German submarine U-124 (1940)
U-124 after a patrol
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History | |
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Nazi Germany | |
Name | U-124 |
Ordered | 15 December 1937 |
Builder | Bremen |
Yard number | 956 |
Laid down | 11 August 1939 |
Launched | 9 March 1940 |
Commissioned | 11 June 1940 |
Fate | Sunk by British warships west of Portugal, 2 April 1943 west of Oporto at 41°02′N 15°39′W / 41.033°N 15.650°W |
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 | 4 officers, 44 enlisted |
Armament |
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Service record | |
Part of: |
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Identification codes: | M 00 412 |
Commanders: |
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Operations: |
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Victories: |
German submarine U-124 (nickname "Edelweissboot"
She was sunk with all hands west of Portugal on 2 April 1943.
Service history
U-124 was
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-124 conducted eleven war patrols, sinking 46 ships, totalling 219,862 gross register tons (GRT) and sinking two warships, totaling 5,775 long tons (5,868 t). She also damaged four ships, totalling 30,067 GRT. She was a member of two wolfpacks.
First patrol
U-124's first patrol began with her departure from
The submarine docked at Lorient on the French Atlantic coast, on 16 September.
Second patrol
U-124's second foray was conducted further northwest of the Scottish mainland. Her first victim was Trevisa; sunk on 16 October 1940 218 nmi (404 km; 251 mi) west of Rockall. The next day, 17 October, the Royal Navy River-class submarine HMS Clyde fired three torpedoes at her. All missed, and U-124 remained unaware of the attack.
U-124 went on to sink another four ships; Cubano, Sulaco (there was only one survivor) both on 20 October, Rutland on the 31st and the Empire Bison on 1 November. The latter ship's four survivors, on a raft when the U-boat came to investigate, played dead as they did not wish to be taken prisoner.
Third patrol
On her third sortie U-124 sank Empire Thunder north-northeast of Rockall on 6 January 1941.
Fourth patrol
On her fourth patrol the boat went to the Central Atlantic. U-124 refueled on 4 March in the neutral Spanish port of
She then destroyed another seven vessels southwest of Freetown, in Sierra Leone: Umona on 30 March, Marlene on 4 April, Portadoc on 7 April, Tweed a day later, Aegeon on the 11th, St. Helena on the 12th and the Corinthic on the 13th. 102 people died as a result of her sinking Umona. One account claims that after sinking her, U-124 surfaced and captured the liner's fourth officer from a lifeboat, and that he was never seen again.[3]
Corinthic was first struck by a dud torpedo, but another functioned correctly and sank the ship.
During this patrol U-124 also rendezvoused with the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer in order to give her a Quartz spare part for her defective Seetakt radar.
Fifth patrol
U-124 drew a blank on her fifth sortie, failing to destroy a single target. She scoured the central Atlantic southwest of Gibraltar, but found nothing.
Sixth patrol
Her sixth patrol was successful. Mohr, (her new commander), rather ambitiously claimed two ships totaling 15,000 tons sunk and a third vessel of 8,000 tons damaged. The reality was rather different. Baltallin (1,303 GRT) on 20 September 1941 and
In addition, Empire Stream was sunk on 25 September. Among the dead were two stowaways. A final effort on 26 September accounted for three more ships, also near the Azores: Petrel, Cortes, and Siremalm (there were no survivors from the latter vessel).
U-124 returned to Lorient on 1 October.
Seventh patrol
After almost a month in her base, U-124 started her seventh patrol on 30 October 1941. On 24 November, she was engaged by the Royal Navy Danae-class cruiser HMS Dunedin which, with two consorts, had been searching for the Armed Merchant Raider Atlantis and her supply ship Python. Dunedin was hit by two torpedoes, despite being outside the theoretical range of the U-boat's projectiles and sank 17 minutes later. 419 men died; there were 67 survivors.
The submarine remained in the South Atlantic and sank the American Sagadahoc on 3 December.
U-124 was shelled by the coastal battery at Fort Thornton, Georgetown on Ascension Island on 9 December; no damage was sustained.
Eighth patrol
A change of operational area saw the boat deploy to the Eastern United States seaboard following the success of
The boat scored her first victory before reaching her destination; sinking British Resource about 230 nautical miles (430 km; 260 mi) north of Bermuda on 14 March.
She then sank seven ships and damaged two more – all in March. One of them, E. M. Clark, was hit in such a way that her whistle sounded continuously until the ship went down. Another, Esso Nashville, was hit by a torpedo which failed to detonate, but a subsequent torpedo broke the tanker's back. She was held together only by deck plates and piping. The bow and stern sections soon separated, and the bow soon sank. The stern was towed to Baltimore where it was fitted with a new fore-part and the ship returned to service in March 1943.
Two more ships were hit before U-124 returned to Lorient. It was her most successful patrol; 68,215 GRT of shipping was lost or incapacitated.
Ninth patrol
It was back to the mid-Atlantic for the boat's ninth patrol, as part of
Two more ships were sunk before the boat returned to Lorient on 26 June.
Tenth patrol
Another change of operational zone, this time to the northern coastal area of South America. The submarine left Lorient on 25 November 1942. She sank Trewloras about 50 nautical miles (93 km; 58 mi) east of Port of Spain, Trinidad on 28 December.
The boat was attacked by a US
She sank four more ships; Broad Arrow, Birmingham City, Collingsworth and Minotaur, all on the ninth. Collingsworth's helmsman swung the ship to port so hard that one torpedo missed by about 10 feet (3 m). Unfortunately this torpedo then hit Minotaur despite strenuous evasive action by her helmsman.
