 U-37 at Lorient in 1940 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Nazi Germany | |
| Name | U-37 |
| Ordered | 29 July 1936 |
| Builder | DeSchiMAGAG Weser,Bremen |
| Yard number | 942 |
| Laid down | 15 March 1937 |
| Launched | 14 May 1938 |
| Commissioned | 4 August 1938 |
| Fate | Scuttled, 5 May 1945 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Type IXAsubmarine |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 58.75 m (192 ft 9 in)pressure hull |
| Beam | 6.51 m (21 ft 4 in)o/a |
| Height | 9.40 m (30 ft 10 in) |
| Draught | 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | Two shafts |
| Speed |
|
| Range | 10,500 nmi (19,400 km; 12,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced |
| Test depth | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Complement | 4 officers, 44 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
German submarineU-37 was aType IXA[1]U-boat of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) duringWorld War II.[2] The submarine waslaid down on 15 March 1937 at theDeSchiMAGAG Weser yard inBremen,launched on 14 May 1938, andcommissioned on 4 August 1938 as part of the6th U-boat Flotilla.[2]
Between August 1939 and March 1941,U-37 conducted eleven combat patrols, sinking 53 merchant ships, for a total of 200,063 gross register tons (GRT); and two warships, the BritishHastings-class sloopHMS Penzance, and theFrench submarine Sfax.U-37 was then withdrawn from front-line service and assigned to training units until the end of the war. On 5 May 1945 the U-boat wasscuttled.U-37 was the sixth most successful U-boat in World War II in terms of tonnage sunk.[3]
As one of the eight originalType IX submarines, later designated IXA,U-37 had adisplacement of 1,032tonnes (1,016long tons) when at the surface and 1,153 tonnes (1,135 long tons) while submerged.[4] The U-boat had a total length of 76.50 metres (251 ft 0 in), apressure hull length of 58.75 m (192 ft 9 in), abeam of 6.51 m (21 ft 4 in), a height of 9.40 m (30 ft 10 in), and adraught of 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in). The submarine was powered by twoMAN M 9 V 40/46supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinderdiesel engines producing a total of 4,400metric horsepower (3,240 kW; 4,340 shp) for use while surfaced, twoSiemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34double-acting electric motors producing a total of 1,000 metric horsepower (740 kW; 990 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).[4]
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18.2knots (33.7 km/h; 20.9 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.7 knots (14.3 km/h; 8.9 mph).[4] When submerged, the boat could operate for 65–78nautical miles (120–144 km; 75–90 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 10,500 nautical miles (19,400 km; 12,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).U-37 was fitted with six 53.3 cm (21 in)torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22torpedoes, one10.5 cm (4.13 in) SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a3.7 cm (1.5 in) as well as a2 cm (0.79 in) C/30anti-aircraft gun. The boat had acomplement of forty-eight.[4]
U-37 was one of four Type IX submarines ordered on 29 July 1936.[5] The submarine waslaid down atAG Weser'sBremen shipyard on 15 March 1937,[6] asyard number 942.[2] She waslaunched on 14 May 1938 andcommissioned on 4 August 1938.[6]
In preparation for theGerman invasion of Poland and potential war with the United Kingdom and France, AdmiralKarl Dönitz, commander of Germany's submarine forces, ordered a deployment of U-boats to the Atlantic in August 1939.U-37 leftWilhelmshaven, withKapitänleutnant Heinrich Schuch in command, on 19 August 1939, passing north of the British Isles while en-route to the submarine's patrol area off Spain and Portugal rather than via theEnglish Channel. The boat operated for nearly four weeks in theNorth Atlantic, returning to port on 15 September 1939.[7][8]
