German submarine U-110 (1940)
U-110 and HMS Bulldog
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History | |
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Nazi Germany | |
Name | U-110 |
Ordered | 24 May 1938 |
Builder | |
Yard number | 973 |
Laid down | 1 February 1940 |
Launched | 25 August 1940 |
Commissioned | 21 November 1940 |
Homeport | Lorient, France |
Fate | Captured, 9 May 1941, sunk the following day |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | German Type IXB submarine |
Displacement | |
Length |
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Beam |
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Draught | 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range |
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Test depth | 230 m (750 ft) |
Complement | 48 to 56 officers and ratings |
Armament |
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Service record | |
Part of: |
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Identification codes: | M 23 130 |
Commanders: |
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Operations: |
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Victories: |
German submarine U-110 was a
Design
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18.2 knots (33.7 km/h; 20.9 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph).
Service history
U-110's keel was laid down 1 February 1940 by
The boat was part of the 2nd U-boat Flotilla from her commissioning date until her loss. Lemp commanded U-110 for her entire career. In an earlier boat (U-30), he was responsible for the sinking of the passenger liner SS Athenia on the first day of the war. The circumstances were such that he was considered for court-martial. He continued, however, to be one of the most successful and rebellious commanders of his day.[2]
Operational career
First patrol
U-110 set out on her first patrol from
U-110 arrived in Lorient on the French Atlantic coast on 29 March, having cut the patrol short due to damage from the exploding gun.
Second patrol and capture
The boat departed Lorient on 15 April 1941. On the 27th, she sank Henri Mory about 330 nautical miles (610 km; 380 mi) west northwest of Blasket Islands, Ireland.
Her next quarry were the ships of
Operation Primrose (9 May 1941)
U-110 survived the attack, but was seriously damaged. HMS Bulldog and Broadway remained in contact after Aubrietia's last attack. Broadway shaped course to ram, but fired two depth charges beneath the U-boat instead, in an endeavour to make the crew abandon ship before scuttling her.[4] Lemp announced "Last stop, everybody out", meaning "Abandon ship". As the crew turned out onto the U-boat's deck they came under fire from Bulldog and Broadway with casualties from gunfire and drowning. The British had believed that the German deck gun was to be used and ceased fire when they realised that the U-boat was being abandoned and the crew wanted to surrender.
Lemp realised that U-110 was not sinking and attempted to swim back to it to destroy the secret material, and was never seen again. A German eyewitness testified that he was shot in the water by a British sailor, but his fate is not confirmed. Including Lemp, 15 men were killed in the action, and 32 were captured. Radio Officer Georg Högel and the rest of the crew were held at Camp 23 (
Bulldog's
The documents captured from U-110 helped Bletchley Park codebreakers solve Reservehandverfahren, a reserve German hand cipher.
Wolfpacks
U-110 took part in one wolfpack, namely:
- West (9 May 1941)
Modern-day connections
The 2000 film U-571 was partially inspired by the capture of U-110.
In 2007, the submarine's chronometer was featured on the BBC programme Antiques Roadshow, from Alnwick Castle, in the possession of the grandson of the captain of the ship which captured her.
Summary of raiding history
Date | Ship | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate[6] |
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16 March 1941 | Erodona | United Kingdom | 6,207 | Damaged |
23 March 1941 | Siremalm | Norway | 2,468 | Damaged |
27 April 1941 | Henri Mory | United Kingdom | 2,564 | Sunk |
9 May 1941 | Bengore Head | United Kingdom | 2,609 | Sunk |
9 May 1941 | Esmond | United Kingdom | 4,976 | Sunk |
See also
- U-571, a film inspired by the capture of U-110, erroneously claimed that the Enigma machine was seized by American submariners instead of the Royal Navy.
- Monteith POW camp (Camp 23)
Other captured U-boats
References
- ^ a b c d Gröner 1991, p. 68.
- ISBN 9781780221236.
- ^ "U-boat Archive – U-110 – Greenock Report – Attacks on U-110". Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "U-boat Archive – U-110 – Greenock Report – Attacks on U-110". Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ "Capturing the real U-571, BBC". Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-110". German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
Bibliography
- Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary. Translated by Brooks, Geoffrey. London, Annapolis, Md: Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-186-6.
- Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 [German U-boat losses from September 1939 to May 1945]. Der U-Boot-Krieg (in German). Vol. IV. Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler. ISBN 3-8132-0514-2.
- Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). German Warships 1815–1945, U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. Vol. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
- ISBN 0-7538-1130-8.
External links
- Enigma and Operation Primrose Archived 8 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXB boat U-110". German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 110". Deutsche U-Boote 1935–1945 – u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 2 February 2015.