U-564

Type

VIIC

Ordered

24 Oct, 1939

Laid down

30 Mar, 1940

Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (werk 540)

Launched

7 Feb, 1941

Commissioned

3 Apr, 1941

Oblt. Reinhard Suhren (Oak Leaves with Swords)

Commanders

3 Apr, 1941 - 1 Oct, 1942	KrvKpt. Reinhard Suhren (Knights Cross)
1 Oct, 1942 - 14 Jun, 1943	Oblt. Hans Fiedler

Career

9 patrols

3 Apr, 1941 - 1 Jun, 1941 1. Flottille (training)
1 Jun, 1941 - 14 Jun, 1943 1. Flottille (front boat)

Successes

18 ships sunk for a total of 95.544 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 900 tons
4 ships damaged for a total of 28.907 GRT

Fate

Sunk at 1730hrs on 14 June, 1943 north-west of Cape Ortegal, Spain, in position 44.17N, 10.25W, by depth charges from a British Whitley aircraft (10 OTU/G). 28 dead and 18 survivors.

See the 23 ships hit by U-564 - View the 9 war patrols

Wolfpack operations

U-564 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
   Natter (1 Nov, 1942 - 8 Nov, 1942)
   Westwall (25 Nov, 1942 - 25 Dec, 1942)
   Seeteufel (21 Mar, 1943 - 30 Mar, 1943)
   Lowenherz (3 Apr, 1943 - 7 Apr, 1943)

Attacks on this boat

24 Oct, 1941
After some successful attacks in the morning against convoy HG-75, U-564 was attacked twice in the evening, first by an aircraft with one bomb and 3 hours later by an escort with depth charges. The boat sustained no damage.

13 Jun, 1943
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:British Sunderland (228 Sqdn RAF/U, pilot F/O L.B. Lee)

At 18.59 hours, a group of five outbound boats (U-185, U-358, U-564, U-634 and U-653) were attacked by the Sunderland northwest of Cape Finisterre. The aircraft singled out U-564, dropped its bombs and crashed in flames after being hit by the intense AA fire, all 11 crew members were killed. The badly damaged boat turned back under escort by U-185, but was sunk by aircraft the next day.

(Sources: Franks/Zimmerman)

14 Jun, 1943
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down: British Whitley Mk.V BD220 (10 OTU RAF/G, pilot Sgt A.J. Benson)

The sinking of U-564 At 14.39 hours, two inbound boats were spotted by the Whitley in the Bay of Biscay and shadowed. U-564 was unable to dive after an air attack the day before and was escorted back to France by U-185. At 16.45 hours, the fuel of the aircraft was running low and the pilot decided to attack U-564. Both boats opened fire and hit the bomber, but its depth charges caused more damages on the boat and she sank at 17.30 hours. The hydraulics and the starboard engine of the Whitley were damaged, so the crew was forced to ditch and ended up as German prisoners after being picked up by a French trawler.

The commander and 17 crewmen were picked up by U-185, which transferred them to the German destroyer Z-24 two hours later and then continued her patrol. The Canadian Hampden aircraft X2961 (415 Sqdn RCAF/S, pilot S/L J.G. Stronach) arrived in the area around the time of the air attack, but was shot down by a German Ju88C fighter (15./KG 40, Hptm Hans Morr) with the loss of all four crewmen. (Sources: Franks/Zimmerman/Goss)

3 recorded attacks on this boat.

Annoucements related to this boat

Over 400 pictures of U-564 found in England (15 Mar, 2001)