U-37 left Wilhelmshaven on 5 October 1939 to conduct operations in the North Atlantic now under the command ofKorvettenkapitänWerner Hartmann.[9][10] It was intended that Hartmann would direct a group of German submarines (known as awolfpack) against alliedconvoys.Hartmann's wolfpack consisted of six submarines, three Type IX submarines and three smallerType VIIs, from two different flotillas which had never exercised together.[11][12] On the way to the patrol area,U-37 sank two merchant ships, the SwedishVistula on 8 October and the GreekAris on 12 October.[10] The wolfpack was then ordered to attack the Anglo-French convoyKJF3, inbound from Jamaica, butU-37 was too far away to direct the operation as intended, and was unable to catch the convoy, althoughU-37 did manage to sink a straggler from the convoy, the French cargo shipVermont.[13] The group was then ordered to attackConvoy HG 3, sailing fromGibraltar toLiverpool, England.U-37 sank the British cargo steamshipYorkshire from the convoy, with two more ships being sunk byU-45 andU-48.[14][15]U-37 continued her patrol further south, sinking three ships to the west of theStraits of Gibraltar on 24 October, the BritishMenin Ridge,Ledbury andTafna,[10] before being attacked by the BritishdestroyersKeppel andWatchman withdepth charges before the submarine managed to escape.[9] On the return journey,U-37 sank the GreekThrasyvoulos on 26 October.[10] Hartmann returned his boat to port on 8 November after nearly five weeks at sea.U-37 had sunk eight ships during the patrol: four British, two Greek, one French and one Swedish.[9] The attempt to control wolfpacks from submarines at sea had proved a failure, with Hartmann reporting that he had found it impossible to coordinate the operations of other submarines, and future wolfpack operations would be controlled from the shore.[16]
On 1 January 1940U-37 was reassigned to the2nd U-boat Flotilla based at Wilhelmshaven.[2] On 28 January 1940 the U-boat departed for the North Atlantic, with Werner Hartmann still in command.[10][17] On 4 February 1940,U-37 sank two ships east ofSumburgh Head,Shetland, the NorwegiansteamshipHop and the BritishLeo Dawson.[10] On 8 February the submarine landed twoAbwehr agents atDonegal Bay, Ireland,[10][18][a] These agents were soon arrested, however.[19] On the way to the assigned patrol areaU-37 sank the Norwegian merchant shipSilja on 10 February and the British trawlerTogimo on 11 February,[10] before being diverted to the Western end of the English Channel in an unsuccessful attempt to intercept theaircraft carrierArk Royal.[20][21] After being released from this attempt,U-37 sank the Danish steamshipAase on 15 February. After reaching the patrol area,U-37 was directed against a convoy detected by German signal intelligence,[22] sinking three ships in two days, thePyrrhus on 17 February and the GreekEllin and the FrenchP.L.M. 15 on 18 February, althoughPyrrhus andP.L.M. 15 were stragglers from separate convoys, andEllin was sailing independently.[10][23]U-37 returned to Wilhelmshaven on 27 February.[10] As on his previous patrol, Hartmann sank eight ships, this time three British, two Norwegian, one Danish, one French and one Greek.[17] Hartmann claimed 43,000 tons of shipping sunk in this patrol, although the actual figure was 24,539 tons.[22]
U-37 departed Wilhelmshaven on 30 March for Hartmann's third consecutive patrol,[24] with the submarine's initial duty being escorting the auxiliary cruiserAtlantis as the raider broke out into the Atlantic.[10][25] After leavingAtlantis,U-37 reverted to a normal patrol, sinking two ships, the SwedishtankerSveaborg and the NorwegianTosca north of theFaroe Islands on 10 April and the British steamshipStancliffe north-east ofUnst, Shetland, on 12 April.[10] On 13 April,U-37 attempted to attack a Britishcruiser, but torpedo defects caused the attack to fail.[26][27] After patrolling for over two weeks, the U-boat returned to Wilhelmshaven on 18 April.[24]
