Английская Википедия:German submarine U-124 (1940)

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Шаблон:Infobox ship imageШаблон:Infobox ship careerШаблон:Infobox ship characteristicsШаблон:Infobox service record

German submarine U-124 (nickname "Edelweissboot") was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She operated in the Atlantic as part of the 2nd U-boat flotilla, both west of Scotland and east of the eastern US coast. She was also present off northern South America.

She was sunk with all hands west of Portugal on 2 April 1943.

Service history

U-124 was laid down on 11 August 1939 at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser yard in Bremen as yard number 956. She was launched on 9 March 1940 and commissioned on 11 June, with Kapitänleutnant Georg-Wilhelm Schulz in command. The core of the crew came from Schulz's previous command, U-64, which had been sunk during the Norwegian campaign, the survivors had been rescued by Wehrmacht mountain troops and their badge, the Edelweiss, was painted on U-124's conning tower in appreciation. He was relieved on 8 September 1941 by Korvettenkapitän Johann Mohr, who remained in command until the boat's loss in 1943.

Design

German Type IXB submarines were slightly larger than the original German Type IX submarines, later designated IXA. U-124 had a displacement of Шаблон:Convert when at the surface and Шаблон:Convert while submerged.Шаблон:Sfn The U-boat had a total length of Шаблон:Convert, a pressure hull length of Шаблон:Convert, a beam of Шаблон:Convert, a height of Шаблон:Convert, and a draught of Шаблон:Convert. The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of Шаблон:Convert for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of Шаблон:Convert for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two Шаблон:Convert propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to Шаблон:Convert.Шаблон:Sfn

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of Шаблон:Convert and a maximum submerged speed of Шаблон:Convert.Шаблон:Sfn When submerged, the boat could operate for Шаблон:Convert at Шаблон:Convert; when surfaced, she could travel Шаблон:Convert at Шаблон:Convert. U-124 was fitted with six Шаблон:Convert torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one [[10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun|Шаблон:Convert SK C/32 naval gun]], 180 rounds, and a [[3.7 cm SK C/30|Шаблон:Convert SK C/30]] as well as a [[2 cm FlaK 30|Шаблон:Convert C/30]] anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.Шаблон:Sfn

Service history

U-124 conducted eleven war patrols, sinking 46 ships, totalling Шаблон:GRT and sinking two warships, totaling Шаблон:Convert. She also damaged four ships, totalling Шаблон:GRT. She was a member of two wolfpacks.

First patrol

U-124Шаблон:'s first patrol began with her departure from Wilhelmshaven on 19 August 1940. Her route took her across the North Sea and through the gap between the Faroe and Shetland Islands. She attacked three ships northwest of Scotland; Stakesby, Harpalyce and Firecrest, all on the 25th. To avoid retaliation from Шаблон:HMS, the boat dived to Шаблон:Convert. The Royal Navy Шаблон:Sclass2 dropped 12 depth charges. Striking rocks on the sea-bed, the boat lay there for an hour, the corvette lost contact, but the collision had damaged three of her torpedo tubes. As a result, she spent the rest of the patrol reporting on the weather.

The submarine docked at Lorient on the French Atlantic coast, on 16 September.

Second patrol

U-124Шаблон:'s second foray was conducted further northwest of the Scottish mainland. Her first victim was Trevisa; sunk on 16 October 1940 Шаблон:Convert west of Rockall. The next day, 17 October, the Royal Navy Шаблон:Sclass2 Шаблон:HMS fired three torpedoes at her. All missed, and U-124 remained unaware of the attack.

U-124 went on to sink another four ships; Cubano, Sulaco (there was only one survivor) both on 20 October, Rutland on the 31st and the Шаблон:SS on 1 November. The latter ship's four survivors, on a raft when the U-boat came to investigate, played dead as they did not wish to be taken prisoner.

Third patrol

On her third sortie U-124 sank Empire Thunder north-northeast of Rockall on 6 January 1941.

Fourth patrol

On her fourth patrol the boat went to the Central Atlantic. U-124 refueled on 4 March in the neutral Spanish port of Las Palmas on the Canary Islands. On 6 March she rendezvoused with the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau under the command of Günther Lütjens. The ships operated loosely together in order to attack convoy SL 67. Escorting the convoy was the British battleship HMS Malaya. Lütjens wanted the U-boat to sink the Malaya so he could attack and sink the complete convoy. U-124 attacked north of the Cape Verde Islands during the night of7/8 March and sank four ships: Nardana, Hindpool, Tielbank and Lahore. The Malaya escaped unharmed and the German battleships had to abort their attack.

