These pages contain a compilation of all known losses of life from U-boats that either survived the incident or were put into commission shortly afterwards.
January
U-167,
8 Jan 1943
The first man lost from a U-boat in 1943 was during a storm when one man was washed overboard while saving the I WO. Also the commander was wounded and so the boat was brought back to base with the IWO in command on 16 Jan. [Obersteuermann Walter Schliephake]
U-258,
12 Jan 1943
During heavy weather in the North Atlantic a lookout on U-258 broke his arm.
U-134,
15 Jan 1943
On 15 Jan one crewmember died by suicide.
U-268,
22 Jan 1943
Leutnant zur See Wilhem Deutsch was lost by washing overboard. (When U-268 was sunk four weeks later only 44 men were killed, instead of the normally reported figure of 45 men.)
U-847,
26 Jan 1943
During training in Wesermünde an accident occured while the machine gun was being fired. One crewmember died, one was heavily wounded.
U-376,
27 Jan 1943
The boat had to break off her one-day old patrol in the North Atlantic when some crew members were wounded in an air attack.
U-376,
31 Jan 1943
The boat left Bergen, Norway on 30 Jan for the 6th patrol, but the next day at 0057 hrs lost the third watch officer when he was washed overboard. U-376 then headed back to Bergen, took aboard a replacement and departed for patrol the same day. [Obersteuermann Heinz Richter]
February
U-653,
13 Feb 1943
During heavy seas U-653 lost an officer overboard. [Oberleutnant zur See Werner Laudon]
U-635,
15 Feb 1943
A man from U-635 took his own life in Hamburg. [Maschinengefreiter Werner Grande]
U-760,
26 Feb 1943
A man from U-760 was killed during an air attack in Wilhelmshaven. [Obermaschinist Jakob Ippendorf]
March
U-653,
9 Mar 1943
Man was lost overboard. [Bootsmaat Walter Mayer]
U-634,
10 Mar 1943
Man was lost overboard. [Bootsmaat Ernst Adam]
U-354,
12 Mar 1943
A man from U-354 took his own life. [Maschinenmaat Helmut Richter]
U-957,
20 Mar 1943
The commander was lost during a diving accident in the Baltic Sea. [Oberleutnant zur See Franz Saar (see right)]
U-590,
21 Mar 1943
On U-590 a crew member broke his arm.
U-221,
22 Mar 1943
A captured seaman from the tanker ´Jamaica´, which was sunk two weeks earlier, jumped overboard.
U-455,
24 Mar 1943
On U-455 a crew member was injured as the result of an accident with the anti-aircraft machine gun.
U-91,
27 Mar 1943
At 22.45 hours, the inbound boat was attacked by a Leigh-Light equipped British Wellington aircraft (RAF Sqdn 172 / M) in the Bay of Biscay. No damage to the boat. Due to a misunderstanding it dived, leaving three men on the bridge. They resurfaced immediately and found two of them still on the tower, but the crewman who fired the AA gun until the last moment was missing. [Oberbootsmaat Heinrich Hollenborg]
U-564,
28 Mar 1943
A man was lost in the North Atlantic. [Fähnrich zur See Heinrich Feuerhake]
April
U-513,
3 Apr 1943
The boat was attacked by a British Hudson aircraft (RAF Sqdn 233 / U) with 2 bombs north of the Canary Islands and suffered minor damage.
U-270,
4 Apr 1943
On U-270 three crew members were injured due to very bad weather.
U-563,
7 Apr 1943
A British B-24 Liberator (Sqdn 86) attacked the boat with 3 depth charges. The U-boat was only slightly damaged but during the crash dive 2 men were lost overboard. [Oberbootsmaat Christian Wieland, Matrosengefreiter Rudolf Schädlich]
U-181,
11 Apr 1943
The new 37mm anti-aircraft cannon on U-181 exploded in action while on patrol in the South Atlantic killing one man and wounding two more. [Matrosengefreiter Wilhelm Williger]
U-231,
22 Apr 1943
At 03.00 hours, a British Catalina aircraft (Sqdn 190/T) attacked U-231 with 2 bombs and machine-gun fire southeast of Iceland. The boat was not damaged, but one man was lost overboard. [Obersteuermann Walter Krause]
At 12.29 hours, the boat was attacked by a British Catalina aircraft (Sqdn 190/E) with 4 bombs and again escaped undamaged.
U-571,
22 Apr 1943
The boat had to return to base because the commander was badly injured in an accident on the conning tower.
U-610,
22 Apr 1943
During heavy weather a lookout on U-610 broke his arm.
U-533,
25 Apr 1943
The boat was attacked by an American PBY-5A Catalina of VP-84/P-5. Three of U-533´s gun crew were injured by the Catalina's .30 cal. gunfire. They were: (Bootsmaat Buttkus, Matrosengefreiter Ludwig and Matrosengefreiter Fekken). All of them went again out to sea and Buttkus and Ludwig perished with the boat the following October.
U-119,
29 Apr 1943
At 11.24 hours, the outbound boat was strafed and bombed by an Australian Sunderland aircraft (RAAF Sqdn 461 / P). The boat was not damaged, but one man was killed by gunfire. [Bootsmaat Alfred Schmidt]
May
U-188,
2 May 1943
At 10.14 hours, the inbound boat was strafed and attacked with 4 bombs by a British Whitley aircraft (RAF Sqdn 612 / W) in the Bay of Biscay. Gunfire wounded the commander KptLt Siegfried Lüdden and another crew member, who died in a hospital in Paris on 14 May. [Matrosengefreiter Leo Rupp]
U-218,
2 May 1943
A crew member on U-218 broke his leg.
U-601,
4 May 1943
The II WO on U-601 was killed in a machine gun misfire.
U-214,
7 May 1943
At 10.14 hours, the outbound boat was attacked out of the sun by the British Halifax aircraft HR745 (58 Sqdn RAF/S, pilot W/C W.E. Oulton, DFC) in the Bay of Biscay. The aircraft was damaged by AA fire in the first attack, but made a second to drop the remaining 3 depth charges. The boat evaded both attacks and then crash-dived with only minor damage, but the commander Kptlt Günther Reeder had been severely wounded by gunfire (he did not sail again on U-boats). The I.WO Oblt Rupprecht Stock took over the command and brought U-214 back to base.
The aircraft was formerly credited with the destruction of U-663, but this boat sank after being attacked by an Australian Sunderland aircraft (10 Sqdn RAAF/W).
U-306,
7 May 1943
At 06.55 hours, the inbound boat was attacked by the British Halifax aircraft HR745 (58 Sqdn RAF/S, pilot W/C W.E. Oulton, DFC). Six depth charges were dropped about 15 seconds after U-306 crash-dived without damaging the boat.
U-228,
7 May 1943
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
British Halifax HR792 (58 Sqdn RAF/A, pilot Sgt N.F. Robertson, RAAF)
At 10.50 hours, the outbound boat was attacked by the Halifax in the Bay of Biscay. The initial attack was broken off due to heavy AA fire, but the aircraft then made a strafing attack from the bow and released six depth charges, which overshot the boat and detonated about 25 metres astern. The attack gave U-228 a severe shaking and wounded the II WO and a seaman. The Germans observed several AA hits on the aircraft (misidentified as Lancaster) and saw smoke before crash-diving. The Halifax and its crew of seven men did not return from patrol and apparently crashed shortly after this attack.
U-223,
11 May 1943
The British destroyer HMS Hesperus depth charged the U-223 to the surface and then rammed her on 11 May. 2 men were lost overboard, U-359 rescued one of them and transferred him back to U-223 on 14 May as she had managed to escape the destroyer. U-223 (unable to dive) returned to port on 24 May but did not sail again until 14 Sept while being repaired. [Matrosengefreiter Heinz Hoog]
U-591,
15 May 1943
12.36 hrs, west of the Bay of Biscay: the boat was strafed and bombed by a British Whitley bomber (RAF Sqdn 10 OTU/M, pilot F/Sgt G.W. Brookes). The boat was not damaged, but the commander Kptlt. Hans-Jürgen Zetzsche and one crew member were wounded by gunfire, forcing the boat to return to base.
U-197,
20 May 1943
The boat was bombed and strafed by an American Mitchell aircraft northeast of Ascension. The periscope was damaged and gunfire wounded a crew member, who died the next day. [Bootsmaat Viktor Rainer]
U-129,
21 May 1943
During refueling by U-459 two men from the boat were washed overboard by a big wave. One of them was soon recovered, but the other remained missing. [Matrosengefreiter Hans Rüchel]
U-755,
26 May 1943
At 06.26 hours, the boat was attacked by a British Hudson aircraft (500 Sqdn RAF, pilot S/L H.G. Holmes, DFC) 13 miles north of Alboran Island in the Mediterranean. The aircraft was hit in the port engine by AA fire during the first attack run, but dropped three depth charges. The Hudson then made two dive-bombing attacks and dropped first two and then one A/S bomb, one of them exploding just five yards off the port beam. The damaged engine then forced the pilot to return to base. Strafing had killed one crewman and wounded two others on U-755, which was forced to return to port due to heavy damage but was sunk in another air attack only 2 days later.
