Attacks on allied vessels Operationsbefehl Hartmut

1 attacks on allied vessels

1.1 u-4
1.2 u-13
1.3 u-37
1.4 u-38
1.5 u-47
1.6 u-48
1.7 u-51
1.8 u-65

attacks on allied vessels

german submarines operating near norwegian coast made numerous attacks on british ships, although many proved unsuccessful due faulty torpedoes.

u-4

u-4 sank british t-class submarine hms thistle.

u-13

u-13 sank british steam merchant swainby off shetland islands 1 torpedo on 17 april.

after docking in bergen short time, u-13 sank danish vessel lily had been taken prize british after german occupation of denmark. first torpedo failed arm, second broke ship in half. few days later u-13 damaged british ship before returning port.

u-37

u-37 sank 1 swedish tanker, 1 norwegian freighter , 1 british freighter equalling 18,715 tons of shipping between 10 , 12 april.

u-38

there 2 naval battles of narvik on 10 april 1940 , 13 april 1940. u-38 , u-65 positioned @ entrance of fjord. when royal navy arrived, u-38 fired @ hms valiant , @ hms southampton missing both. in second battle, u-38 fired @ hms effingham torpedoes detonated prematurely.

u-47

u-47 under günther prien encountered wall of ships on 15 april. british fleet of cruisers , transport ships anchored near narvik offloading troops , war materials. prien targeted 2 cruisers , 2 transports 4 forward torpedoes none detonated. hour , half later after thorough inspection of tubes , torpedoes, prien tried again. again, textbook surfaced attack 750m away using 4 torpedoes u-47 had no success. 1 detonated underwater after hitting rock, off course.

after leaving ofotfjord, u-47 spotted , attacked hms warspite. 1 torpedo detonated ahead of battleship, while detonated far behind. u-47 spent next hours submerged under persistent depth charge attack.

u-48

u-48 under herbert schultze made multiple attacks on fleet of 3 cruisers on 10 april, torpedoes failed arm or detonated prematurely. later on 14 april, u-48 attacked hms warspite both torpedoes failed detonate. warspite s destroyer screen fired on vessel , u-48 depth charged, escaped destruction.

u-51

u-51 attacked destroyer, torpedoes detonated prematurely. on 19 april, commander dietrich knorr attacked french cruiser Émile bertin, both torpedoes missed.

u-65

hans-gerrit von stockhausen commanding u-65 attacked group of british destroyers, torpedoes missed or failed arm. u-boat subsequently suffered moderate damage when same destroyers depth charged her.