Type | VIIC | |||||||||
| Ordered | 5 Jun 1941 | |||||||||
| Laid down | 15 Jun 1942 | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg (werk 172) | ||||||||
| Launched | 22 Feb 1943 | |||||||||
| Commissioned | 8 Apr 1943 | Oblt. Klaus-Dietrich König | ||||||||
| Commanders |
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| Career 1 patrol |
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| Successes | No ships sunk or damaged | |||||||||
| Fate | Missing in action in January 1944. 49 dead (all hands lost). (Axel Niestlé, September 2003). | |||||||||
Showell's U-boat Command and the Battle of the Atlantic reports that this boat was sunk to one of its torpedoes. U-377 was belived to have been lost to its circling T5 torpedoes but now it's belived she was sunk by allied warships.
(Note: We give the date for U-972 as Dec 31, 1943 to have a reference point).
Previously recorded fate
- The boat was sunk by one of its own acoustic torpedoes in late Dec 1943 in the North Atlantic.
Wolfpack operations
U-972 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
Coronel 1 (15 Dec 1943 - 17 Dec 1943)
Sylt (18 Dec 1943 - 23 Dec 1943)
Rügen 1 (23 Dec 1943 - 28 Dec 1943)
Rügen 2 (28 Dec 1943 - 1 Jan 1944)
Men lost from U-boats
Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-972 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.
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