June
U-450,
6 Jun 1943
A British B-17 aircraft (Sqdn 220/A) caught the U-450 on the surface on 6 June wounding 7 men. Boat was heavily damaged and reached the base at Brest only with assistance of other boats.
U-758,
8 Jun 1943
At 19.18 hours, the boat was attacked by carrier aircraft (VC-9 USN) from USS Bogue escorting the convoy GUS-9 south of the Azores. U-758 had just spotted and reported the convoy when they were attacked by an Avenger, piloted by Lt (jg) L.S. Bailliett. Its four depth charges exploded astern, but the boat stayed at the surface and put up a heavy AA barrage. After 30 minutes a second Avenger, piloted by Lt (jg) W.S. Fowler, attacked with three depth charges despite being heavily damaged by AA fire during the approach. AA hits wounded a crewman and damaged the engine, the starboard wing and the bomb bay, forcing the pilot to return to the carrier. Then a third Avenger, piloted by Lt (jg) F.D. Fodge, attacked, assisted by a strafing run from a Wildcat piloted by Lt (jg) P. Perabo. The boat crash-dived before the depth charges were dropped and evaded a hunt by USS Clemson.
The Germans reported beating off an attack by 8 carrier aircraft (identified as Martlet, Lysander and Mustang) with the new powerful quadruple AA gun and claimed one shot down and four damaged. U-758 sustained only minor damage, but 7 men were wounded in the attacks, so the boat had to abort its patrol.
U-415,
14 Jun 1943
In the afternoon, a British Whitley aircraft (10 OTU RAF/E, pilot Sgt Manson) found a group of 3 outbound boats (U-159, U-415 and U-634) and sent a contact report instead of attacking. When the boats dived, the aircraft attacked and dropped 4 depth charges on U-415 at 15.54 hours. No damage.
U-155,
14 Jun 1943
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
Polish Mosquito HJ648 (307 Sqdn RAF/B, pilot S/L S. Szablowski)
At 09.29 hours, four Mosquito aircraft (3 from 307 Polish Sqdn RAF and 1 from 410 Sqdn RCAF) attacked a group of 5 outbound boats (U-68, U-155, U-159, U-415 and U-634) in the Bay of Biscay. The leading Mosquito first strafed U-68 and then U-155, but its port engine stopped after being hit by AA fire and the aircraft was forced to make a belly landing back at the base in Predannack. A second Mosquito, piloted by F/O J. Pelka, attacked too but its guns did not fire and the remaining aircraft did not attack due to the intense AA fire.
5 crew members aboard U-155 were wounded, two of them badly. The boat returned to base together with U-68 and recieved the doctor from her for medical treatment of the wounded men.
U-68,
14 Jun 1943
At 09.33 hours, the outbound boat was strafed by one of four Mosquito aircraft. More details about this incident can be found on the page about U-155. Aboard U-68, the commander, the II.WO and another crew member were wounded. The I.WO Oblt E. Scherraus temporary took over the command. One crew member [Obergefreiter Hans Schaumburg] operating a MG38 machine-gun was apparently hit too, fell overboard and could not be recovered. The boat returned to base due to the casualties together with U-155 and later transferred its doctor to the other boat.
U-615,
14 Jun 1943
At 21.12 hours, a group of 3 outbound boats (U-257, U-600 and U-615) was attacked by a British Wellington aircraft (547 Sqdn RAF/H, pilot P/O J.W. Hermiston) in the Bay of Biscay. The aircraft strafed U-615 and killed one of the gunners. [Bootsmaat Heinz Wilke]
U-257,
14 Jun 1943
At 16.05 hours, U-257 in a group of 3 outbound boats with U-600 and U-615 was strafed and attacked with 3 depth charges by a British Whitley aircraft (10 OTU RAF/P, pilot P/O Orr) in the Bay of Biscay. One crewman was wounded.
Another Whitley aircraft from the same unit (10 OTU RAF/E, pilot Sgt Manson) exchanged gunfire with this group shortly afterwards, but the aircraft had used up its depth charges in an earlier attack.
U-600,
16 Jun 1943
At 09.04 hours, a group of 3 outbound boats was attacked by the British Liberator Mk.V aircraft FL973 (59 Sqdn RAF/C, pilot F/O E.E. Allen, RCAF) northwest of Cape Finisterre. The aircraft dropped six depth charges on U-600 in the centre and caused minor damage, but was hit four times by AA fire from all boats. Strafing from the rear gunner killed one crewman [Matrosengefreiter Georg Laub]. As the pilot flew away to examine the damage, the boats began to dive. The aircraft dropped its remaining depth charges ahead of the swirl of the starboard boat before leaving for the base.
