U-515

Type

22 ships sunk, total tonnage 140,196 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 10,850 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 6,034 GRT
1 warship damaged, total tonnage 1,920 tons
1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 4,668 GRT
1 warship a total loss, total tonnage 1,350 tons

Fate

Sunk at 1510hrs on 9 April, 1944 in the mid-Atlantic north of Madeira, Portugal, in position 34.35N, 19.18W, by rockets from 4 Avenger and Wildcat aircraft (VC-58) of the US escort carrier USS Guadalcanal and depth charges from the US destroyer escorts USS Pope, USS Pillsbury, USS Chatelain and USS Flaherty. 16 dead and 44 survivors.

Loss position

See the 27 ships hit by U-515 - View the 7 war patrols

Wolfpack operations

U-515 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
   Westwall (8 Nov 1942 - 16 Dec 1942)
   Unverzagt (12 Mar 1943 - 19 Mar 1943)
   Seeräuber (25 Mar 1943 - 30 Mar 1943)
   Schill 1 (16 Nov 1943 - 22 Nov 1943)

Attacks on this boat

23 Sep 1942
The boat was attacked by the freighter Antonius with gunfire. The boat crash dived.

12 Nov 1942
On attacking the British destroyer tender HMS Hecla (sunk) and the destroyer HMS Marne (damaged) the boat was depth charged by the destroyer HMS Venomous, but escaped undamaged. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 111)

6 Sep 1943
After having tracked merged convoys OS-54 and KMS-25 the whole day, Henke closed in to attack but was sighted and had to dive. Accurate depth charging by the British frigate HMS Tavy drove the boat to 820 feet, severely damaging her. Henke managed to escape and aborted the patrol, reaching Lorient on 12 Sept. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 409)

18 Nov 1943
While attacking the combined convoys MKS-30 and SL-139, U-515 was in turn attacked by several Allied escorts. After escaping, Henke took the boat to the Canary Isles, where he camouflaged the boat and carried out extensive repairs before continuing the patrol. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 459)

4 recorded attacks on this boat.

General notes on this boat

Read about the USS Guadalcanal and her career on our 6-page set. There is a good account of the hunt for U-515.

Men lost from the boat

20 Sep 1942
A gunner from U-515 was killed in a misfire accident on on the 2cm machine gun. [Matrosengefreiter Matthias Biazza]

15 Jun 1944
The former commander of the boat, Kptlt. Werner Henke, one of the top aces, sunk on 9 April, committed suicide by pretending to be escaping the POW camp on 15 June after falling victim for US mind games while in captivity.

Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -