German submarine U-81 (1941)

For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-81.

German submarine U-81 (1941)
Career (Germany)
Name:	U-81
Ordered:	25 January 1939
Builder:	Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack
Laid down:	11 May 1940
Launched:	22 February 1941
Commissioned:	26 April 1941
Fate:	Sunk on 9 January 1944 Wreck raised on 22 April 1944 and scrapped
General characteristics
Class & type:	Type VIIC U-boat
Displacement:	769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged
Length:	Overall 67.1 m (220 ft 2 in) pressure hull 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in)
Beam:	Overall 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) pressure hull 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in)
Draught:	4.74 m (15 ft 7 in)
Propulsion:	Surfaced: two supercharged MAN, 6 cylinder, 4-stroke M6V 40/46 diesels totalling 2,800 – 3,200bhp(2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470–490.
Speed:	Surfaced 17.7 knots (20.4 mph; 32.8 km/h) submerged 7.6 knots (8.7 mph; 14.1 km/h)
Range:	Surfaced: 8,190 nmi (15,170 km; 9,420 mi) Submerged: 81 nmi (150 km; 93 mi)
Test depth:	230 m (754 ft). Calculated crush depth: 250–295 m (820–967 ft)
Complement:	44 to 52 officers and ratings
Armament:	5 x 53.3 cm (21 in) Torpedo tubes: four bow, one stern (14 torpedoes or 26 TMA or 39 TMB mines) 1 x C35 88 mm gun/L45 deck gun with 220 rounds C30 20 mm flak guns

Service record
Part of:	Kriegsmarine: 1st U-boat Flotilla 29th U-boat Flotilla
Commanders:	Friedrich Guggenberger Johann-Otto Krieg
Operations:	17
Victories:	24 ships sunk; 41,784 gross register tons (GRT) One warship sunk 22,600 Long ton displacement

German submarine U-81 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the German Navy during World War II.

Building and commissioning

She was ordered on 25 January 1939 and laid down on 11 May 1940 at Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack, becoming 'Werk 9'. She was launched on 22 February 1941 and commissioned under her first commander, Oberleutnant (Oblt.) Friedrich Guggenberger, on 26 April of that year. Guggenberger commanded her for her work-ups with the 1st U-boat Flotilla between 26 April and 31 July 1941. She then became a front (operational) boat of the 1st U-boat Flotilla, and set out on a number of training patrols.

Career

Early patrols

Her first successes came on her second patrol, which took her from Trondheim into the North Sea and the North Atlantic, before putting into the French port of Brest. During the patrol she attacked Convoy SC-42. She sank the cargo ship Empire Springbuck on 9 September, followed by the motor ship Sally Maersk on 10 September, for a combined total of 8,843 tons.

U-81 was one of the U-boats ordered into the Mediterranean. Her first attempt to break into the 'Italian Lake' ended in disaster, when on 30 October she was attacked and severely damaged by a British Catalina of No. 209 Squadron RAF, as she attempted to cross the Strait of Gibraltar. The Catalina was joined by a Lockheed Hudson, which dropped depth charges onto U-81. She was severely damaged and had to return to Brest. There she was repaired to return to the Mediterranean.

Sinking the Ark Royal

Main article: HMS Ark Royal (91)#Final voyage and sinking

On 4 November U-81 left Brest bound for La Spezia in Italy. Whilst sailing off Gibraltar on 13 November, she encountered the inbound ships of Force H. She fired a single torpedo into the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, and then avoided depth charge attacks from the escorts. Despite efforts to salvage her, the Ark Royal had to be abandoned some 12 hours after the attack and capsized some two hours later and sank. Only one life had been lost due to the torpedo explosion. U-81 reached La Spezia on 1 December, where she joined the 29th U-boat Flotilla.

Patrols in the Mediterranean

Her next patrol was uneventful and resulted in no ships attacked. She sailed again on 4 April 1942 and headed into the eastern Mediterranean. On 16 April she sank the Egyptian sailing ships Bab el Farag and Fatouh el Kher, as well as the British Caspia and the Free French anti-submarine naval trawler Vikings. U-81 sank a further two Egyptian sailing ships, Hefz el Rahman on 19 April and the El Saadiah on 22 April. The U-boat put into port at Salamis in Greece on 25 April, having spent 22 days at sea and sunk 7,582 tons of shipping. A further patrol from Salamis was uneventful and she returned to La Spezia on another patrol, which saw the sinking of the British Havre on 10 June. U-81's next patrol was into the western Mediterranean. She sank the British Garlinge on 10 November and went on to intercept one of the convoys of Operation Torch (the invasion of French North Africa), sinking the Maron on 13 November.

