The German submarine U-109 was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that operated during World War II. She conducted nine war-patrols, sinking 12 ships and damaging one. All but one of these were during the six patrols she carried out under the command of Heinrich Bleichrodt.
On 4 May 1943, she was sunk with all hands by a B-24 Liberator, operated by 86 Squadron RAF.
Construction and design
Construction
U-109 was ordered by the Kriegsmarine on 24 May 1938. Her keel was laid down on 9 March 1940 by DeSchiMAG AG Weser, Bremen as yard number 972. U-109 was launched on 14 September 1940 and commissioned on 5 December under the command of Hans-Georg Fischer.
Design
German Type IXB submarines were slightly larger than the original German Type IX submarines, later designated IXA. U-109 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to .
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . U-109 was fitted with six torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a SK C/30 as well as a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.
Service history
U-109 conducted a total of nine war patrols in her career and sank 12 enemy vessels for a total of . She also damaged one other of .
Training
U-109 was commissioned on 5 December 1940 in Bremen. The U-boat was allocated to the 2nd U-boat Flotilla in Kiel, and from 20 December on in Danzig. On 1 March the boat participated in the tactical exercises where convoy attackes where simulated. The performance of the commandant K.Kapt Hans-Georg Fischer was graded as insufficient and the U-boat had to do the tactical exercise once more. U-109 was transferred to front-line service, still as a member of the 2. Unterseebootsflottille on 1 May.
First patrol
U-109 left Kiel on 6 May. For 24 days, she roamed the North Sea and eventually the North Atlantic in search of Allied convoys heading to Britain.
On 13 May she was assigned to group West in the area SSE of Cape Farewell, Groenland. A first attack was made on 15 May but moments before launching torpedoes it was noted that the attacked ship is a neutral, and the attack was aborted.
On 19 May U-109 started to chase the convoy HX-126 which was found by . The next day she found the convoy but was driven aff by an escort and was attacked with depth charges. U-109 lost contact with the convoy but can sink a straggler. Many older sources mention the ship sunk by U-109 as being the British steamship Marconi but more recent sources conclude it is the British steam merchantman Harpagus. The convoy escorts counterattacked and U-109 received damage from depth charges and must abort to France.
During the retreat to France U-109 tried to intercept some of the ships chasing the battleship BIsmarck that tried also to escape to France after being damaged in the battle denmark strait but the U-109 did not find any.
When the boat was close to the French coast, a periscope was sighted but no warning was given to other boats. A few hours later the british Submarine launched 6 torpedoes on , which all missed.
On 29 May U-109 entered the German occupied port of Lorient in France. This city was to remain her home base for the remainder of her career.
The first and second watch officer Keller and Schartzkopff ( who later became U-boat commanders themselves ) complained about the performance of their commander and as a result, K.Kapt Hans-Georg Fischer was replaced by Kptlt. Heinrich Bleichrodt.
Second patrol
Her second voyage began on 28 June 1941 when she left her home port of Lorient. The orders were to attack shipping around Freetown, Africa together with 3 other boats. For such a long range mission, a resuply stop was foreseen by the german tanker Corrientes, which was interned in the harbour on the Spanish Canaries. But due to British pressure, the Spanish authorities forbade the resupplying of U-boats in those islands, and the mission to Freetown had to be cancelled. Instead U-109 patrols West of the Canaries.