U-581
Type | VIIC | |||||||||
| Ordered | 8 Jan 1940 | |||||||||
| Laid down | 25 Sep 1940 | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (werk 557) | ||||||||
| Launched | 12 Jun 1941 | |||||||||
| Commissioned | 31 Jul 1941 | Kptlt. Werner Pfeifer | ||||||||
| Commanders |
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| Career 2 patrols |
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| Successes | 1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 364 GRT | |||||||||
| Fate | Sunk 2 Feb, 1942 in the mid-Atlantic south-west of the Azores, in approximate position 39.00N, 30.00W, by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Westcott. 4 dead and 41 survivors. | |||||||||
General notes on this boat
2 Feb 1942. On 2 Feb, 1942 the U-581 was sunk near the coast of Pico Island, in front of a place called Guidaste. One of the officers, Ltn. Walter Sitek, managed to swim 6 km to shore where he was picked up by the locals. He then managed to pass through neutral Spain and make his way to Germany again when he again went to sea on a U-boat.
Oblt. Walter Sitek commanded 3 boats (U-17, U-981 and U-3005) during the rest of the war and survived the fighting.
The rest of the crew, 37 men, were picked up by the British destroyer and taken to POW camp being finally released in 1947.
Men lost from U-boats
Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-581 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.
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