Events on this day

30 October

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This is a run-down from several databases on our site. It's meant to give a clear picture of events on this date, all year round.

U-boat Shipyard report

Ordered (8)	Laid down (7)	Launched (5)	Commissioned (3)
1939: U-409, U-410, U-411, U-412, U-451, U-452, U-453, U-454	1940: U-591, U-592 1941: U-640 1942: U-991, U-992 1943: U-1406 1944: U-3031	1940: U-67 1941: U-602 1943: U-483 1944: U-2524, U-2525	1940: U-146 1941: U-378 U-594
These are commissioned boats. For more see our Shipyard pages.

Allied Ships hit on this date

	U-boat	Commander	Name of ship	Tons	Country	Convoy
1939
	U-13	Daublebsky von Eichhain	Cairnmona	4,666	br	HX-5
	U-37	Hartmann	Thrasyvoulos	3,693	gr
	U-59	Jürst	HMS Northern Rover (4.58)	655	br
1941
	U-106	Rasch	USS Salinas (AO 19) (d)	8,246	am	ON-28
1942
	unknown		HMS Northern Spray (FY 129) (d)	655	br
	U-129	Witt	West Kebar	5,620	am
	U-203	Kottmann	Corinaldo	7,131	br	SL-125
	U-409	Massmann	Bullmouth (d)	7,519	br	SL-125
	U-409	Massmann	Silverwillow	6,373	br	SL-125
	U-509	Witte	Brittany	4,772	br	SL-125
	U-604	Höltring	Baron Vernon	3,642	br	SL-125
	U-604	Höltring	Président Doumer	11,898	br	SL-125
	U-659	Stock	Bullmouth	7,519	br	SL-125
	U-659	Stock	Corinaldo (d)	7,131	br	SL-125
	U-659	Stock	Tasmania (d)	6,405	br	SL-125
				85,925
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk. (d) = damaged See all Allied ships hit by U-boats during WWII.

Attacks on this day

1941

U-81. The boat was attacked by a British Catalina flying boat (RAF Sqdn 209/Z, pilot Denis E. Ryan) SW of Brest while enroute to cross the Straits of Gibraltar. A Hudson bomber (Sqdn 53, F/O Henry) also appeared and dropped depth charge. The boat was severely damaged and had to return to Brest. After hurried repairs the boat once more sailed for the Mediterranean. (Blair, vol 1, page 396)

U-106. After torpedoing the large American tanker Salinas the boat was hunted for nine hours by escorts from convoy ON 28 and suffered severe damage. (Blair, vol 1, page 374)

1943

U-73. The target of the torpedo fired by the British submarine HMS Ultimatum on 30 Oct 1943 in the Mediterranean SE of Toulon, France in position 43.04N, 05.57E, formerly credited with sinking U-431, was actually U-73, which escaped unscathed.

(1987-11-01, FDS/NHB)

U-415. Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
British Wellington HF205 (612 Sqn RAF/C, pilot F/O R.S. Yeadon)

05.42 hrs, Bay of Biscay north of Cape Ortegal, outbound: the Wellington made a strafing run and dropped four depth charges using the Leigh Light, but was hit by flak and crashed into the sea about 50m (55 yds) astern of U-415, killing the crew of six. Damage to U-415 forced her to return to base.

(Franks/Zimmerman)

1944

U-1061. The boat was severely damaged by depth charges from a British B-24 (Sqdn 224, pilot W. S. Blackden) and a Canadian Wellington aircraft (Sqdn 407, pilot J. E. Neelin). The boat was able to escape to Maloy to be repaired. (Blair, vol 2, page 601)

U-boats lost

1940: U-32
1942: U-520 +, U-559 , U-658 +

117 men died when those 4 U-boats were lost on this date. 71 men survived.

Survivors from U-boats almost always landed in allied captivity.
U-boats marked with + were lost with all hands.

- For more information on U-boat losses check out our Fates section.

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

There were no men lost from U-boats on this date, 30 October.

- For more information on Men lost from U-boats check out this page.

Personnel Information

The following men were born on this day:
Götz von Hartmann (1913), Karl-Franz Heine (1915), Siegfried Keller (1917), Wilhelm Müller-Arnecke (1910), Ernst-August Rehwinkel (1901).

The following men died on this day:
Volkmar Schwartzkopff (1942), Hans Senkel (1942).

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-boat departures and arrivals on 30 October

This section shows the U-boat departures and arrivals from bases on this day of the year. Current country names shown with harbour names. Boats entering port display days at sea during that patrol.

1939

Sailed:
From Wilhelmshaven, Germany: U-24

1940

Sailed:
From Lorient, France: U-99

1941

Sailed:
From Kiel, Germany: U-332
From Lorient, France: U-124, U-572
From St. Nazaire, France: U-69

U-boats entering base:
To Kristiansand U-434 (2 days)
To Trondheim, Norway: U-132 (6 days)

1942

U-boats entering base:
To La Pallice U-615 (56 days)

1943

Sailed:
From Brest, France: U-86
From Narvik, Norway: U-277

U-boats entering base:
To Penang, Malaysia: U-183 (120 days), U-188 (123 days), U-532 (120 days)
To Toulon, France: U-73 (26 days)

1944

Sailed:
From Kristiansand: U-806, U-1202
From Stavanger, Norway: U-427

U-boats entering base:
To Kobe U-183 (15 days)

U-boats at sea on 30 October

Boats entering port on this day are not counted, but boats departing for patrol are. (+) indicates the boat was lost during this patrol.

1939

U-13, U-21, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-33, U-34, U-37, U-46, U-53, U-56, U-57, U-58, U-59, U-61.
15 boats at sea.

1940

U-28, U-29, U-31 (+), U-65, U-99, U-124.
6 boats at sea.

General Events on 30 October

1939

U-34 abandoned patrol and returned to base with serious engine trouble.

Out of four U-boats vectored west of the Orkneys, U-56 located the British battleships HMS Nelson, Rodney and Hood operating with a screen of ten destroyers. Torpedo failure scotched chances of success from a favourable attack position.

1942

In the Mediterranean, the sinking U-559 was boarded by three British sailors who had swum over to her. They managed to retrieve the Enigma code machine with the current rotor settings and the cipher books before the boat sank. This allowed the Allies to read Enigma codes.

1944

U-427 took part in operation "Specht" protecting a German minefield off Stavanger (Norway).

1949

The breaking up of former U-3017, possibly as N 41, at Newport, Wales.

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uboat.net

Commander file

U-boat of the day

U-boat Finder

Events on this day

30 October

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U-boat Shipyard report

Allied Ships hit on this date

Attacks on this day

1941

1943

1944

U-boats lost

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

Personnel Information

U-boat departures and arrivals on 30 October

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

U-boats at sea on 30 October

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

General Events on 30 October

1939

1942

1944

1949

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