ubootwaffe.netKriegsmarine and U-Boat history
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| The Loss of U 305, U 377 and U 641 — Axel Niestlé |
Axel Niestlé is the leading authority on U-boat losses of WW2. His book German U-Boat losses during WW2 - details of destruction is the standard reference on the subject, and his name appears in numerous publications and documentaries as an advisor and consultant. We're very pleased to offer one of his recent papers, changing the assessment of the sinking of 2 different U-boats in early 1944. Note: This report and the conclusions therein are protected by copyright and/or other intellectual property laws, and any unauthorized use of the material may violate such laws. No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.
U 305 (Kapitänleutnant Rudolf Bahr) left Brest in France on 8 December 1943 for its fourth patrol in the North Atlantic. At 1424 on 18 December 1943 U-boat Command directed the boat to join the newly formed group Borkum stationed to the west of Spain across the convoy route between Britain and Gibraltar. After conducting operations against various Allied convoys and A/S groups passing through its operational area during the following weeks, group Borkum was finally dissolved on 13 January 1944. At 1332 on the same day U 305 was attributed to group Rügen, then operating to the west of Britain in a loose formation across the North Atlantic convoy routes. Together with other ex-Borkum boats U 305 was to extend the patrol line towards the south. Its new operational area covered a radius of 30 nautical miles around naval grid square BE 2859. By the same signal U 305 was ordered to change to 'Irland' radio service as from 0800 on 14 January. Following a request by U-boat Command at 2206/14 U 305 radioed in its last known signal at 0827 on 15 January that the boat intended to commence its return to France on 20 January 1944. At 1224 on 2 February U-boat Command ordered the boat to report at once. When no answer was received and the boat also failed to arrive in port, U 305 was posted as missing on 3 February 1944 with effect from 2 February 1944 during the return passage to France. After the war the Allied Assessment Committee attributed the loss of U 305 to the attack of the destroyer HMS Wanderer and the frigate HMS Glenarm on 17 January 1944 in position 49°39'n/20°10'w. The two ships were part of the escort group B1 homebound after having searched for German blockade-runners. At 1355 Wanderer sighted a U-boat on the surface and was sent to attack together with Glenarm. The U-boat dived, but Wanderer picked up asdic contact at 1200 yards and dropped a five-charge pattern at 1400 that probably missed ahead. At 1409 the destroyer carried out an unsuccessful Hedgehog attack. In a third attack Wanderer dropped ten depth charges with no apparent result. Following a hedgehog attack by Glenarm at 1546 the two ships carried out four more unsuccessful attacks. At 2045 good contact was established and at 2056 Wanderer carried out another Hedgehog attack, which resulted in a single underwater explosion 15 seconds after launching, believed to have indicated a direct hit on the target. Thereafter contact was lost. Despite a search by all four ships of B1 group no further evidence of destruction could be found before the search was finally abandoned at 0117 on the next day. However, based on the available evidence the Admiralty graded the attack as “B — believed sunk”. When post-war analysis of German records revealed the loss of U 305 at about this time in the general area of the attack, its loss was eventually attributed to this attack. In attributing the loss of U 305 the Committee obviously ignored the fact that the attack took place well out of the operational area assigned to U 305. The distance between the location of attack and the naval grid square BE 2859 as the centre of the boats operational area is about 75 nautical miles, thus exceeding the operational radius at least by the factor 2.5 in northwestern direction. Although U-boat Command had encouraged boats to exploit every chance for attack, it is considered unlikely that U 305 had left its assigned operational area without notifying control about it. This supports the conclusion that the attack was very probably not directed against U 305 and consequently HMS Wanderer and HMS Glenarm can no longer be attributed with the loss of U 305. However, there were two other boats operating in the general area, which also did not return from patrol. |
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