List of all U-boats
U-960
Type | VIIC | |||||||||
| Ordered | 5 Jun 1941 | |||||||||
| Laid down | 20 Mar 1942 | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (werk 160) | ||||||||
| Launched | 3 Dec 1942 | |||||||||
| Commissioned | 28 Jan 1943 | Oblt. Günther Heinrich | ||||||||
| Commanders |
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| Career 5 patrols |
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| Successes | 2 ships sunk, total tonnage 9,656 GRT 1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 611 GRT | |||||||||
| Fate | Sunk on 19 May, 1944 in the Mediterranean north-west of Algiers, in position 37.20N, 01.35E, by depth charges from the American destroyers USS Niblack, USS Ludlow and Wellingtons (Sqdn 36) and Venturas (Sqdn 500). 31 dead and 20 survivors. | |||||||||
| Loss position | ||||||||||
On May 17, only 5 hours after U-616 had been sunk east of Cartagene, Spain, U-960 attacked the US destroyer USS Ellyson off Oran. This destroyer at that point had survivors from U-616 on board, but U-960's attack missed, and another Swamp operation was begun (see page on U-371 for details) which eventually caught and sank U-960 on May 19.
Wolfpack operations
U-960 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
Wiking (20 Sep 1943 - 3 Oct 1943)
Coronel 1 (15 Dec 1943 - 17 Dec 1943)
Amrum (18 Dec 1943 - 23 Dec 1943)
Rügen 4 (23 Dec 1943 - 28 Dec 1943)
Rügen 3 (28 Dec 1943 - 31 Dec 1943)
Attacks on this boat
27 Mar 1944
The inbound U-763 and U-960 were attacked by seven Mosquito aircraft (two Mk.XVIII from 618 Sqdn RAF and five Mk.VI from 248 Sqdn RAF) at the rendezvous point with their escort of two Sperrbrecher and four minesweepers off La Pallice. The Tsetse Mosquitos (L for Love, pilot F/O D. J. Turner and HX903/I Item, pilot F/O A. H. Hilliard) strafed U-960 and injured 14 crew members, four of them seriously, including the commander with a wound above the left knee. The boat claimed one aircraft probably shot down, and I Item was indeed badly damaged by a hit in the nose, but managed to reach base. (Sources: Franks/Zimmerman)
1 recorded attack on this boat.
Men lost from the boat
27 Mar 1944
14 men from the boat were wounded during a battle with 2 Mosquito aircraft (RAF Sqdn 618/L/I). The boat entered port at La Pallice, France the same day.
Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -
Media links
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