U-Boat Operations

Operations information for U-38
19.08.1939 - 18.09.1939 First Sailing - active patrol U-38 left Wilhelmshaven under the command of Heinrich Liebe on 19th Aug 1939 for operations off Lisbon and arrived at return on 18th Sep 1939 after over four weeks. Heinrich Liebe hit two ships on this patrol. On 6th Sep 1939 he sank the British 7,242 ton Manaar. On 11th Sep 1939 he sank the British 9,456 ton Inverliffey.
14.11.1939 - 16.12.1939 Second Sailing - active patrol On the 14th Nov 1939, U-38 left Wilhelmshaven under the command of Heinrich Liebe for operations NW of Norway and after four and a half weeks arrived at return on 16th Dec 1939. Heinrich Liebe hit three ships on this patrol. On 7th Dec 1939 he sank the British 4,460 ton Thomas Walton. On 11th Dec 1939 he sank the Greek 4,708 ton Garoufalia. On 13th Dec 1939 he sank the British 4,101 ton Deptford.
26.02.1940 - 05.04.1940 Third Sailing - active patrol U-38 departed under Heinrich Liebe from Wilhelmshaven on 26th Feb 1940 for operations in the North West approaches and arrived at return on 5th Apr 1940 after five and a half weeks. Heinrich Liebe hit six ships on this patrol. On 9th Mar 1940 he sank the Irish 216 ton Leukos. On 17th Mar 1940 he sank the Danish 5,375 ton Argentina. On 21st Mar 1940 he sank the Danish 1,654 ton Algier. On 21st Mar 1940 he sank the Danish 3,270 ton Christiansborg. On 26th Mar 1940 he sank the Norwegian 3,794 ton Cometa. On 2nd Apr 1940 he sank the Finnish 1,540 ton Signe. Crew lists and details of the ship Leukos can be found here.You can read more about the Norwegian ship listed for this patrol at www.warsailors.com. Click the link for more information on Cometa.
08.04.1940 - 27.04.1940 Fourth Sailing - active patrol U-38 left Wilhelmshaven under the command of Heinrich Liebe on 8th Apr 1940 for operations W of Norway and after more than two weeks arrived at return on 27th Apr 1940.U-38 took part in Operation Hartmut, assisting forces in the occupation of Norway. KL Liebe had a frustrating experience with torpedoes as did many of his colleagues in this operation. On 18th April he fired torpedoes at the British cruiser HMS Effingham, with no effect. In mid May, U-38 was re-fuelled by Egerland.
06.06.1940 - 02.07.1940 Fifth Sailing - active patrol On the 6th Jun 1940, U-38 left Wilhelmshaven under the command of Heinrich Liebe for operations S of Ireland and arrived at return on 2nd Jul 1940 after more than three weeks. Heinrich Liebe hit six ships on this patrol, two of these ships were in convoy, both of them were from convoy HX-47. On 14th Jun 1940 he sank the Greek 5,403 ton Mount Myrto. On 15th Jun 1940 he sank the Canadian 2,238 ton Erik Boye, sailing with convoy HX-47. On 15th Jun 1940 he sank the Norwegian 9,973 ton Italia, a member of convoy HX-47. On 20th Jun 1940 he sank the Swedish 1,776 ton Tilia Gorthon. On 21st Jun 1940 he sank the Belgian 5,809 ton Luxembourg. On 22nd Jun 1940 he sank the Greek 5,154 ton Neion. U-38 landed an agent in Ireland on 12th June.You can read more about the Norwegian ship listed for this patrol at www.warsailors.com. Click the link for more information on Italia.
