Events on this day
9 May
This section is a lookup into our many database related to the U-boat war. This means that this shows our best available information at any given time. The page opens on the current date (9 May) but you can change the selected date to any day of the year by using the "Choose new date to check" below.
Major section update, 14 Dec 2007
The following major changes have taken place in this version
- The selected date can be changed to any day of the year
- On "Allied ships hit ..." you can now click on each ship's name and see its page
Shipyard report
| Orders | Laid down | Launched (2) | Commissioned (5) |
No U-boat orders on this date. | No U-boats laid down on this date. | 1942: U-415, U-416 | 1942: U-181, U-221, U-301, U-444 1944: U-777 |
Allied Ships hit on 9 May
The steam merchant Mont Louis hit by U-162 (Wattenberg) on this date.
| U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Type | Tons | Country | Convoy | |
| 1940 | |||||||
| U-9 | Lüth |  Doris (Q 135) | Submarine | 552 |  fr | ||
| 1941 | |||||||
| U-103 | Schütze |  City of Winchester | Steam merchant | 7.120 |  br | OB-313 | |
| U-110 | Lemp | Bengore Head | Steam merchant | 2.609 | br | OB-318 | |
| U-110 | Lemp | Esmond | Steam merchant | 4.976 | br | OB-318 | |
| U-201 | Schnee | Empire Cloud (d) | Steam merchant | 5.969 | br | OB-318 | |
| U-201 | Schnee | Gregalia | Steam merchant | 5.802 | br | OB-318 | |
| 1942 | |||||||
| U-125 | Folkers | Calgarolite | Motor tanker | 11.941 |  ca | ||
| U-162 | Wattenberg | Mont Louis | Steam merchant | 1.905 | ca | ||
| U-564 | Suhren | Lubrafol | Motor tanker | 7.138 |  pa | ||
| U-588 | Vogel | Greylock (d) | Steam merchant | 7.460 |  am | ||
| 1943 | |||||||
| U-123 | Schroeter | Kanbe | Steam merchant | 6.244 | br | TS-38 | |
| U-515 | Henke | Corneville | Motor merchant | 4.544 |  nw | ||
| 1944 | |||||||
| U-230 | Siegmann | USS PC-558 | Patrol craft | 335 | am | ||
| 66.595 | |||||||
| * Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk. (d) = damaged. | |||||||
Attacks on U-boats
1941
U-201. After a successful attack on convoy OB-318 the boat was attacked for almost 5 hours by the escorts HMS Amazon (D 39), HMS Nigella (K 19) and HMS St. Apollo, dropping 99 depth charges that caused serious damages. The boat managed to escape on the surface during the night and was initally able to continue her patrol after repairs, but a damaged fuel tank forced her to return to base on 13 May.
1942
U-507. The U-boat was attacked by an US Navy PBY Catalina aircraft about 225 miles south of its base at Pensacola.
1943
U-666. Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
British Halifax HR743 (58 Sqdn RAF/N, pilot F/S J.A. Hoather, DFM)
At 10.28 hours, the outbound boat was attacked by the Halifax (misidentified as Sunderland) in the Bay of Biscay. The aircraft only strafed the boat in the first attack and recieved several AA hits in a port engine during a second attack attempt. The pilot then apparently lost control when turning for another attack and the Halifax crashed into the sea about 500 metres from the boat, killing the crew of eight.
U-666. At 12.25 hours, the outbound boat was attacked by the British Whitley aircraft BD278 (10 OTU RAF/C, pilot Sgt A.J. Savage) in the Bay of Biscay. The aircraft was hit by AA fire during the intial strafing run and its depth charges fell wide. While the boat crash-dived, the Whitley returned to base due to the damages recieved in the tail.
About this data
If you believe we have missed an attack on a German U-boat in this listing please let us know.
Men lost from U-boats
There were no men lost from U-boats on this date, 9 May.
- For more information on Men lost from U-boats check out this page.
Personnel Information
The following men were born on this day:
Paul Brasack (1916), Heinrich Brodda (1903), Ernst-August Gerke (1921), Karl Grafen (1915).
The following men died on this day:
Fritz-Julius Lemp (1941).
See the entire U-boat commander listing showing all U-boat commanders.
We might include more officers (Allied and Axis) at a later date.
U-boats lost
30 men died when those 2 U-boats were lost on this date and 65 men survived.
Survivors from U-boats almost always landed in allied captivity.
- For more information on U-boat losses check out our Fates section.
General Events on 9 May
1941
U-107 was supported by the German support ship Egerland with 14 torpedoes and some food. The Egerland was camouflaged as an American ship. This is one reason for some rumors after the war that American ships supported U-boats.1942
U-371 encountered an enemy submarine, but neither boat attacked.1943
U-380 was on her way to Tunisia to support the German ground forces in Africa with ammunition. After receiving news of the capitulation, the crew threw the ammunition overboard off Pantelleria.U-381 reported via radio for the last time from a position in the North Atlantic.
1944
U-24 encountered a Soviet submarine, but neither boat attacked.U-313 had to return to base due to severe technical problems with the depth rudders.
Add more events! - If you know of an interesting event either missing from this date or an upcoming event that you'd like to share please contact us. We continuously update these databases.
We have 743 events with dates set (and will thus be shown here) and 836 notes overall.
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