German submarine ''U-118'' was a Type XB

minelaying A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

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's ''

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'' during

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. She was ordered on 31 January 1939 and

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 1 March 1940 at the

Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

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, as yard number 617. She was launched on 23 September 1941 and commissioned on 6 December under the command of ''

Korvettenkapitän () is the lowest ranking senior officer in a number of Germanic-speaking navies. Austro-Hungary Belgium Germany Korvettenkapitän, short: KKpt/in lists: KK, () is the lowest senior officer rank () in the German Navy. Address The offici ...

'' Werner Czygan. After a period of training as part of the

4th U-boat Flotilla Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * Fourth (album), ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * The Fourth (1972 film) ...

, ''U-118'' was assigned to the front-line as part of the

10th U-boat Flotilla 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

on 1 October 1942. She was reassigned to the 12th flotilla a month later on 1 November. She was a member of three wolfpacks.

Operational career

''U-118'' sank three merchant vessels and a warship; a total of and 925 tons of shipping in three patrols. She also damaged two others, for a total of .

First patrol

''U-118''s first patrol began on 19 September 1942 with her departure from Kiel. Her route took her across the

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, through the 'gap' between

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and the

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and into the Atlantic Ocean. The boat was attacked south of Iceland by an aircraft on 29 September which caused only slight damage. She reached her destination, which was

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in occupied France, on 16 October.

Second patrol

Her second sortie was to an area between the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

and

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

. It was uneventful. She carried out a short transit voyage from Lorient to

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on 12 and 13 December 1942.

Third patrol

The boat's third patrol was the longest, but most successful. Departing Brest on 25 January 1943, she sailed west of

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, where she sank ''Baltonia'', ''Empire Mordred'' and ''Mary Slessor'' on 7 February and damaged ''Duero'' with a

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

on the tenth. She was also responsible for the sinking of the corvette on 22 February. The Canadian ship struck a mine that ''U-118'' had laid on the first. Despite best efforts by the crew to remove

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

primers, two exploded when the ship sank, killing men in the water and disabling a nearby destroyer. ''U-118'' returned to France, to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, on 26 February.

Fourth patrol and loss

''U-118'' had been at sea less than a month when she was attacked by two aircraft west of the

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followed by a further eight planes from the carrier . Following a heavy expenditure of bombs, .50" and .30" ammunition; the U-boat exploded into two parts, oil and debris were flung into the air. 16 men survived to be picked up by the escort vessel . She was sunk in position

Wolfpacks

''U-118'' took part in three wolfpacks, namely: * Wotan (5 – 7 October 1942) * Westwall (28 – 30 November 1942) * Rochen (13 – 14 February 1943)

Summary of raiding history

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* *
''U-118'' at ubootwaffe.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:U0118 German Type X submarines U-boats commissioned in 1941 U-boats sunk in 1943 U-boats sunk by US aircraft World War II submarines of Germany World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean 1941 ships Ships built in Kiel Maritime incidents in June 1943