U-96
Type | VIIC | |||||||||||
| Ordered | 30 May, 1938 | |||||||||||
| Laid down | 16 Sep, 1939 | Germaniawerft, Kiel (werk 601) | ||||||||||
| Launched | 1 Aug, 1940 | |||||||||||
| Commissioned | 14 Sep, 1940 | Kptlt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock | ||||||||||
| Commanders |
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| Career | 11 patrols | 14 Sep, 1940 - 30 Nov, 1940 7. Flottille (training) 1 Dec, 1940 - 31 Mar, 1943 7. Flottille (front boat) 1 Apr, 1943 - 30 Jun, 1944 24. Flottille (training) 1 Jul, 1944 - 15 Feb, 1945 22. Flottille (school boat) | ||||||||||
| Successes | 27 ships sunk for a total of 181.206 GRT 4 ships damaged for a total of 33.043 GRT 1 ship a total loss for a total of 8.888 GRT | |||||||||||
| Fate | Sunk on 30 March, 1945 by US bombs in Wilhelmshaven. | |||||||||||
See the 32 ships hit by U-96 - View the 11 war patrols
Wolfpack operations
U-96 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
Hecht (7 May, 1942 - 18 Jun, 1942)
Stier (2 Sep, 1942 - 14 Sep, 1942)
Jaguar (12 Jan, 1943 - 23 Jan, 1943)
Attacks on this boat
28 Apr, 1941
On 28 Apr 1941 southeast of Iceland, in position 60.04N, 15.45W, the British corvette HMS Gladiolus depth charged a German U-boat. This attack was for a while thought to have sunk U-65.
This attack was actually against U-96 inflicting no damage.
31 Oct, 1941
While attacking convoy OS-10 on the surface during a full moon, Lehmann-Willenbrock bravely fired into the convoy at long range sinking one ship. The British escort sloop HMS Lulworth chased the boat, fired her guns and finally, having driven the boat under, dropped 27 depth charges but none fell close. The boat evaded the attack and continued its patrol. (Sources: Blair, vol 1, page 394)
30 Nov, 1941
While penetrating the Straits of Gibraltar, U-96 was attacked at 2235hrs by a British Swordfish aircraft. Suffering some damage, the boat dived, surfaced in the next morning at 0445hrs, and headed back to base in France. The much longer and more dramatic stay in the deep described by Buchheim in his novel Das Boot was one of the numerous occasions in this book where the author fictionalized the events he experienced during his time as a war correspondent on U-96. (Sources: Blair, vol 1, page 401)
3 recorded attacks on this boat.
General notes on this boat
The "Das Boot" (The Boat) Connection
Lothar-Günther Buchheim joined U-96 for one patrol as a war correspondent. This resulted in the internationally best-selling novel of submarine warfare Das Boot (The Boat), the short story Die Eichenlaubfahrt (The Oak-Leaves Patrol) and a three-part text-and-photo chronicle U-bootkrieg (U-Boat War), U-Bootfahrer (U-Boat-Men) and Zu Tode Gesiegt (Victoried to Death).Buchheim was ordered aboard as an official artist to send back renderings of the German Navy in action for propaganda purposes. A camera was to aid his work. Over 5,000 photos survived the war and 205 of these form the epic photo-essay U-Boat War. All the photographs in U-Boat War were taken by Buchheim with the exception of a few taken by U-96 engineering officer Fritz Grade.
Buchheim witnessed the chance of meeting between U-96 and U-572 during heavy storm. This probably occurred in November 1941. U-572 departed on 29/11/41, a few days after U-96 (see the mission details below). At this time U-572 was commanded by Kptlt. Heinz Hirsacker (who was condemned to death by military tribunal in 1943 charged with "Cowardice in the face of the enemy" - the only U-boat commander to have that fate, being executed on April 24th, 1943. U-572 was lost later in 1943).
He also wrote the book Jäger im Weltmeer (Hunter in the Ocean) and in 1995 he published the novel Die Festung (The Fortress). Here Buchheim writes about the last days in the port of Brest, France and his dramatic Schnorchel voyage to La Pallice with the last but one U-boat to leave Brest.
Buchheim’s books are controversial because, particularly in his photo essays, he writes very disapprovingly about the U-boats and especially about Admiral Dönitz. (Refuting Buchheim, Karl-Friedrich Merten wrote a book entitled Wir U-Bootfahrer sagen: "Nein! So war das nicht!" [We U-boat men say: "No, it wasn't so!"] )
Men lost from U-boats
Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-96 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.
 | We have an emblem for this boat! You can view it here. (The emblem on the left is not the emblem for this boat). |
 Boot, Das Buchheim, Lothar-Günther Buy this title at amazon.de |
Books dealing with this subject include: Das Boot, Buchheim, Lothar-Günther, 1998 (transl.) German U-Boat Losses During World War II, Niestle, Axel, 1998 Jäger im Weltmeer, Buchheim, Lothar-Günther, 1996 U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 1, Wynn, Kenneth, 1998 U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 2, Wynn, Kenneth, 1998 U-Boot Krieg, Buchheim, Lothar-Günther, 1997 (transl.) |
There was another U-96 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 15 Feb, 1917 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 11 Apr, 1917. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 96 during WWI.