German submarine U-96 (1940)

For other ships with the same name, see German submarine U-96.

History
Nazi Germany
Name:	U-96
Ordered:	30 May 1938
Builder:	Germaniawerft, Kiel
Yard number:	601
Laid down:	16 September 1939
Launched:	1 August 1940
Commissioned:	14 September 1940
Fate:	Sunk on 30 March 1945 by US bombs in Wilhelmshaven
Badge:	The laughing sawfish emblem on the conning tower
General characteristics
Class & type:	Type VIIC submarine
Displacement:	769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged
Length:	67.10 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull
Beam:	6.20 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Height:	9.60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught:	4.74 m (15 ft 7 in)
Installed power:	2,800–3,200 PS (2,100–2,400 kW; 2,800–3,200 bhp) (diesels) 750 PS (550 kW; 740 shp) (electric)
Propulsion:	2 shafts 2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors
Range:	8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth:	230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft)
Complement:	4 officers, 40–56 enlisted
Armament:	5 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern) 14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines 1 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun (220 rounds) various AA guns
Service record
Part of:	Kriegsmarine: 7th U-boat Flotilla (Training) 7th U-boat Flotilla (Front Boat, 11 patrols) 24th U-boat Flotilla (Training) 22nd U-boat Flotilla (Schoolboat)
Identification codes:	M 29 052
Commanders:	Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel Wilhelm Peters Horst Willner Robert Rix
Operations:	Eleven 1st patrol: 4–29 December 1940 2nd patrol: 9–22 January 1941 3rd patrol: 30 January – 28 February 1941 4th patrol: 12 April – 22 May 1941 5th patrol: 19 June – 9 July 1941 6th patrol: 2 August – 12 September 1941 7th patrol: 27 October – 6 December 1941 8th patrol: 31 January – 23 March 1942 9th patrol: 23 April – 1 July 1942 10th patrol: 28 August – 5 October 1942 11th patrol: 26 December 1942 – 8 February 1943
Victories:	27 ships sunk for a total of 181,206 GRT Four ships damaged for a total of 33,043 GRT One ship a total loss of 8,888 GRT

German submarine U-96 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. Her keel was laid down on 16 September 1939, by Germaniawerft, of Kiel as yard number 601. She was commissioned on 14 September 1940, with Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock in command. Lehmann-Willenbrock was relieved in March 1942 by Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel, who was relieved in turn in March 1943 by Oblt.z.S. Wilhelm Peters. In February 1944, Oblt.z.S. Horst Willner took command, turning the boat over to Oblt.z.S. Robert Rix in June of that year. Rix commanded the boat until February 1945.

As part of the 7th U-boat Flotilla, stationed in Saint Nazaire, on the French Atlantic coast, U-96 conducted 11 patrols, sinking 27 ships totalling 180,206 gross register tons (GRT) and damaging four others totalling 33,043 GRT. She also caused one vessel of 8,888 GRT to be declared a total loss. The boat was a member of eleven wolfpacks. On 30 March 1945, U-96 was sunk by US bombs while in the submarine pens in Wilhelmshaven. In her entire career, she suffered no casualties to her crew. The boat was also known for its emblem, a green laughing sawfish. It became the symbol of the 9th Flotilla after Lehmann-Willenbrock took command in March 1942.

During 1941, war correspondent Lothar-Günther Buchheim joined U-96 for a single patrol. His orders were to photograph and describe the U-boat in action for propaganda purposes. Over 5,000 photographs, mostly taken by Buchheim, survived the war. From his experiences, he wrote a short story, "Die Eichenlaubfahrt" ("The Oak-Leaves Patrol") and a 1973 novel which was to become an international best-seller, Das Boot, followed in 1976 by U-Boot-Krieg ("U-Boat War"), a nonfiction chronicle of the voyage. In 1981 Wolfgang Petersen brought the novel to the big screen with the critically acclaimed Das Boot.