U-338,
17 Jun 1943
A B-17 Fortress (Sqdn 206/F) killed the Obersteuermann and wounded 3 men during an attack that damaged the boat. [Obersteuermann Paul Trefflich]
U-462,
21 Jun 1943
This Milk-cow suffered one dead and 4 wounded during an attack from Mosquito aircraft from RAF Squadrons 151 & 456. [Matrosengefreiter Ferdinand Brunnbaur]. The boat had to abort patrol and return to port.
July
U-420,
3 Jul 1943
On 3 July U-420 was attacked by a Canadian B-24 Liberator aircraft (Sqdn 10/B) and two men were killed with one more wounded when the boat was hit with a Fido homing torpedo. She was severely damaged and arrived at Lorient on 16 July. [Bootsmann Heinz Grosser, Matrosengefreiter Willi Noeske]
U-193,
6 Jul 1943
An unknown aircraft hit the boat wounding 2 men and destroying the Metox equipment.
U-953,
9 Jul 1943
The boat was attacked by an aircraft on 9 July killing one and wounding two of its crew. [Matrose I Egon Döring]
U-441,
12 Jul 1943
The Flak boat was strafed by three British Beaufighter aircraft (248 Squadron RAF) in the Bay of Biscay. 10 men were killed and 13 more wounded, including all of the naval officers. Hartmann was wounded, so the doctor Paul Pfaffinger took over the command, recovered the wounded and brought the boat safely back to Brest. He received the Deutsche Kreuz in Gold for this feat. This action led to the abandonment of the Flak boats and all were reverted to their orginal configuration.
U-709,
12 Jul 1943
A torpedo explosion on board of U-709 killed 2 men and wounded another.
U-195,
20 Jul 1943
One man was lost during an air attack in the Bay of Biscay. [Matrosenobergefreiter Arthur List]
U-373,
24 Jul 1943
Off Madeira, Portugal: U-373 was attacked by Avenger and Wildcat aircraft from the escort carrier USS Santee. The boat was damaged by a Fido homing torpedo, killing 2 and wounding 7. The boat did not have to abort its mission. [Matrosenobergefreiter Franz Schulte, Matrosengefreiter Peter Regneri]
U-466,
24 Jul 1943
On 24 July U-466 was attacked by a B-24 Liberator aircraft, the boat was damaged and 5 men were wounded, including the first officer which was badly wounded.
U-669,
25 Jul 1943
A man from U-669 died on 25 July but I do not have the details. The boat was at this time in St. Nazaire. [Bootsmaat Erich Bergner]
U-604,
30 Jul 1943
U-604 was attacked by a B-24 Liberator aircraft (VB-129) on 30 July and both the IWO and the Boatswain were killed in action. [Oberleutnant zur See Frank Aschmann (see right) and Oberbootsmaat Herbert Lurz]. They boat was left in a crippled state but nonetheless manged to get away from the area.
August
U-218,
2 Aug 1943
6 men were wounded during an attack from a Wellington aircraft (Sqdn 547/B). The boat was damaged and had to abort its mine-laying mission and arrived in Brest, France on 6 August.
U-218 under attack
U-66,
3 Aug 1943
At 21.35 hours, the boat was surprised by a Avenger/Wildcat team (VC-1 USN) from USS Card in the Central Atlantic. The aircraft made several strafing runs and one depth charge apparently exploded directly under the boat. The II.WO Oblt Kurt Schütze and Mtrgfr Erich Lorenz were killed and MechGfr Heinz Nitsch died of wounds during the night. The commander and FzS Pfaff were seriously and the I.WO and five ratings were slightly wounded. U-117 was ordered to meet U-66 three days later for medical assistance und to transfer a WO as replacement.
U-738,
3 Aug 1943
Two men were lost overboard in the Baltic Sea. [Bootsmaat Heinz Richter, Matrosengefreiter Josef Häseling]
U-185,
3 Aug 1943
While looking for the U-604 to attack her again a Ventura aircraft (Sqdn VB-107, pilot Prueher) instead found the U-185 and attacked her with depth charges and wounding one man.
U-172,
11 Aug 1943
While rescuing men from the just-scuttled U-604 the U-172 was attacked by an aircraft and 1 man from its crew was killed. [Maschinenobergefreiter Fritz Schiemann]
U-760,
12 Aug 1943
During an air attack in the North Atlantic one man was lost. [Matrosenenobergefreiter Günter Werner]. The boat was damaged and had to abort its patrol.