Hartmann was replaced as commander ofU-37 on 6 May 1940 byKapitänleutnantVictor Oehrn,[2] with Hartmann becoming a staff officer for AdmiralKarl Dönitz.[28]U-37 departed from Wilhelmshaven on 15 May for a patrol around Portugal and Spain.[10][29] On 19 May,U-37 sank the Swedish merchant shipErik Frisell with gunfire, and on the night of 22/23 May attacked the BritishDunster Grange.[10] Several torpedoes were fired at the merchant ship, but torpedo failures meant that none of the torpedoes struck home.U-37 then attacked with her gun, hittingDunster Grange, but return fire from the British ship causedU-37 to break off the attack. Oehrn reported the torpedo failures by radio, and in response, Dönitz ordered all U-boats to switch from magnetic to impact detonators.[30][28] The contact detonators were more successful,[28] andU-37 torpedoed and sank the Greek steamshipKyma the next day.[10] On 27 MayU-37 torpedoed and sank the steamshipSheaf Mead. Observing thatSheaf Mead was painted gray and was fitted with deck guns, Oehrn concluded that the ship was an auxiliary cruiser or aQ-ship, and made no attempt to assist the survivors of the sinking. This refusal to assist the survivors was later cited by prosecutors at theNuremberg trials as an example of German brutality.[31] Later that day,U-37 stopped the Argentinean cargo shipUruguay, sailing fromRosario toLimerick with a cargo ofmaize. After examiningUruguay's papers,U-37 sank her with scuttling charges.Uruguay's crew of 28 were left in theirlifeboats. 15 died, 13 survived.[32]U-37 sank the Frenchcargo linerBrazza and trawlerJulien on 28 May, and on 29 May sank the French steamshipMarie José and the British tankerTelena. On 1 JuneU-37 sank the Greek steamshipIoanna and on 3 May the FinnishSnabb.[10]U-37 returned to Wilhelmshaven on 9 June, having used up all her torpedoes. This was the submarine's most successful mission, hitting eleven ships, sinking ten of them. Three French ships were sunk, two Greek, two British, one Swedish, one Argentinian, one Finnish; one British ship was damaged.[29][31]
U-37 sailed from Wilhelmshaven on 1 August, again with Victor Oehrn in command. This week and a half long patrol in the Atlantic off the west coast of Ireland resulted in the sinking of a single British ship,Upwey Grange.U-37 returned to port on 12 August, but rather than head back to Wilhelmshaven, she made forLorient in France, where the 2nd U-boat Flotilla was now based.[10][33][b]
For the first time,U-37 began a patrol from a location other than Germany, at Lorient on 17 August, with Oehrn in command once more.[10][35] The submarine was to focus on operations in the mid-Atlantic.[10] On 23 August,U-37 sank the Norwegian steamshipKeret and the BritishSevern Leigh, and early on 24 sank the British steamshipBrookwood. Later that day,U-37 attackedConvoy SC 1, sinking the BritishsloopHMS Penzance and thenBlairmore from the same convoy early on 25 August.[10] Attacks by air and surface escorts forced the patrol to be abandoned early,[36][c] but this did not stopU-37 from sinking the steamshipYewcrest later on 25 August and the GreekTheodoros T on 27 August.[10]U-37 returned to Lorient on 30 August 1940, having seven ships during this voyage, includingPenzance (which Oehrn identified as a destroyer).[10][35][36]
On 24 September 1934,U-37 departed Lorient on Oehrn's fourth patrol, in which the submarine would patrol west of the British Isles.[10][38] On 27 September,U-37 sank the EgyptianGeorges Mabro and on 28 September, the submarine encountered SSCorrientes, which had been torpedoed byU-32 on 26 September while part of a westbound convoy, and whose crew had abandoned her, but remained afloat.U-37 sunk the abandoned wreck with a torpedo and shellfire.[10]U-37 was then directed to operate as a weather reporting boat further to the west, where the submarine sank the steamshipsSamala andHeminge on 30 September.[10][38][d] On 6 October,U-37 sank the tankerBritish General,[10][e] and on 13 October, when on the return journey to France, sankStangrant, a straggler fromConvoy HX 77 fromHalifax to the United Kingdom.[10] The U-boat returned to Lorient on 22 October 1940, having sunk six ships, for a tonnage of 23,200 GRT.[10][38][41] These continuing successes resulted in Oehrn being awarded theKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross, before leaving the submarine to take over Hartmann's role as first staff officer for Admiral Dönitz.U-37 had by this time sank42+1⁄2 ships for a tonnage of 180,000, which was the most ships sunk by a U-boat at this time and the second highest tonnage total, behindU-48.[42]U-37's chief engineer, Gerd Suhren, was also awarded the Knight's Cross for keeping the submarine operational in the face of multiple faults.[43]
