U-109

Type

IXB

 
Ordered24 May 1938
Laid down9 Mar 1940 AG Weser, Bremen (werk 972)
Launched14 Sep 1940
Commissioned5 Dec 1940Korvkpt. Hans-Georg Fischer
Commanders
5 Dec 1940 - 4 Jun 1941  KrvKpt. Hans-Georg Fischer
5 Jun 1941 - 31 Jan 1943  Kptlt. Heinrich Bleichrodt (Knights Cross)
1 Mar 1943 - 4 May 1943  Oblt. Joachim Schramm
Career
9 patrols
5 Dec 1940-30 Apr 1941  2. Flottille (training)
1 May 1941-4 May 1943  2. Flottille (front boat)
Successes12 ships sunk for a total of 79,969 GRT
1 ship damaged for a total of 6,548 GRT
Fate

Sunk 4 May, 1943 south of Ireland, in position 47.22N, 22.40W, by 4 depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 86/P). 52 dead (all hands lost).

See the 13 ships hit by U-109 - View the 9 war patrols

The Liberator was on an outbound patrol to link up with convoy HX.236 north-east of the Azores when she got a contact with her 10cm radar. Shortly afterwards the crew saw a surfaced U-boat and dropped 4 depth charges onto the boat.

The boat was seen on the surface after the depth charges had straddled her and then she slowly sank, seemingly leaving enough time for at least some survivors but possibly the hatches were all damaged from the blast and no one seemed to get out of the boat.

Wolfpack operations

U-109 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
   West (13 May 1941 - 23 May 1941)
   Süd (22 Jul 1941 - 5 Aug 1941)
   Mordbrenner (16 Oct 1941 - 3 Nov 1941)
   Wohlgemut (12 Mar 1943 - 18 Mar 1943)

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-109 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.


We have an emblem for this boat!

You can view it here. (The emblem on the left is not the emblem for this boat).



U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 2
Wynn, Kenneth


Buy this title at


amazon.com
See more sellers

Books dealing with this subject include:

The Approaching Storm. Chewning, Alpheus J., 1994.
Feindfahrten. Hirschfeld, Wolfgang, 1991.
German U-Boat Losses During World War II. Niestle, Axel, 1998.
Hirschfeld. Brooks, Geoffrey told by Wolfgang Hirschfeld, 1996.
Hitler's U-boat War. Blair, Clay, 1996.
Hitler's U-boat War, Vol II. Blair, Clay, 1998.
Sinking of the Montrolite. Constant, Alan R., 2002.
U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 1. Wynn, Kenneth, 1998.
U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 2. Wynn, Kenneth, 1998.
U-Boats of World War Two Volume 1. Stern, Robert C., 1988.


There was another U-109 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 25 Sep 1917 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 7 Jul 1917. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 109 during WWI.