U-406,
23 Aug 1943
An attack by an aircraft killed 2 men and wounded 3 more men.
U-340,
25 Aug 1943
U-340 rescued 5 Luftwaffe airmen off Spain on 25 August. Shortly afterwards the boat was attacked by an aircraft and a few men were wounded, the boat being damaged.
September
U-377,
22 Sep 1943
On 22 Sept a B-24 Liberator (Sqdn 10) attacked the U-377, wounding the commander. The boat had to return to port under the command of the I WO.
U-377 after its return to base. Behind the flotilla commander is the wounded commander Oblt.z.S. Kluth
U-422,
23 Sep 1943
The boat was depth charged and gunned by an allied aircraft (reported by the boat as "Halifax"). The boat suffered 3 men wounded, two of them seriously. Asking for medical assistance the boat finally met the tanker U-460 on the 29th of September.
U-711,
30 Sep 1943
On 30 Sept, U-711 suffered a man lost during landing in Narvik.
[Maschinengefreiter Heinz Schiefelbein]
U-309,
30 Sep 1943
One went missing in the North Atlantic while working out on the deck. [Mechanikergefreiter Erich Jungmann]
October
U-731,
4 Oct 1943
A Hudson aircraft (Sqdn 269/S) attacked U-731 on 4 Oct. The commander and 5 more men were wounded and the boat was damaged. The boat did not have to abort its patrol.
U-762,
8 Oct 1943
A British B-24 Liberator aircraft (Sqdn 120, pilot Bryan W. Turnbull) attacked the boat and drove her under. A destroyer joined the attack but the boat escaped although 2 men were wounded and a diesel engine was damaged.
U-631,
8 Oct 1943
The commander broke his hand in an accident during patrol.
U-584,
10 Oct 1943
One man was lost in the North Atlantic. (Thus only 52 men were onboard when the boat was sunk 3 weeks later, instead of 53 like in most sources)
U-967,
12 Oct 1943
The boat lost a man overboard on 12 October in the North Atlantic. [Mechnikergfreiter Hans Brackert]
U-488,
15 Oct 1943
A man died of illness on 15 Oct. [Maschinenmaat Karl Bergmann]
U-220,
16 Oct 1943
Two men were lost overboard in the North Atlantic. [Bootsmaat Georg Koerner, Matrosenobergefreiter Gerhard Lange]. Thus only 54 men were on board when the boat was sunk 12 days later.
U-608,
17 Oct 1943
During heavy weather a lookout on U-608 broke his arm.
U-190,
18 Oct 1943
During stormy weather a lookout broke his arm.
U-271,
21 Oct 1943
While serving as a Flak boat U-271 was attacked by two Avengers from USS Core on 21 Oct and one man from its crew died.
U-505,
24 Oct 1943
The commander of U-505, Kptlt. Peter Zschech, committed suicide while under a heavy depth charge attack on 24 Oct. This was the only such case in the war. The IWO, Meyer, saved the boat and brought it back to port.
November
U-123,
7 Nov 1943
At 09.44 hours, the inbound U-boat was attacked by a Mosquito aircraft (RAF Sqdn 618, pilot F/O Al Bonnett RCAF) in the Bay of Biscay. This was the first attack by a "TseTse" Mosquito (equipped with a 57mm cannon) and the hit scored on the conning tower killed 1 man, wounded 2 others and left the U-boat unable to dive due to a hole of 18 x 6,5cm. [Bootsmaat Günther Struve]
U-373,
10 Nov 1943
During stormy weather a lookout on U-373 broke his arm.
U-488,
25 Nov 1943
A man fell overboard, he was rescued died of heart failure shortly afterwards. [Matrosenobergefreiter Heinz Heinlein]
U-92,
29 Nov 1943
A man was lost overboard on this day. [ObGfr Friedrich Witzkonski]
U-238,
30 Nov 1943
Avengers from the escort carrier USS Bogue attacked the boat killing 2 and wounding 5 men. [Matrosenobergefreiter Jakob Philipp]
December
U-734,
9 Dec 1943
During heavy weather a lookout broke his arm on U-734 in the North Atlantic.
U-629,
16 Dec 1943
A lookout broke his arm during a severe storm.
U-471,
23 Dec 1943
A British B-24 Liberator aircraft attack (Sqdn 120/O) on U-471 on 23 Dec wounded 3 men.
Total numer of losses:
216 men in 90 incidents (76 dead and 140 wounded)
Return to U-boat Crew Casualties