German submarine U-154 (1941)
![]() U-505, a typical Type IXC boat
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History | |
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Name | U-154 |
Ordered | 25 September 1939 |
Builder | |
Yard number | 996 |
Laid down | 21 September 1940 |
Launched | 21 April 1941 |
Commissioned | 2 August 1941 |
Fate | Sunk on 3 July 1944[1] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Type IXC submarine |
Displacement | |
Length |
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Beam |
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Height | 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in) |
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 45 897 |
Commanders: |
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Operations: |
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Victories: |
German submarine U-154 was a
The submarine began her service life with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla; moving on to the 2nd flotilla for operations. She conducted eight patrols, sinking ten ships.
Although it was believed to be sunk by the Colombian Destroyer ARC Caldas during a short encounter near San Andrés Island in 1944,[2] the U-154 escaped without damage. Using spare oil and some damaged torpedo tubes, the Germans were able to fake the oil slick and wreckage.
U-154 was sunk by the US destroyers USS Inch and Frost northwest of Madeira on 3 July 1944.
Design
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18.3 knots (33.9 km/h; 21.1 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph).
Service history
First patrol
The boat's first patrol began with her departure from
Second patrol
For her second sortie, she sailed to the Caribbean, sinking Como Rico on 4 April 1942, about 225 nmi (417 km; 259 mi) north of St. Juan, in Puerto Rico. Her success continued with the sinking of Catahoula, Delvalle, Empire Amethyst and Vineland, all near Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Third, fourth and fifth patrols
Her third patrol saw her cross the Atlantic once more. She sank Tillie Lykes on 28 June 1942, about 100 nmi (190 km; 120 mi) south of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and Lalita, using the deck gun, in the Yucatán Channel on 6 July.
One of the boat's victims on this, her fourth patrol, was Nurmahal. She was sunk on 9 November 1942 300 nmi (560 km; 350 mi) east of Martinique "in less than thirty seconds."[4] Another was Tower Grange, sunk 250 nmi (460 km; 290 mi) off Cayenne in French Guiana.
Having made the short trip from Lorient to Brest, the submarine's fifth foray was her longest (109 days) and second most successful. Amongst many others, she attacked Florida. Although the ship had her back broken on 28 May 1943, she was eventually repaired.
Sixth, seventh and eighth patrols and loss
She departed on patrol number six on 2 October 1943. U-154 was attacked by an unidentified
She was then attacked on 13 March 1944, possibly by the US Navy patrol boat USS PC-469 north of the Panama Canal; only minor damage was sustained. U-154 was also engaged on 29 March by the Colombian Navy destroyer ARC Caldas. She returned to France, again to Lorient, on 28 April 1944.
U-154 was sunk by the US destroyers USS Inch and Frost northwest of Madeira on 3 July 1944.
Wolfpacks
U-154 took part in one wolfpack, namely:
- Südwärts (24 – 26 October 1942)
Postscript
Oblt.z.S. Oskar Kusch, who had commanded the boat in 1943 and the first month of 1944 and successfully attacked three ships, was court-martialled and shot in May 1944, having been reported by his first officer, Ulrich Abel and his chief engineer, Kurt Druschel for Wehrkraftzersetzung (sedition and defeatism).[5] Kusch had removed Hitlers portrait from the boat and had repeatedly called him an idiot and described the Nazis as tapeworms.[6] Ironically Ulrich Abel, who subsequently gained his own command on U-193 was killed before Kusch's murder, when U-193 was sunk in April 1944 on its first patrol under his command. Druschel was killed when U-154 was sunk on 3 July 1944. It was not until the 1990s that Kusch's legal record was wiped clean and a memorial to his memory was erected, Oskar-Kusch-Strasse, a street in Kiel, Germany is named after him.
Summary of raiding history
Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[4] |
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4 April 1942 | Comol Rico | ![]() |
5,034 | Sunk |
5 April 1942 | Catahoula | ![]() |
5,030 | Sunk |
12 April 1942 | Delvalle | ![]() |
5,032 | Sunk |
13 April 1942 | Empire Amethyst | ![]() |
8,032 | Sunk |
20 April 1942 | Vineland | ![]() |
5,587 | Sunk |
28 June 1942 | Tillie Lykes | ![]() |
2,572 | Sunk |
6 July 1942 | Lalita | ![]() |
65 | Sunk |
8 November 1942 | D'Entrecasteaux | ![]() |
7,291 | Sunk |
9 November 1942 | Nurmahal | ![]() |
5,419 | Sunk |
18 November 1942 | Tower Grange | ![]() |
5,226 | Sunk |
28 May 1943 | Cardinal Gibbons | ![]() |
7,191 | Damaged |
28 May 1943 | Florida | ![]() |
8,580 | Damaged |
28 May 1943 | John Worthington | ![]() |
8,166 | Total loss |
References
- ^ Kemp 1999, pp. 200–1.
- ^ Tiempo, Casa Editorial El (22 October 1991). "CLAVE 1944 RC CALDAS HUNDE SUBMARINO NAZI". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d Gröner 1991, p. 68.
- ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-154". German U-boats of World War II – uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- ^ Sharpe 1998 pp.53–54
- ^ Kruecken, Stefan (20 May 2021). "»U-154« unter Oskar Kusch: Der Aufstand des U-Boot-Kommandanten". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 21 May 2021.
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). 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.
- Kemp, Paul (1999). U-Boats Destroyed – German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. London: Arms & Armour. ISBN 1-85409-515-3.
- Sharpe, Peter (1998). U-Boat Fact File. Earl Shilton: Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
- Rust, Eric C. (2020). U-Boat Commander Oskar Kusch: Anatomy of a Nazi-era Betrayal and Judicial Murder. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1682475140.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC boat U-154". German U-boats of World War II – uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 154". Deutsche U-Boote 1935–1945 – u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2014.