German Submarine U-124 (1940)

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. He 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 when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to .

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

Service history

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

First patrol

''U-124''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 , the boat dived to . The Royal Navy 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-124''s second foray was conducted further northwest of the Scottish mainland. Her first victim was ''Trevisa''; sunk on 16 October 1940 west of Rockall. The next day, 17 October, the Royal Navy 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 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 sank 11 ships, four on the same day north of the Cape Verde Islands on 8 March 1941; ''Nardana'', ''Hindpool'', ''Tielbank'' and ''Lahore'' . She then destroyed another seven vessels southwest of Freetown, in Sierra Leone: 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 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.

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 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 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-124''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 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. ''Collingsworth''s helmsman swung the ship to port so hard that one torpedo missed by about . 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 and ''Black Swan''-class sloop west of Oporto in Portugal 2 April 1943.

All 53 crew members died.

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

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:U0123
1940 ships
German Type IX submarines
U-boats sunk by British warships
Ships built in Bremen (state)
U-boats commissioned in 1940
World War II submarines of Germany
Maritime incidents in April 1943
Saint Helena and Dependencies in World War II