Patrol info for U-73
| Departure | Arrival / Fate | Duration | ||
| 22 Dec 1942 | La Spezia | 13 Jan 1943 | La Spezia | 23 days |
Commander | Officers * | |
 Oblt. Horst Deckert |
1WO Oblt. Heinz Bentzien |
2WO Ltn. Detlev Fritz |
Daily positions, sinkings and allied attacks during the patrol of U-73
Legend
means a ship hit (sunk or damaged).
indicates an Allied attack on the boat.
The route is shown in a red line. You may have to zoom out to see all data.
In some cases missing data may make the route appear go overland which U-boats of course never did on patrols.
Left click to zoom-in and right-click to zoom out.
We have daily positions for all 23 days on this patrol.
Departure from La Spezia on 22 Dec 1942.
23 Dec 1942 - 24 Dec 1942 - 25 Dec 1942 - 26 Dec 1942 - 27 Dec 1942 - 28 Dec 1942 - 29 Dec 1942 - 30 Dec 1942 - 31 Dec 1942 - 1 Jan 1943 - 2 Jan 1943 - 3 Jan 1943 - 4 Jan 1943 - 5 Jan 1943 - 6 Jan 1943 - 7 Jan 1943 - 8 Jan 1943 - 9 Jan 1943 - 10 Jan 1943 - 11 Jan 1943 - 12 Jan 1943 -
Arrival at La Spezia on 13 Jan 1943.
Ships hit by U-73 during this patrol
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan 1943 | U-73 | Horst Deckert | USS LCT-21 [Trans.] | 255 |  | am | UGS-3 | |
| 1 Jan 1943 | U-73 | Horst Deckert | Arthur Middleton | 7,176 | | am | UGS-3 | |
| 7,431 | ||||||||
2 ships sunk (7,431 tons). Legend | ||||||||
General Events during this patrol
1943
1 Jan 1943. U-73 was damaged when the torpedoed ship Arthur Middleton exploded.
Add more events! If you know of an interesting event either missing from this date or an upcoming event that you'd like to share please contact us. We continuously update these databases.
Attacks on U-73 during this patrol
27 Dec 1942
At 07.15 hours, the boat was attacked by a British Wellington aircraft LA971 (179 Sqdn RAF/T, pilot F/L A.H. Comfort). The aircraft (misidentified as Beaufort) had picked up a radar contact and made a Leigh Light attack, but the boat had been warned by Metox and opened fire with the AA guns, immediately scoring hits on the port engine. Four depth charges missed and the Wellington was forced to head for the coast, making it to Tafaraoui after jettison all loose equipment. (Sources: Franks/Zimmerman)
27 Dec 1942
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
British Hudson AM689 (500 Sqdn RAF/M, pilot P/O J.R. Pugh)
At 08.17 hours, the boat was attacked by the Hudson. AA fire hit the aircraft during the initial strafing run and its four depth charges fell in 80 to 250 metres distance, causing only light damage. Hit in the cockpit area and in the starboard engine, the Hudson headed for the coast about 50 miles away, but had to ditch only 3 minutes after the attack. The crew of 4 made it into a dinghy and were rescued in the afternoon by a Walrus flying boat (700 Sqdn FAA, pilot SubLt Neil Fuller) after being spotted and escorted by Hudsons (500 and 608 Sqdn RAF).
(Sources: Franks/Zimmerman)About this data
If you believe we have missed an attack on a German U-boat in this listing please let us know.
See all patrols for U-73
* These are officers that later became commanders themselves.
Return to U-boat Patrols main page