Design

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. U-96 had a displacement of 769 tonnes (757 long tons) when at the surface and 871 tonnes (857 long tons) while submerged. She had a total length of 67.10 m (220 ft 2 in), a pressure hull length of 50.50 m (165 ft 8 in), a beam of 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and a draught of 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in). The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW; 2,760 to 3,160 shp) for use while surfaced, two AEG GU 460/8–27 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW; 740 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m (4 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph). When submerged, the boat could operate for 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). U-96 was fitted with five 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes, one 8.8 cm (3.46 in) SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and an anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.

Service history

1st patrol

U-96 departed Kiel on 4 December 1940 on her first patrol. Her route took her across the North Sea, through the gap between the Faroe and Shetland Islands and into the Atlantic Ocean.

She was soon in the thick of the action; sinking Rotorua and Towra on the 11th and Macedonier on the 12th. She then damaged Empire Razorbill with six rounds from her deck gun on the 14th and sank Western Prince, also on the 14th. She damaged Pendrecht on the 18th before sailing to Lorient in occupied France, arriving there on 29 December.

2nd patrol

For her second foray, U-96 departed Lorient on 9 January 1941 and returned to the waters west of Scotland, sinking the Oropesa on 16 January and the Almeda Star a day later. The Almeda Star was lost with all hands and passengers, a total of 360 people. U-96 docked once more in Lorient on the 22nd.

3rd patrol

U-96 sortied from Lorient on 30 January 1941, sinking Clea and Arthur F. Corwin near Iceland on 13 February. Five more ships went to the bottom on this patrol: the Black Osprey on 18 February, Scottish Standard on the 22nd, (which had already been bombed by a Focke Wulf 'Condor' and abandoned by her crew), Anglo-Peruvian on the 23rd, Linaria and Sirishna a day later.

The boat returned to St. Nazaire in France on 28 February.

4th patrol

The carnage continued; in one attack the boat sank Oilfield, Port Hardy and Caledonia south of Iceland on 28 April 1941 and in turn was depth charged by the Flower class corvette HMS Gladiolus. It was originally thought that the British ship had sunk U-65, but U-96 escaped unscathed. She went on to sink Empire Ridge 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi) west of Bloody Foreland (Ireland), before returning to St. Nazaire on 22 May.

5th patrol

The boat was about 300 nautical miles (560 km; 350 mi) north of the Azores on 5 July 1941 when she found the survey vessel HMS Challenger leading an armed merchant cruiser (AMC) HMS Cathay and the Anselm, a cargo and passenger liner that had been converted into a troop ship. Also escorting the small convoy were three Flower-class corvettes: HMS Lavender, Petunia and Starwort. U-96 was under the impression that she had hit the survey ship and the AMC; instead, she had struck Anselm twice, sinking her and killing 254 people. Starwort's ASDIC was not working, but Lavender and Petunia counter-attacked with depth charges. The U-boat was seriously damaged and forced to curtail her patrol.

6th and 7th patrols

Patrol number six was relatively uneventful; the boat left St. Nazaire on 2 August 1941. She returned to the same port on 12 September, having scoured the North Atlantic, with nothing to show for her efforts.

U-96's seventh patrol was almost as barren, except the submarine did sink Bennekom on 31 October 1941. As a consequence she was attacked with 37 depth charges by the sloop HMS Lulworth. The U-boat escaped the barrage, returning to St. Nazaire on 6 December.

8th patrol

The boat's eighth patrol saw success when she operated off the Canadian east coast. She sank Lake Osweya near Halifax on 20 February 1942. She was only 500 yd (460 m) from her target when the torpedo was launched.

She sank Torungen off Nova Scotia on 22 February and attacked Kars later the same day. The latter ship broke in two following the torpedo's impact. The bow section quickly sank, but the stern section was beached and declared a total loss.

The submarine's final victory this time out came on 9 March when she sank Tyr about 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi) from Halifax.

9th and 10th patrols

For the ninth patrol, U-96 left St. Nazaire on 23 April 1942 and returned 73 days later, on 1 July without attacking anything.

