U-861 at Trondheim Submarine Base

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Date: Thursday, 19 April 1945
Place: Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway
Photographer: Unknown

Monsoon boat U-861 was in rather battered condition when it sailed into the submarine base in Trondheim, Norway, on 19 April 1945. Behind the boat lay a 13 ½ week trip home following its departure from the base in Surabaya (Java, Indonesia) on 15 January the same year. The big Type IX D2 boat had departed Kiel on its first sortie on 20 April 1944 under the command of Ritterkreuzträger (Knight’s Cross wearer) Kapitänleutnant Jürgen Oesten. Initially assign to an area of operations off the Brazilian coast and then the east coast of Africa, U-861 sank four ships totaling 22,040 GRT and damaged the 8,139 ton tanker “Daronia” before arriving at the island base of Penang (Malaysia) on 23 September 1944. By then the boat had been at sea for five months! The U-boat stayed in Penang until 1 November 1944, undergoing necessary maintenance and allowing the crew time to rest. On 1 November U-861 left Penang for Surabaya, arriving there on 5 November after a stop in Singapore. The boat remained there until it left for Germany on 15 January 1945. It carried a load of vital war materials, for example molybdenum ore, which was stowed in zinc containers in the ballast keel, and raw rubber. Armament was limited to two torpedoes for self defense. The safe return of the boat was the first priority, not the destruction of enemy shipping. This was jeopardized during the final phase of the journey when U-861 ran into pack ice south of Greenland. The resulting “sheet metal damage” was minimal, however, and thanks to the experience of the captain and crew the boat reached its destination albeit with just 800 liters of diesel in its fuel bunkers! Note the repainted area around the Panther emblem. Georg Högel’s book “Embleme, Wappen, Malings” depicts the emblem as a panther climbing a globe. According to Jürgen Oesten, the globe was never part of the emblem. Part of the word “Lekas” is visible on the conning tower. The word is Malay in origin and means “fast”.

Source:

"U-Boot im Focus" magazine 2nd edition - 2007

U-37 Returned to the Base at Wilhelmshaven

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Date: Sunday, 18 April 1943
Place: Wilhelmshaven, Niedersachsen, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

On 18 April 1943 the type IX boat U-37 returned to the base at Wilhelmshaven after its fourth patrol. On this mission, the boat had operated off Norway under Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartmann’s (11 December 1902 - 26 April 1903) command as part of Operation “Weserübung”. It hadn’t been as successful though, as during its previous patrols. Having sunk 8 ships on both the 2nd and 3rd sortie, it “only” flew three pennants on its periscope this time. The Viking cry “Westward-ho!”, adorning the conning tower, was adopted by Hartmann for his new boat U-198 that completed its first and only patrol under his command very successfully in 1943. It should be mentioned that Kapitänleutnant Asmus Nicolai Clausen (2 June 1911 - 16 May 1943), former 1st Watch Officer and later captain of the U-37, also used the “Westward-ho!” emblem on it and the other submarines commanded by him, namely U-129 and U-182.

Source:

"U-Boot Im Focus" magazine 2nd edition 2007

http://uboat.net/boats/u37.htm

U-125 Returning To Lorient

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Date: Friday, 6 November 1942
Place: Lorient, Brittany, France
Photographer: Unknown

Kapitänleutnant Ulrich Folkers (6 March 1915 - 6 May 1943) was one of the most successful commanders of the 2. Unterseebootsflotille (2nd Submarine Flotilla). Here he is seen returning to Lorient in U-125 on 6 November 1942 after his fifth patrol and more than three months at sea. Folkers sank six British ships during this sortie in his Type IX C boat. The extended patrol has caused the submarine’s paint to become very weathered. Note the windscreen on U-125’s conning tower, something normally seen only on torpedo boats! On the night of May 6 1943 the destroyer HMS Oribi located the U-125 in a heavy fog with its radar set just before 0300 and rammed her while doing something close to 20 knots. The boat was severely damaged and the British believed her to be sunk. But she did survive and at 0331 Folkers radioed BdU with an urgent request for help and U-552, U-381, U-413 and U-260 were ordered to assist him (U-614 and U-402 also in the area were told to remain on station). The boats searched for the wounded boat until the morning of the 7th. The corvette HMS Snowflake got a radar contact 0354 and soon the contact had closed to 100 meters! The starlights were turned on and revealed a heavily damaged U-boat and apparently already sinking. The corvette tried to ram but the boat escaped the turn. The crew of U-125 scuttled their boat with 5 explosive charges while almost alongside the HMS Snowflake and waited in the water to be rescued. Another corvette HMS Sunflower did reach the scene about this time. The commander of the corvette radioed the escort commander in HMS Tay but was given the shocking reply: "Not approved to pick up survivors". The corvettes HMS Sunflower and HMS Snowflake then turned towards the convoy leaving the men in the water. Kptlt. Folkers and his crew of 54 men died during that night!

Source:

"U-Boot Im Focus" magazine 2nd edition 2007

http://www.uboat.net/boats/u125.htm