Events on this day

30 January

Choose new date to check

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 (0)	Laid down (5)	Launched (1)	Commissioned (6)
No U-boat orders on this date	1941: U-175, U-217 1942: U-231, U-310 1943: U-1006	1944: U-1014	1941: U-555 1942: U-461 UD-5 1943: U-237 U-737 U-762
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
1940
	U-55	Heidel	Keramiai	5,085	gr	OA-80G
	U-55	Heidel	Vaclite	5,026	br	OA-80G
1941
	U-94	Kuppisch	Rushpool	5,125	br	SC-19
1942
	U-106	Rasch	Rochester	6,836	am
1944
	U-278	Franze	HMS Hardy (R 08)	1,810	br	JW-56B
				23,882
* 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

1943

U-175. 1657hrs, southwest of Dakar: A British Catalina aircraft (270 Sqn RAF/G) dropped 6 depth charges on the boat. The extensive damage limited the ability to dive and an oil leak caused a serious loss of fuel that had to be replenished from U-118 (Czygan) on 11 February. (Rohwer/Ritschel)

U-boats lost

1940: U-55 , U-15 +
1944: U-314 +

75 men died when those 3 U-boats were lost on this date. 41 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 January.

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

Personnel Information

The following men were born on this day:
Ludwig Franz (1918), Eberhard von Ketelhodt (1920), Hans Märtens (1918), Karl Neitzel (1901), Werner Roost (1909), Heinrich Schäfer (1907), Bernhard Schwarting (1913), Kurt Sturm (1906).

The following men died on this day:
Georg-Wilhelm Basse (1944), Peter Frahm (1940), Werner Heidel (1940), Gerhard Stoelker (1971).

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 January

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.

1940

U-boats entering base:
To Wilhelmshaven, Germany: U-61 (16 days)

1941

Sailed:
From Lorient, France: U-37, U-96

1942

Sailed:
From Bergen, Norway: U-136

U-boats entering base:
To La Pallice U-87 (38 days)
To Lorient, France: U-588 (23 days)
To St. Nazaire, France: U-94 (19 days)

1943

Sailed:
From Bergen, Norway: U-376, U-377
From Kiel, Germany: U-448, U-529 (lost 17 days later)
From Lorient, France: U-107, U-183, U-519 (lost days later)
From Pola: U-81

U-boats entering base:
To Kristiansand U-468 (3 days)

1944

Sailed:
From Hammerfest, Norway: U-360

U-boats entering base:
To Brest, France: U-471 (65 days)
To La Pallice U-302 (56 days)
To Penang, Malaysia: U-183 (3 days)
To St. Nazaire, France: U-981 (65 days)

1945

Sailed:
From Kiel, Germany: U-309, U-857, U-878
From Kristiansand: U-327 (lost 5 days later), U-866

U-boats entering base:
To Bergen, Norway: U-485 (63 days)
To Kiel, Germany: U-242 (19 days), U-1001 (27 days)
To Kristiansand U-680 (9 days)
To Narvik, Norway: U-636 (37 days)
To Swinemünde U-348 (28 days)

U-boats at sea on 30 January

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

General Events on 30 January

1940

U-25 was refuelled by the German tanker Thalia in Cadiz harbour, the first time a Spanish port was used for this purpose.

1945

The German passenger ship Wilhelm Gustloff (25,484 tons), ferrying refugees from East Prussia to the west, was torpedoed and sunk by the Russian submarine S-13 (Captain 3rd class Marinesko). This was the greatest tonnage sunk by any Russian submarine in World War II. It was also the most deadly submarine attack in history, and possibly the greatest marine disaster: over 5,000 died.

U-2511 had completed the usual working-up exercises in the Bay of Danzig, as well as trials of new equipment. She left port on 30 January 1945 with her crew and dozens of refugees — of the tens of thousands — who had crowded into Danzig in hopes of safe passage from the Russian incursion. Several hours into her journey, she surfaced near the Stolpe Banks in the Baltic off Leba. There the crew took on survivors from the wreck of the Wilhelm Gustloff, which had taken three torpedoes amidships from the Russian submarine S-13. The crew evaded mines, surface ships, and Allied submarines to reach the harbours of Sässnitz/Rügen islands, where their passengers disembarked for a refugee camp.

---

Add more events! - If you know of an interesting event that happened on this day that's missing, or an upcoming event that you'd like to share, please contact us. We already have 782 entries that will appear in due course, so your suggestion may not appear immediately, but we are continuously updating the database.

Choose new date to check

uboat.net

Commander file

U-boat of the day

U-boat Finder

Events on this day

30 January

Choose new date to check

U-boat Shipyard report

Allied Ships hit on this date

Attacks on this day

1943

U-boats lost

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

Personnel Information

U-boat departures and arrivals on 30 January

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

U-boats at sea on 30 January

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

General Events on 30 January

1940

1945

Choose new date to check