She then destroyed another seven vessels southwest of Freetown, in Sierra Leone: Шаблон:SS on 30 March, Marlene on 4 April, Portadoc on 7 April, Tweed a day later, Aegeon on the 11th, St. Helena on the 12th and the Шаблон:SS on the 13th. 102 people died as a result of her sinking Umona. One account claims that after sinking her, U-124 surfaced and captured the liner's fourth officer from a lifeboat, and that he was never seen again.

Corinthic was first struck by a dud torpedo, but another functioned correctly and sank the ship.

During this patrol U-124 also rendezvoused with the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer in order to give her a Quartz spare part for her defective Seetakt radar.

Fifth patrol

U-124 drew a blank on her fifth sortie, failing to destroy a single target. She scoured the central Atlantic southwest of Gibraltar, but found nothing.

Sixth patrol

Her sixth patrol was successful. Mohr, (her new commander), rather ambitiously claimed two ships totaling 15,000 tons sunk and a third vessel of 8,000 tons damaged. The reality was rather different. Baltallin (1,303 GRT) on 20 September 1941 and Empire Moat (2,922 GRT) also on the 20th, were both lost from Convoy OG-74; they went down north northeast of the Azores.

In addition, Empire Stream was sunk on 25 September. Among the dead were two stowaways. A final effort on 26 September accounted for three more ships, also near the Azores: Petrel, Cortes, and Siremalm (there were no survivors from the latter vessel).

U-124 returned to Lorient on 1 October.

Seventh patrol

After almost a month in her base, U-124 started her seventh patrol on 30 October 1941. On 24 November, she was engaged by the Royal Navy Шаблон:Sclass Шаблон:HMS which, with two consorts, had been searching for the Armed Merchant Raider Atlantis and her supply ship Python. Dunedin was hit by two torpedoes, despite being outside the theoretical range of the U-boat's projectiles and sank 17 minutes later. 419 men died; there were 67 survivors.

The submarine remained in the South Atlantic and sank the American Sagadahoc on 3 December. She was the fourth and last American ship to be sunk by the U-boat Arm prior to the U.S. entry into the war. Following a six-hour chase Mohr fired on Sagadahoc claiming her lights were not set correctly.

U-124 was shelled by the coastal battery at Fort Thornton, Georgetown on Ascension Island on 9 December; no damage was sustained.

Eighth patrol

A change of operational area saw the boat deploy to the Eastern United States seaboard following the success of Operation Drumbeat (Paukenschlag); leaving Lorient on 21 February 1942. Like the original 'drumbeaters', Mohr found the US defences easy to penetrate.

The boat scored her first victory before reaching her destination; sinking British Resource about Шаблон:Convert north of Bermuda on 14 March.

She then sank seven ships and damaged two more – all in March. One of them, E. M. Clark, was hit in such a way that her whistle sounded continuously until the ship went down. Another, Esso Nashville, was hit by a torpedo which failed to detonate, but a subsequent torpedo broke the tanker's back. She was held together only by deck plates and piping. The bow and stern sections soon separated, and the bow soon sank. The stern was towed to Baltimore where it was fitted with a new fore-part and the ship returned to service in March 1943.

Two more ships were hit before U-124 returned to Lorient. It was her most successful patrol; 68,215 GRT of shipping was lost or incapacitated.

Ninth patrol

It was back to the mid-Atlantic for the boat's ninth patrol, as part of Wolfpack Hecht, beginning on 4 May 1942. Four ships from Convoy ON 92 were sunk on the 12th. U-124Шаблон:'s next victim was the Free French corvette Mimosa which was sunk with heavy loss of life on 9 June. Many of the casualties came from St. Pierre et Miquelon. The impact of the sinking had a lasting effect in the community.

Two more ships were sunk before the boat returned to Lorient on 26 June.

Tenth patrol

Another change of operational zone, this time to the northern coastal area of South America. The submarine left Lorient on 25 November 1942. She sank Trewloras about Шаблон:Convert east of Port of Spain, Trinidad on 28 December.

The boat was attacked by a US Catalina flying boat on 1 January 1943 east of Port of Spain. No damage was caused.

She sank four more ships; Broad Arrow, Birmingham City, Collingsworth and Minotaur, all on the ninth. CollingsworthШаблон:'s helmsman swung the ship to port so hard that one torpedo missed by about Шаблон:Convert. Unfortunately this torpedo then hit Minotaur despite strenuous evasive action by her helmsman.

Eleventh patrol and loss

U-124 left Lorient for the last time on 27 March 1943. Heading southwest, she had hardly left the Bay of Biscay when she was attacked and sunk by two British warships, the Flower-class corvette Шаблон:HMS and Black Swan-class sloop Шаблон:HMS west of Oporto in Portugal 2 April 1943.

