U-boat fates

U-boats at sea on May 4, 1945

During the morning hours (German time) of May 4th 1945 the following signal was sent to all U-boat commanders:

ALL U-BOATS. ATTENTION ALL U-BOATS.
CEASE-FIRE AT ONCE. STOP ALL HOSTILE ACTION AGAINST ALLIED SHIPPING.
DÖNITZ.

The following U-boats were at sea when the order above came from Dönitz. Below are they all listed, when they left port and to which port they came to surrender.

[DL] means that this U-boat ended her career during Operation Deadlight.

BoatSailedPatrol endNotes (surrender location, etc.)
U-19019 Feb 194514 May 1945Bay of Bulls, Canada
U-21822 Mar 19458 May 1945Bergen, Norway[DL]
U-23416 Apr 194519 May 1945Portsmouth, USA
U-24415 Apr 194514 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK[DL]
U-2459 Apr 19459 May 1945Bergen, Norway[DL]
U-2493 Apr 194510 May 1945Portland, UK[DL]
U-2555 May 19457 May 1945St.Nazaire, France[DL]
U-2558 May 194517 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK[DL]
U-27810 Apr 19459 May 1945Narvik[DL]
U-28729 Apr 194516 May 1945Sunk
U-2931 Apr 194511 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK[DL]
U-29515 Apr 19457 May 1945Narvik[DL]
U-31216 Apr 19458 May 1945Kilbotn[DL]
U-31317 Apr 19458 May 1945Narvik[DL]
U-3181 May 194510 May 1945Narvik[DL]
U-32027 Apr 19458 May 1945Sunk
U-36318 Apr 19458 May 1945Narvik[DL]
U-4817 Apr 19454 May 1945Narvik[DL]
U-48529 Apr 194514 May 1945Gibraltar[DL]
U-5165 Apr 194514 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK[DL]
U-5303 Mar 194510 Jul 1945Mar del Plata, Argentina
U-53213 Jan 194513 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK[DL]
U-5345 May 19455 May 1945Sunk
U-5417 Apr 194512 May 1945Gibraltar[DL]
U-7391 Apr 194513 May 1945Emden, Germany[DL]
U-76426 Apr 194514 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK[DL]
U-77622 Mar 194516 May 1945Portland, UK[DL]
U-80228 Apr 194511 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK[DL]
U-80517 Mar 194515 May 1945Portsmouth, USA
U-8251 Apr 194513 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK[DL]
U-8269 Mar 194511 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK[DL]
U-85323 Feb 19456 May 1945Sunk
U-85811 Mar 194514 May 1945Lewes, Delaware, USA
U-87330 Mar 194516 May 1945Portsmouth, USA
U-8817 Apr 19456 May 1945Sunk
U-8895 Apr 194513 May 1945Shelbourne, Canada
U-90114 Apr 194515 May 1945Stavanger, Norway[DL]
U-90729 Apr 19455 May 1945Bergen, Norway[DL]
U-9562 Apr 194513 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK[DL]
U-96323 Apr 194520 May 1945Scuttled
U-96821 Apr 19456 May 1945Harstad[DL]
U-9687 May 19457 May 1945Skjomenfjord[DL]
U-9772 May 194517 Aug 1945Mar del Plata, Argentina
U-97929 Mar 194524 May 1945Sunk
U-9921 May 19459 May 1945Narvik, Norway[DL]
U-10053 May 194514 May 1945Bergen, Norway[DL]
U-100929 Mar 194510 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK[DL]
U-101015 Apr 194514 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK[DL]
U-102325 Mar 194510 May 1945Weymouth, UK[DL]
U-105828 Apr 194510 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK
U-110512 Apr 194510 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK
U-110917 Apr 194512 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK[DL]
U-116315 Apr 19459 May 1945Kristiansand, Norway[DL]
U-116521 Apr 19455 May 1945Narvik[DL]
U-122814 Apr 194517 May 1945Portsmouth, NH
U-123127 Apr 194514 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK
U-127229 Apr 194510 May 1945Bergen, Norway[DL]
U-127721 Apr 19453 Jun 1945Sunk
U-13054 Apr 194510 May 1945Loch Eriboll, UK
U-23242 Apr 19458 May 1945Stavanger, Norway[DL]
U-23264 May 194514 May 1945Dundee, Scotland
U-23361 May 194514 May 1945Kiel, Germany[DL]
U-25113 May 19456 May 1945Bergen, Norway[DL]
U-30083 May 194521 May 1945Kiel, Germany

64 U-boats were at sea on May 4, 1945 when the End-Hostilities order was given.
56 surrendered in Allied or neutral ports (41 of them were scuttled in Operation Deadlight).

U-boats lost at sea after May 4, 1945

The cease-fire order sent to U-boats on May 4 did not automatically mean that all hostilities were over. In fact at least 294 German sailors were lost with their U-boats on or after that date. Not all U-boats did receive the order properly and they did continue to sink ships until 7 May.

U-boat Date Crew Dead Survivors
U-7114 May4732 15
U-23384 May17125
U-25034 May571344
U-25214 May574413
U-23675 May17017
U-5345 May52349
U-5795 May48*2424*
U-35235 May58580
U-10086 May44044
U-8816 May53530
U-8536 May55550
U-3208 May47047

* At least 24 dead, unknown number of survivors.

The Numbers

156 German U-boats surrendered to the the Allies at the end of the war. The Germans scuttled 219 U-boats near the end of the war to prevent them from falling into Allied hands.

The Third Reich thus had 375 U-boats available at the end of the war.

Map showing U-boats locations on May 4 1945

This map shows 9 positions of U-boats at sea on 4 May 1945. The map is clickable and zoom-able (with the mouse-wheel). At this time we only have some of the U-boat positions on that date. Blue marker indicates the boat was lost in action after 4 May 1945.