U-81's next patrol was uneventful and saw her briefly shift operations to Pola (now Pula, Croatia). On 25 December Oblt. Johann-Otto Krieg took command of U-81 from Guggenberger. She sailed from Pola on 30 January 1943 on her next patrol. On 10 February she damaged the Dutch Saroena and on 11 February she sank four sailing vessels, the Egyptian Al Kasbanah and Sabah el Kheir, the Lebanese Husni and the Palestinian Dolphin. U-81 put into Salamis on 19 February after 21 days at sea, 388 tons of shipping sunk and 6,671 tons damaged. Her next patrol sank three more Egyptian sailing vessels, the Bourghieh, the Mawahab Allah and the Rousdi. Her next patrol brought more substantial results, insking the British troopship Yoma on 17 June killing 484 people, followed by the Egyptian sailing vessel Nisr on 25 June and the Syrian sailing vessels Nelly and Toufic Allah on 26 June. On 27 June she sank the Greek Michalios, but was engaged by shore-based guns off Latakia. Her next patrol saw only the Empire Moon hit on 22 July, but she was declared a total loss and spent the rest of the war under repair. The U-boat's next three patrols were uneventful but on 18 November she sank the cargo ship Empire Dunstan.

Sinking

U-81 was attacked by US bombers whilst in Pola, at 1130hrs on 9 January 1944. She sank with two of her crew dead and an unknown number of survivors. The wreck was raised on 22 April 1944 and broken up. She had conducted 17 patrols, sinking 23 ships totalling 63,289 tons and damaging two others totalling 14,143 tons.

Raiding history

HMS Legion moves alongside the damaged and listing HMS Ark Royal to take off survivors

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
9 September 1941	Empire Springbuck	UK	5,591	Sunk
10 September 1941	Sally Mærsk	UK	3,252	Sunk
13 November 1941	HMS Ark Royal	UK	22,600	Sunk
16 April 1942	Bab el Farag*	Egypt	105	Sunk
16 April 1942	Caspia	UK	6,018	Sunk
16 April 1942	Fatouhel el Rahman*	Egypt	97	Sunk
16 April 1942	FFL Vikings	France	1,150	Sunk
19 April 1942	Hefz el Rahman*	Egypt	90	Sunk
22 April 1942	Aziza*	Egypt	100	Sunk
22 April 1942	Havre	UK	2,073	Sunk
10 November 1942	Garlinge	UK	2,012	Sunk
13 November 1942	Maron	UK	6,487	Sunk
10 February 1943	Saroena	UK	6,671	Damaged
11 February 1943	Al Kasbanah*	Egypt	110	Sunk
11 February 1943	Dolphin*	Mandatory Palestine	135	Sunk
11 February 1943	Husni*	Lebanon	107	Sunk
11 February 1943	Sabah al Kheir*	Egypt	36	Sunk
20 March 1943	Bourgheih*	Egypt	244	Sunk
20 March 1943	Mawahab Allah*	Syria	77	Sunk
28 March 1943	Rouisdi*	Egypt	133	Sunk
17 June 1943	Yoma	UK	8,131	Sunk
25 June 1943	Nisr*	Egypt	80	Sunk
26 June 1943	Nelly*	Syria	80	Sunk
26 June 1943	Toufic Allah*	Syria	75	Sunk
27 June 1943	Michalios	Greece	3,742	Sunk
22 July 1943	Empire Moon	UK	7,472	Total loss
18 November 1943	Empire Dunstan	UK	2,887	Sunk

* Sailing vessel

References

Notes

Bibliography

• U-81 at Uboat.net
• Jameson, William (2004). Ark Royal: The Life of an Aircraft Carrier at War 1939–41. Periscope Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-904381-27-8. 
• Kemp, Paul (1997). U-Boats Destroyed, German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. Arms and Armour. p. 163. ISBN 1-85409-515-3. 
• Rossiter, Mike (2007). Ark Royal: the life, death and rediscovery of the legendary Second World War aircraft carrier. London: Corgi Books. ISBN 978-0-552-15369-0. 

See also

• List of German U-boats