All 53 crew members died.

Файл:U37 Lorient 1940.jpg

U-37, a U-boat similar to U-124 at Lorient in 1940. Note the twin rudders.

Wolfpacks

U-124 took part in two wolfpacks, namely:

• Süd (22 July – 5 August 1941)
• Hecht (8 May – 18 June 1942)

Summary of raiding history

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
25 August 1940	Firecrest	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,394	Sunk
25 August 1940	Harpalyce	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,169	Sunk
25 August 1940	Шаблон:SS	Шаблон:Flagcountry	3,900	Damaged
16 October 1940	Trevisa	Шаблон:Flagcountry	1,813	Sunk
20 October 1940	Cubano	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,810	Sunk
20 October 1940	Sulaco	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,389	Sunk
31 October 1940	Rutland	Шаблон:Flagcountry	1,437	Sunk
1 November 1940	Шаблон:SS	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,612	Sunk
6 January 1941	Empire Thunder	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,965	Sunk
8 March 1941	Hindpool	Шаблон:Flagcountry	4,897	Sunk
8 March 1941	Lahore	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,304	Sunk
8 March 1941	Nardana	Шаблон:Flagcountry	7,974	Sunk
8 March 1941	Tielbank	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,984	Sunk
30 March 1941	Шаблон:SS	Шаблон:Flagcountry	3,767	Sunk
4 April 1941	Marlene	Шаблон:Flagcountry	6,507	Sunk
7 April 1941	Portadoc	Шаблон:Flagcountry	1,746	Sunk
8 April 1941	Tweed	Шаблон:Flagcountry	2,697	Sunk
11 April 1941	Aegeon	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,285	Sunk
12 April 1941	St. Helena	Шаблон:Flagcountry	4,313	Sunk
13 April 1941	Шаблон:SS	Шаблон:Flagcountry	4,823	Sunk
20 September 1941	Baltallin	Шаблон:Flagcountry	1,303	Sunk
20 September 1941	Empire Moat	Шаблон:Flagcountry	2,922	Sunk
25 September 1941	Empire Stream	Шаблон:Flagcountry	2,922	Sunk
26 September 1941	Cortes	Шаблон:Flagcountry	1,374	Sunk
26 September 1941	Petrel	Шаблон:Flagcountry	1,354	Sunk
26 September 1941	Siremalm	Шаблон:Flagcountry	2,468	Sunk
26 November 1941	Шаблон:HMS	Шаблон:Navy	4,850	Sunk
3 December 1941	Sagadahoc	Шаблон:Flagcountry	6,275	Sunk
14 March 1942	British Resource	Шаблон:Flagcountry	7,209	Sunk
17 March 1942	Acme	Шаблон:Flagcountry	6,878	Damaged
17 March 1942	Ceiba	Шаблон:Flagcountry	1,698	Sunk
18 March 1942	E. M. Clark	Шаблон:Flagcountry	9,647	Sunk
18 March 1942	Kassandra Louloudis	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,106	Sunk
19 March 1942	Шаблон:SS	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,939	Sunk
19 March 1942	W. E. Hutton	Шаблон:Flagcountry	7,076	Sunk
21 March 1942	Atlantic Sun	Шаблон:Flagcountry	11,355	Damaged
21 March 1942	Esso Nashville	Шаблон:Flagcountry	7,934	Damaged
23 March 1942	Naeco	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,373	Sunk
12 May 1942	Cristales	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,389	Sunk
12 May 1942	Шаблон:SS	Шаблон:Flagcountry	7,065	Sunk
12 May 1942	Llandover	Шаблон:Flagcountry	4,959	Sunk
12 May 1942	Mount Parnes	Шаблон:Flagcountry	4,371	Sunk
9 June 1942	FFL Mimosa	Шаблон:Navy	925	Sunk
12 June 1942	Dartford	Шаблон:Flagcountry	4,093	Sunk
18 June 1942	Seattle Spirit	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,627	Sunk
28 December 1942	Treworlas	Шаблон:Flagcountry	4,692	Sunk
9 January 1943	Birmingham City	Шаблон:Flagcountry	6,194	Sunk
9 January 1943	Broad Arrow	Шаблон:Flagcountry	7,718	Sunk
9 January 1943	Collingsworth	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,101	Sunk
9 January 1943	Minotaur	Шаблон:Flagcountry	4,554	Sunk
2 April 1943	Gogra	Шаблон:Flagcountry	5,190	Sunk
2 April 1943	Katha	Шаблон:Flagcountry	4,357	Sunk

Bibliography

• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book

External links

• Шаблон:Cite web
• Шаблон:Cite web