U-571

Type

VIIC

Ordered

24 Oct 1939

Laid down

8 Jun 1940

Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (werk 547)

Launched

4 Apr 1941

Commissioned

22 May 1941

Kptlt. Helmut Möhlmann (Knights Cross)

Commanders

22 May 1941	-	31 May 1943		Kptlt. Helmut Möhlmann (Knights Cross)
31 May 1943	-	28 Jan 1944		Oblt. Gustav Lüssow

Career
11 patrols

22 May 1941	-	1 Aug 1941	3. Flottille (training)
1 Aug 1941	-	28 Jan 1944	3. Flottille (front boat)

Successes

5 ships sunk, total tonnage 33,511 GRT
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 11,394 GRT
1 ship a total loss, total tonnage 9,788 GRT
1 auxiliary warship a total loss, total tonnage 3,870 GRT

Fate

Sunk 28 Jan, 1944 west of Ireland, in position 52.41N, 14.27W, by depth charges from an Australian Sunderland aircraft (RAAF-Sqdn 461/D). 52 dead (all hands lost).

See the 8 ships hit by U-571 - View the 11 war patrols

Wolfpack operations

U-571 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
   Stosstrupp (30 Oct 1941 - 4 Nov 1941)
   Raubritter (4 Nov 1941 - 17 Nov 1941)
   Störtebecker (17 Nov 1941 - 22 Nov 1941)
   Seydlitz (27 Dec 1941 - 16 Jan 1942)
   Endrass (12 Jun 1942 - 17 Jun 1942)
   Panther (10 Oct 1942 - 20 Oct 1942)
   Veilchen (20 Oct 1942 - 7 Nov 1942)
   Delphin (26 Dec 1942 - 19 Jan 1943)
   Landsknecht (19 Jan 1943 - 28 Jan 1943)
   Without name (27 Mar 1943 - 30 Mar 1943)
   Adler (7 Apr 1943 - 13 Apr 1943)
   Meise (13 Apr 1943 - 25 Apr 1943)
   Rügen (15 Jan 1944 - 26 Jan 1944)
   Hinein (26 Jan 1944 - 28 Jan 1944)

Attacks on this boat

22 Mar 1943
At 21.55 hours, the boat was attacked by a Beaufighter aircraft (141 Sqn RAF/I) only a few hours after leaving La Pallice about 20 miles southwest of Ile d’Yeu. The escorting Sperrbrecher 16 had just left when U-571 was strafed twice by the aircraft with cannon and machine gun fire from the beam in the moonlit night. The Germans immediately opened fire with the AA guns but one of the gunners panicked during the second attack and did not fire, so the boat had to crash dive despite a depth of only 70 meters, leaving behind a small patch of oil. A leak in one of the ballast tanks forced U-571 to return to base for repairs. (Sources: KTB U-571/ADM 199-1784)

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-571 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.

Hitler's U-boat War
Blair, Clay