Eleventh patrol and loss
U-124 left Lorient for the last time on 27 March 1943. Heading southwest, she had hardly left the
All 53 crew members died.
Wolfpacks
U-124 took part in two wolfpacks, namely:
- Süd (22 July – 5 August 1941)
- Hecht (8 May – 18 June 1942)
Summary of raiding history
Date | Ship | Nationality | Tonnage[Note 1] | Fate[6] |
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25 August 1940 | Firecrest | United Kingdom | 5,394 | Sunk |
25 August 1940 | Harpalyce | United Kingdom | 5,169 | Sunk |
25 August 1940 | Stakesby | United Kingdom | 3,900 | Damaged |
16 October 1940 | Trevisa | Canada | 1,813 | Sunk |
20 October 1940 | Cubano | Norway | 5,810 | Sunk |
20 October 1940 | Sulaco | United Kingdom | 5,389 | Sunk |
31 October 1940 | Rutland | United Kingdom | 1,437 | Sunk |
1 November 1940 | Empire Bison | United Kingdom | 5,612 | Sunk |
6 January 1941 | Empire Thunder | United Kingdom | 5,965 | Sunk |
8 March 1941 | Hindpool | United Kingdom | 4,897 | Sunk |
8 March 1941 | Lahore | United Kingdom | 5,304 | Sunk |
8 March 1941 | Nardana | United Kingdom | 7,974 | Sunk |
8 March 1941 | Tielbank | United Kingdom | 5,984 | Sunk |
30 March 1941 | Umona | United Kingdom | 3,767 | Sunk |
4 April 1941 | Marlene | United Kingdom | 6,507 | Sunk |
7 April 1941 | Portadoc | Canada | 1,746 | Sunk |
8 April 1941 | Tweed | United Kingdom | 2,697 | Sunk |
11 April 1941 | Aegeon | Greece | 5,285 | Sunk |
12 April 1941 | St. Helena | United Kingdom | 4,313 | Sunk |
13 April 1941 | Corinthic | United Kingdom | 4,823 | Sunk |
20 September 1941 | Baltallin | United Kingdom | 1,303 | Sunk |
20 September 1941 | Empire Moat | United Kingdom | 2,922 | Sunk |
25 September 1941 | Empire Stream | United Kingdom | 2,922 | Sunk |
26 September 1941 | Cortes | United Kingdom | 1,374 | Sunk |
26 September 1941 | Petrel | United Kingdom | 1,354 | Sunk |
26 September 1941 | Siremalm | Norway | 2,468 | Sunk |
26 November 1941 | HMS Dunedin | Royal Navy | 4,850 | Sunk |
3 December 1941 | Sagadahoc | United States | 6,275 | Sunk |
14 March 1942 | British Resource | United Kingdom | 7,209 | Sunk |
17 March 1942 | Acme | United States | 6,878 | Damaged |
17 March 1942 | Ceiba | Honduras | 1,698 | Sunk |
18 March 1942 | E. M. Clark | United States | 9,647 | Sunk |
18 March 1942 | Kassandra Louloudis | Greece | 5,106 | Sunk |
19 March 1942 | SS Papoose | United States | 5,939 | Sunk |
19 March 1942 | W. E. Hutton | United States | 7,076 | Sunk |
21 March 1942 | Atlantic Sun | United States | 11,355 | Damaged |
21 March 1942 | Esso Nashville | United States | 7,934 | Damaged |
23 March 1942 | Naeco | United States | 5,373 | Sunk |
12 May 1942 | Cristales | United Kingdom | 5,389 | Sunk |
12 May 1942 | Empire Dell | United Kingdom | 7,065 | Sunk |
12 May 1942 | Llandover | United Kingdom | 4,959 | Sunk |
12 May 1942 | Mount Parnes | United Kingdom | 4,371 | Sunk |
9 June 1942 | FFL Mimosa | Free French Naval Forces | 925 | Sunk |
12 June 1942 | Dartford | United Kingdom | 4,093 | Sunk |
18 June 1942 | Seattle Spirit | United States | 5,627 | Sunk |
28 December 1942 | Treworlas | United Kingdom | 4,692 | Sunk |
9 January 1943 | Birmingham City | United States | 6,194 | Sunk |
9 January 1943 | Broad Arrow | United States | 7,718 | Sunk |
9 January 1943 | Collingsworth | United States | 5,101 | Sunk |
9 January 1943 | Minotaur
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United States | 4,554 | Sunk |
2 April 1943 | Gogra | United Kingdom | 5,190 | Sunk |
2 April 1943 | Katha | United Kingdom | 4,357 | Sunk |
References
Notes
- gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.
Citations
- ^ Michael Gannon, Operation Drumbeat: The Dramatic True Story of Germany's First U-boat Attacks Along the American Coast in World War II, New York: Harper Perennial, 1991, p. 23
- ^ a b c d Gröner 1991, p. 68.
- ^ "Edwin Clarke – His Story". Merchant Navy Unsung Heroes. Keystage Arts and Heritage Company. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
- ^ "Sagadahoc (American Steam merchant) – Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII – uboat.net".
- ISBN 0060161558.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-124". German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
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.
- Sharpe, Peter (1998). U-Boat Fact File. Great Britain: Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
- Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. German Warships 1815–1945. Vol. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXB boat U-124". German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net. Retrieved 3 April 2007.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 124" (in German).