Type | VIIC | |||||||||||||||||
| Ordered | 30 May 1938 | |||||||||||||||||
| Laid down | 27 Sep 1939 | F. Krupp Germaniawerft AG, Kiel (werk 602) | ||||||||||||||||
| Launched | 15 Aug 1940 | |||||||||||||||||
| Commissioned | 28 Sep 1940 | Kptlt. Udo Heilmann | ||||||||||||||||
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| Career 13 patrols |
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| Successes | 15 ships sunk, total tonnage 64,404 GRT 1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 6,833 GRT 1 ship damaged, total tonnage 9,718 GRT | |||||||||||||||||
| Fate | Sunk on 16 June, 1943 in Mediterranean, west of Haifa in position 33.00N, 34.00E by depth charges from an Australian Hudson aircraft (Sqdn 459/T). 27 dead and 21 survivors. | |||||||||||||||||
| Loss position | ||||||||||||||||||
Wolfpack operations
U-97 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
West (8 May 1941 - 27 May 1941)
Goeben (20 Sep 1941 - 29 Sep 1941)
Attacks on this boat
27 Mar 1942
20.00 hrs, eastern Mediterranean: a British Sunderland aircraft (Sqdn 230) dropped 5 bombs on U-97, but without causing any damage. (Sources: Rohwer/Ritschel)
1 Jul 1942
HMS Burra located U-97 and dropped three depth charges a few minutes after her sinking of Marilyse Moller about 27 miles west of Rafah, Palestine. (Sources: ADM 199/1273)
2 recorded attacks on this boat.
Men lost from the boat
3 Mar 1941
The boat lost 1 man overboard in the Bay of Biscay. [Bootsmaat Artur Mei]
Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -
U-boat Emblems
We have 1 emblem entry for this boat! See the emblem page for this boat or view each one below.
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Media links
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There was another U-97 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 4 Apr 1917 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 16 May 1917. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 97 during WWI.