01.08.1940 - 03.09.1940 Sixth Sailing - active patrol U-38 departed under Heinrich Liebe from Wilhelmshaven on 1st Aug 1940 for operations W of Ireland and after more than four weeks arrived at return on 3rd Sep 1940. Heinrich Liebe hit three ships on this patrol and all of them were in convoy: One was from convoy HX-61, one was from convoy OB-205 and one was from convoy SL-41. On 7th Aug 1940 he sank the Egyptian 7,527 ton Mohamed Ali El-Kebir, part of convoy HX-61. On 11th Aug 1940 he sank the British 4,966 ton Llanfair, from convoy SL-41. On 31st Aug 1940 he sank the British 2,508 ton Har Zion, sailing with convoy OB-205.
25.09.1940 - 24.10.1940 Seventh Sailing - active patrol U-38 left Lorient under the command of Heinrich Liebe on 25th Sep 1940 for operations in the North West approaches and arrived at return on 24th Oct 1940 after just over four weeks. Heinrich Liebe hit five ships on this patrol, four of these ships were in convoy: two were from convoy HX-79 and two were from convoy SC-7. On 1st Oct 1940 he sank the British 14,172 ton Highland Patriot. On 17th Oct 1940 he sank the Greek 3,554 ton Aenos, a member of convoy SC-7. On 18th Oct 1940 he damaged the British 3,670 ton Carsbreck, part of convoy SC-7. On 19th Oct 1940 he sank the Dutch 6,856 ton Bilderdijk, from convoy HX-79. On 19th Oct 1940 he sank the British 7,653 ton Matheran, sailing with convoy HX-79. You can find more about convoy HX-79 at the warsailors.com page on convoy HX-79.
18.12.1940 - 22.01.1941 Eighth Sailing - active patrol On the 18th Dec 1940, U-38 left Lorient under the command of Heinrich Liebe for operations in the North West approaches and after five weeks arrived at return on 22nd Jan 1941. Heinrich Liebe hit two ships on this patrol, one was from convoy HX-97. On 27th Dec 1940 he sank the British 12,823 ton Waiotira. On 31st Dec 1940 he sank the Swedish 3,760 ton Valparaiso, a member of convoy HX-97.
09.04.1941 - 29.06.1941 Ninth Sailing - active patrol U-38 departed under Heinrich Liebe from Lorient on 9th Apr 1941 for operations W of Africa and arrived at return on 29th Jun 1941 after eleven and a half weeks. Heinrich Liebe hit eight ships on this patrol, two of these ships were in convoy: One was from convoy OB-310 and one was from convoy OB-318. On 4th May 1941 he sank the Swedish 5,230 ton Japan, part of convoy OB-310. On 5th May 1941 he sank the British 4,976 ton Queen Maud. On 23rd May 1941 he sank the Dutch 6,622 ton Berhala, from convoy OB-318. On 24th May 1941 he sank the British 4,362 ton Vulcain. On 29th May 1941 he sank the British 6,251 ton Tabaristan. On 30th May 1941 he sank the British 6,181 ton Empire Protector. On 31st May 1941 he sank the Norwegian 6,029 ton Rinda. On 8th Jun 1941 he sank the British 7,628 ton Kingston Hill. U-38 was due to be refuelled on 6th June by Egerland, however on the 5th it was sunk. KL Liebe spent the day of the 6th in a fruitless search for survivors.You can read more about the Norwegian ship listed for this patrol at www.warsailors.com. Click the link for more information on Rinda.
06.08.1941 - 14.09.1941 Tenth Sailing - active patrol U-38 left Lorient under the command of Heinrich Schuch on 6th Aug 1941 for operations in the North Atlantic and after five and a half weeks arrived at return on 14th Sep 1941. Heinrich Schuch hit one ship on this patrol. On 18th Aug 1941 he sank the Panamanian 1,700 ton Longtaker.
15.10.1941 - 21.11.1941 Eleventh Sailing - active patrol On the 15th Oct 1941, U-38 left Lorient under the command of Heinrich Schuch for operations in the North Atlantic and arrived at return on 21st Nov 1941 after over five weeks.
23.11.1941 - 29.11.1941 Twelfth Sailing U-38 departed under Heinrich Schuch from Bergen on 23rd Nov 1941 and after six days arrived at return on 29th Nov 1941.

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