After over a month in port,U-37 departed with a new captain,Oberleutnant zur SeeAsmus Nicolai Clausen on 28 November,[10][44] for operations in the South Atlantic, with the submarine to refuel from a Germansupply ship in theCanary Islands.[45] On 1 December 1940,U-37 sank the steamshipPalmella, a straggler from the Gibraltar-boundConvoy OG 46, which had separated from the convoy in heavy weather, west-north-west ofLisbon.[10][46] On the next day, the submarine attacked the convoy itself, sinking the SwedishGwalia and the BritishJeanne M.[10][47][48] On 4 December,U-37 sank the SwedishDaphne, another straggler from OG 46.[10][49]U-37 then headed southwards towards Morocco and theCanary Islands,[10] but the plans to refuel from a supply ship were unsuccessful owing to the presence of British forces.[50] On 16 December,U-37 sank the Spanish trawlerSan Carlos offCape Juby, Morocco.[10][50] On 19 December 1940,U-37 torpedoed and sank theVichy French navaloil tankerRhône and the submarineSfax, between Cape Juby andFuerteventura, with Clausen not realising that the ships were Vichy French until after the sinking.[10][51] On reporting the attack toU-boat command two days later, it was ordered that the involvement of any German or Italian submarine in the sinking be denied, andU-37'slogbooks were altered to remove record of the attack, with the submarine's location at the time of the attack being changed to a position 350 mi (560 km) inland.[52][53] After five weeks on the high seas,U-37 returned to Lorient on 14 January 1941.[10][44]
U-37 left Lorient on 30 January 1941, again bound for southern waters, to patrol offFreetown, Sierra Leone, and to attack convoys being sent to reinforce the British army in Egypt.[10][54] On 9 FebruaryU-37 encountered the lightly escorted Gibraltar–BritainConvoy HG 53 about 150 nmi (280 km; 170 mi) south-west ofCape Vincent. After reporting the convoy to U-Boat High Command, Clausen attacked the convoy, claiming three ships sunk with a tonnage of 13,500 GRT, althoughU-37 actually sank only two British ships,Courland andEstrellano with a combined tonnage of 3,300 GRT.U-37 was ordered to shadow the convoy, sending out beacon radio signals to direct air attacks and the German heavy cruiserAdmiral Hipper against the convoy. Later that day, fiveFocke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor bomber aircraft attacked the convoy, sinking five merchant vessels, and early on 10 February,U-37 attacked the convoy again, claiming two merchant ships sunk with a tonnage of 7,500 GRT, but in fact sinking only one ship,Brandenburg of 1,473 GRT.U-37 continued to shadow the convoy, in order to guideAdmiral Hipper, which sank one straggler from the convoy,Iceland on 11 February. The cruiser then encountered the unescortedConvoy SL64 (which was planned to join up with HG 53) on the night of 11/12 February, sinking seven ships and damaging two more.[10][55][56] Having used up all the submarine's torpedoes,U-37 abandoned the trip south, returning to Lorient on 18 February after spending 20 days at sea and sinking 4,781 GRT of shipping.[10][57][58]
It was decided thatU-37 would be transferred to training duties in theBaltic Sea.[57] Leaving Lorient for the final time on 27 February 1941,U-37's last patrol took her to the waters south of Iceland.[59][60] On 7 March 1941U-37 sank the Greek cargo shipMentor,[60][61] and was directed againstConvoy OB 293 but failed to make contact.[62] On 12 March the submarine sank the Icelandic trawlerPétursey.[60][63] On 16 March,U-37 was ordered againstConvoy HX 112, making contact at about noon and sending out contact signals to home in other submarines. As night fell,U-37 closed to attack the convoy, but was spotted on the surface by a British destroyer (probablyHMS Walker), which turned to ram.U-37 crash-dived just ahead of the destroyer, which responded by dropping a pattern of depth charges, badly damaging the submarine, which broke off the attempt to attack the convoy. Later that night,U-37 picked up the last radio message fromU-99, commanded byOtto Kretschmer, which had been forced to the surface and forced to scuttle herself, and relayed it to U-Boat Command.[64] After spending 24 days at sea,U-37 entered the port ofKiel on 22 March.[59][60]
