U-653
Type | VIIC | |||||||||
| Ordered | 9 Oct 1939 | |||||||||
| Laid down | 9 Apr 1940 | Howaldtswerke Hamburg AG, Hamburg (werk 802) | ||||||||
| Launched | 22 Mar 1941 | |||||||||
| Commissioned | 25 May 1941 | Kptlt. Gerhard Feiler | ||||||||
| Commanders |
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| Career 9 patrols |
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| Successes | 3 ships sunk for a total of 14,983 GRT 1 warship sunk for a total of 840 tons 1 ship damaged for a total of 9,382 GRT | |||||||||
| Fate | Sunk 15 March, 1944 in the North Atlantic, in position 53.46N, 24.35W, by depth charges from a Swordfish aircraft of the British escort carrier HMS Vindex, and by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Starling and HMS Wild Goose. 51 dead (all hands lost). | |||||||||
Wolfpack operations
U-653 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
Pfadfinder (21 May 1942 - 27 May 1942)
Blücher (14 Aug 1942 - 18 Aug 1942)
Natter (2 Nov 1942 - 8 Nov 1942)
Westwall (8 Nov 1942 - 16 Dec 1942)
Hartherz (3 Feb 1943 - 7 Feb 1943)
Ritter (11 Feb 1943 - 26 Feb 1943)
Burggraf (4 Mar 1943 - 5 Mar 1943)
Raubgraf (7 Mar 1943 - 15 Mar 1943)
Coronel (4 Dec 1943 - 8 Dec 1943)
Coronel 1 (8 Dec 1943 - 14 Dec 1943)
Coronel 2 (14 Dec 1943 - 17 Dec 1943)
Föhr (18 Dec 1943 - 23 Dec 1943)
Rügen 6 (23 Dec 1943 - 28 Dec 1943)
Rügen 7 (28 Dec 1943 - 2 Jan 1944)
Rügen 6 (2 Jan 1944 - 5 Jan 1944)
Preussen (4 Mar 1944 - 15 Mar 1944)
Attacks on this boat
18 Aug 1942
Near convoy SL.119 a British B-24 Liberator aircraft (Sqdn 120/F) attacked U-653. During the crash diving one man was lost. (There was a report that the man was saved by a British destroyer.) The boat was seriously damaged and had to limp back to base, reaching Brest, France on 30 August. [Matrosengefreiter Willi Pröhl]
2 Aug 1943
East of Trinidad the boat was attacked by an American B-24 Liberator bomber but the boat managed to repel the attack. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 367)
2 recorded attacks on this boat.
Men lost from the boat
18 Aug 1942
Near convoy SL.119 a Liberator aircraft (Sqdn 120/F) attacked U-653. During the crash diving one man was lost. (There was a report that the man was saved by a British destroyer.) The boat was seriously damaged and had to limp back to base, reaching Brest, France on 30 August. [Matrosengefreiter Willi Pröhl]
22 Dec 1942
The boat lost a man washed overboard at 0810hrs. [Bootsmaat Heinz Wendler]
13 Feb 1943
During heavy seas U-653 lost an officer overboard. [Oberleutnant zur See Werner Laudon]
9 Mar 1943
Man was lost overboard. [Bootsmaat Walter Mayer]
Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -
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