List of all U-boats

U-138

Type

IID

 
Ordered25 Sep 1939
Laid down16 Nov 1939 Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel (werk 267)
Launched18 May 1940
Commissioned27 Jun 1940Oblt.Wolfgang Lüth (Knights Cross)
Commanders
27 Jun 1940 - 20 Oct 1940  Oblt. Wolfgang Lüth (Knights Cross)
21 Oct 1940 - 31 Dec 1940   Peter Lohmeyer
1 Jan 1941 - 18 Jun 1941  Oblt. Franz Gramitzky
Career
5 patrols
27 Jun 1940-31 Aug 1940  1. Flottille (training)
1 Sep 1940-31 Dec 1940  1. Flottille (front boat)
1 Jan 1941-30 Apr 1941  22. Flottille (school boat)
1 May 1941-18 Jun 1941  3. Flottille (front boat)
Successes6 ships sunk, total tonnage 48,564 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 6,993 GRT
Fate

Sunk 18 June, 1941 west of Cadiz, in position 36.04N, 07.29W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Faulknor, HMS Fearless, HMS Forester, HMS Foresight and HMS Foxhound. 27 survivors (no casualties).

See the 7 ships hit by U-138 - View the 5 war patrols

Attacks on this boat

26 Sep 1940
A few hours before reaching her base at Lorient, U-138 encountered the British submarine HMS Tribune which fired four torpedoes towards the German sub. None hit the U-boat, which escaped and reached its base.

1 recorded attack on this boat.

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-138 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.



Hitler's U-boat War
Blair, Clay


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Books dealing with this subject include

German U-Boat Losses During World War II. Niestle, Axel, 1998.
Hitler's U-boat War. Blair, Clay, 1996.
Hitler's U-boat War, Vol II. Blair, Clay, 1998.
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.


There was another U-138 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 12 Jan 1917 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 26 Mar 1918. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 138 during WWI.