On 1 May 1941U-37 was reassigned to the26th U-boat Flotilla, based atPillau (now Baltiysk, Russia) as a training U-boat.[2][6] She was transferred to the22nd U-boat Flotilla, based atGotenhafen (now Gdynia, Poland) on 1 April 1942, remaining in the training role.[2][6] On 1 July 1944,U-37 was transferred to the4th U-boat Flotilla, where she was used as an experimental boat until the end of the war.[2][6]
She wasscuttled on 5 May 1945 off the east coast ofSchleswig-Holstein.[2][6][f] The submarine's wreck was raised and broken up in 1946.[2]
| Date | Name of Ship | Nationality | Tonnage[g] | Fate[67] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 October 1939 | Vistula |  Sweden | 1,018 | Sunk |
| 12 October 1939 | Aris |  Greece | 4,810 | Sunk |
| 15 October 1939 | Vermont |  France | 5,186 | Sunk |
| 17 October 1939 | Yorkshire |  United Kingdom | 10,183 | Sunk |
| 24 October 1939 | Ledbury | United Kingdom | 3,528 | Sunk |
| 24 October 1939 | Menin Ridge | United Kingdom | 2,474 | Sunk |
| 24 October 1939 | Tafna | United Kingdom | 4,413 | Sunk |
| 30 October 1939 | Thrasyvoulos | Greece | 3,693 | Sunk |
| 4 February 1940 | Hop |  Norway | 1,365 | Sunk |
| 4 February 1940 | Leo Dawson | United Kingdom | 4,330 | Sunk |
| 10 February 1940 | Silja | Norway | 1,259 | Sunk |
| 11 February 1940 | Togimo | United Kingdom | 290 | Sunk |
| 15 February 1940 | Aase |  Denmark | 1,206 | Sunk |
| 17 February 1940 | Pyrrhus | United Kingdom | 7,418 | Sunk |
| 18 February 1940 | Elin | Greece | 4,917 | Sunk |
| 18 February 1940 | P.L.M. 15 | France | 3,754 | Sunk |
| 10 April 1940 | Sveaborg | Sweden | 9,076 | Sunk |
| 10 April 1940 | Tosca | Norway | 5,128 | Sunk |
| 12 April 1940 | Stancliffe | United Kingdom | 4,511 | Sunk |
| 19 May 1940 | Erik Frisell | Sweden | 5,066 | Sunk |
| 22 May 1940 | Dunster Grange | United Kingdom | 9,494 | Damaged |
| 24 May 1940 | Kyma | Greece | 3,994 | Sunk |
| 27 May 1940 | Sheaf Mead | United Kingdom | 5,008 | Sunk |
| 27 May 1940 | Uruguay |  Argentina | 3,425 | Sunk |
| 28 May 1940 | Brazza | France | 10,387 | Sunk |
| 28 May 1940 | Julien | France | 116 | Sunk |
| 28 May 1940 | Maria Rosé | France | 2,477 | Sunk |
| 29 May 1940 | Telena | United Kingdom | 7,406 | Sunk |
| 1 June 1940 | Ioanna | Greece | 950 | Sunk |
| 3 June 1940 | Snabb |  Finland | 2,317 | Sunk |
| 8 August 1940 | Upwey Grange | United Kingdom | 9,130 | Sunk |
| 22 August 1940 | Keret | Norway | 1,718 | Sunk |
| 23 August 1940 | Severn Leigh | United Kingdom | 5,242 | Sunk |
| 24 August 1940 | Brookwood | United Kingdom | 5,100 | Sunk |
| 24 August 1940 | HMS Penzance |  Royal Navy | 1,025 | Sunk |
| 25 August 1940 | Blairmore | United Kingdom | 4,141 | Sunk |
| 25 August 1940 | Yewcrest | United Kingdom | 3,774 | Sunk |
| 27 August 1940 | Theodoros T | Greece | 3,409 | Sunk |
| 27 September 1940 | Georges Mabro |  Egypt | 2,555 | Sunk |
| 28 September 1940 | Corrientes | United Kingdom | 6,863 | Sunk |
| 30 September 1940 | Heminge | United Kingdom | 2,499 | Sunk |
| 30 September 1940 | Samala | United Kingdom | 5,390 | Sunk |
| 6 October 1940 | British General | United Kingdom | 6,989 | Sunk |
| 13 October 1940 | Stangrant | United Kingdom | 5,804 | Sunk |
| 1 December 1940 | Palmella | United Kingdom | 1,578 | Sunk |
| 2 December 1940 | Gwalia | Sweden | 1,258 | Sunk |
| 2 December 1940 | Jeanne M. | United Kingdom | 2,465 | Sunk |
| 4 December 1940 | Daphne | Sweden | 1,513 | Sunk |
| 16 December 1940 | San Carlos |  Spain | 223 | Sunk |
| 19 December 1940 | Rhône |  Vichy France | 2,785 | Sunk |
| 19 December 1940 | Sfax |  Vichy French Navy | 1,379 | Sunk |
| 9 February 1941 | Courland | United Kingdom | 1,325 | Sunk |
| 9 February 1941 | Estrellano | United Kingdom | 1,983 | Sunk |
| 10 February 1941 | Brandenburg | United Kingdom | 1,473 | Sunk |
| 7 March 1941 | Mentor | Greece | 3,050 | Sunk |
| 12 March 1941 | Petursey |  Iceland | 91 | Sunk |
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