Commodore and 86 other Royal Navy personnel. Both ships sank, and ''Aguila''s sinking killed 152 of the 168 people aboard, including all but one of the naval staff.

''U-201'' continued with the concerted attack on OG 71, sinking the Irish ''Clonlara'' on 22 August and British merchants ''Aldergrove'' and ''Stork'' northwest of Lisbon on the 23rd, before returning to Brest on the 25th.

Fourth patrol

Success continued to accompany ''U-201''. Having departed Brest on 14 September 1941 she sank ''Runa'', ''Lissa'' and ''Rhineland'', all on 21 September.

She then sank ''Cervantes'' on 27 September. This ship had four survivors from ''Ciscar'' on board. She also accounted for HMS Springbank a Fighter catapult ship about west southwest of Cape Clear, southern Ireland on the same date. One torpedo was seen to pass between ''Springbank'' and ''Leadgate'', but two others sealed the British vessel's fate.

The submarine's final victim on this patrol was ''Margareta'', which went down southwest of Cape Clear.

''U-201'' returned to Brest on 30 September.

Fifth patrol

''U-201''s fifth sortie into western North Atlantic lasted 49 days without finding any targets.

Sixth patrol

''U-201'' commenced her sixth and longest patrol on 24 March 1942. Having departed Brest and crossed the Atlantic, she damaged the Argentinian and neutral ''Victoria'' about east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on 18 April. The crew, realizing that the ship, despite the torpedo strike, was not settling, decided to stay on board. The U-boat men saw the neutrality markings only after a second torpedo was fired and the submarine had surfaced. ''Victoria''s complement then abandoned its vessel; ''U-201'' reported its mistake to the '' BdU'' (U-boat headquarters) which ordered it to clear the area, which it did.

, an American minesweeper towing the barge ''YOG-38'', picked up ''Victoria''s distress signals and sent a boarding party across to the tanker to effect repairs. The ship reached New York on 21 April and after much legal wrangling, was repaired and requisitioned by the US government and returned to service in July. She survived the war.

Three more ships went to the bottom on this patrol - ''Bris'' on 21 April, '' SS San Jacinto (1903)'' and ''Derryheen'', both on 22 April.

The boat returned to Brest on 21 May.

Seventh patrol

Patrol number seven was, in tonnage terms, the boat's most successful. Departing Brest on 27 June 1942, she operated in the eastern north Atlantic, sinking the Blue Star Liner east of São Miguel in the Azores on 6 July. Casualties were increased when a torpedo exploded under a lifeboat that had just been lowered from the ship and the remaining lifeboats became separated, one spending 20 days at sea before being rescued and another being lost without trace.

Another victim, ''Cortuna'', was sunk about west of Madeira on 12 July after had already hit her. The ''Siris'' was sunk the same day hit with a torpedo and then with 100 rounds from the deck gun.

Three more ships were sunk before the submarine returned to Brest on 8 August.

Eighth patrol

The eight patrol was off South America sinking three ships. The Liberty ship , was sunk about east of Trinidad, only after a chase lasting 32 hours, and seven torpedoes on 8 October 1942. Also involved was .

Another, ''Flensburg'', was sunk the following day about from Suriname. The 48 survivors were spotted by a Yugoslavian merchant ship, but when they learned of the prospect of an unescorted Atlantic crossing to Durban, opted to remain in their lifeboats until they reached the mouth of the River Marowijine between French Guiana and Suriname.

Ninth patrol and loss

The boat left Brest for the last time on 3 January 1943 and headed for the eastern coast of Canada. As part of the Taifun group attacking Convoy ONS 165 defended by Escort Group B6 she She was sunk in position by depth charges from the British destroyer east of Newfoundland. All 49 men died. It had been thought that ''U-201'' was sunk after depth charges and ramming by the British destroyer , also of Escort Group B6, east of Newfoundland on 17 February 1943 but that was .

Wolfpacks

''U-201'' took part in eight wolfpacks, namely:
* West (8 – 13 May 1941)
* Kurfürst (16 – 20 June 1941)
* Störtebecker (5 – 19 November 1941)
* Gödecke (19 – 25 November 1941)
* Letzte Ritter (25 November - 4 December 1941)
* Hai (3 – 20 July 1942)
* Falke (8 – 19 January 1943)
* Haudegen (19 January - 15 February 1943)

Summary of raiding history

*Later sunk by .

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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{{DEFAULTSORT:U0201
1940 ships
German Type VIIC submarines
Ships built in Bremen (state)
Submarines lost with all hands
U-boats commissioned in 1941
U-boats sunk by depth charges
U-boats sunk in 1943
U-boats sunk by British warships
World War II submarines of Germany
Maritime incidents in February 1943