On the tenth patrol, the boat damaged F. J. Wolfe on 10 September 1942 (although this ship was able to keep up with its convoy). U-96 also sank Sveve on the same day, as well as Elisabeth van Belgie. It also sank Deläes on the 11th.

11th patrol and fate

The boat's final operational patrol commenced with her departure from St. Nazaire on 26 December 1942. Crossing the Atlantic for the last time, she then came back to the eastern side and after transferring a sick crew-member to U-163 on 3 January 1943, arrived at Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) on 8 February.

She spent most of the rest of the war as a training vessel. She was sunk at Wilhelmshaven by US bombs on 31 March 1945.

Wolfpacks

U-96 took part in eleven wolfpacks, namely.

• Hammer (5–12 August 1941)
• Grönland (12–27 August 1941)
• Kurfürst (28 August – 2 September 1941)
• Seewolf (2–10 September 1941)
• Stosstrupp (30 October – 4 November 1941)
• Störtebecker (5–19 November 1941)
• Benecke (19–22 November 1941)
• Hecht (11 May – 18 June 1942)
• Stier (29 August – 2 September 1942)
• Vorwärts (3–25 September 1942)
• Jaguar (10–20 January 1943)

Summary of raiding history

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage (GRT)	Convoy	Fate	Location	Deaths
11 December 1940	Rotorua	United Kingdom	10,890	HX-92	Sunk		22
11 December 1940	Towa	Netherlands	5,419	HX-92	Sunk		18
12 December 1940	Macedonier	Belgium	5,227	HX-92	Sunk		4
12 December 1940	Stureholm	Sweden	4,575	HX-92	Sunk		32
14 December 1940	Empire Razorbill	United Kingdom	5,118	OB-257	Damaged		0
14 December 1940	Western Prince	United Kingdom	10,926		Sunk		14
18 December 1940	Pendrecht	Netherlands	10,746	OB-259	Damaged		0
16 January 1941	Oropesa	United Kingdom	14,118		Sunk		106
17 January 1941	Almeda Star	United Kingdom	14,936		Sunk		360
13 February 1941	Arthur F. Corwin	United Kingdom	10,516	HX-106	Sunk		46
13 February 1941	Clea	United Kingdom	7,987	HX-106	Sunk		59
18 February 1941	Black Osprey	United Kingdom	5,589	HX-107	Sunk		25
22 February 1941	Scottish Standard	United Kingdom	6,999	OB-287	Sunk		5
23 February 1941	Anglo-Peruvian	United Kingdom	5,457	OB-288	Sunk		29
24 February 1941	Linaria	United Kingdom	3,385	OB-288	Sunk		34
24 February 1941	Sirikishna	United Kingdom	5,458	OB-288	Sunk		43
28 April 1941	Caledonia	Norway	9,892	HX-121	Sunk		12
28 April 1941	Oilfield	United Kingdom	8,516	HX-121	Sunk		47
28 April 1941	Port Hardy	United Kingdom	8,897	HX-121	Sunk		1
19 May 1941	Empire Ridge	United Kingdom	2,922	HG-61	Sunk		31
5 July 1941	Anselm	United Kingdom	5,954		Sunk		254
31 October 1941	Bennekom	Netherlands	5,998	OS-10	Sunk		8
19 February 1942	Empire Seal	United Kingdom	7,965		Sunk		1
20 February 1942	Lake Osweya	United States	2,398		Scuttled		39
22 February 1942	Kars	United Kingdom	8,888	HX-175	Total Loss		50
22 February 1942	Torungen	Norway	1,948		Sunk		19
9 March 1942	Tyr	Norway	4,265		Sunk		13
10 September 1942	Elisabeth van Belgie	Belgium	4,241	ON-127	Sunk		1
10 September 1942	F.J. Wolfe	United Kingdom	12,190	ON-127	Damaged		0
10 September 1942	Sveve	Norway	6,313	ON-127	Sunk		0
11 September 1942	Delães *	Portugal	415		Sunk		0
25 September 1942	New York **	United Kingdom	4,989	RB-1	Damaged		0

*Sailing ship
**Sunk the next day by U-91 with all hands lost.