''Seewolf'' was the name of three separate wolfpacks of German

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 ...

s that operated during the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

1941

The first U-boat group code-named ''Seewolf'' operated in the North Atlantic, to intercept Allied convoys to and from Gibraltar, and to and from Sierra Leone in west Africa. The group comprised 17 U-boats, from the dissolved groups ''Bosemuller'' and ''Kurfurst'', that had operated in the same area. Due to bad weather, and evasive routing by the British, it had no success against the target convoys, though five independently routed ships were found and sunk; on 6 September ''U-95'' sank ''Trinidad'', a neutral vessel en route from

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Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, and on 15 September ''U-94'' sank three ships that had dispersed from ON 14 the previous day. On 14 September ''U-95'' and ''U-561'' were bombed by aircraft from

Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

and forced to return to base. ''Seewolf'' was formed on 2 September, and dissolved two weeks later, on 15 September 1941. It comprised the following boats:- Five merchant ships were sunk for a total of .

1943

The second ''Seewolf'' group operated in the North Atlantic in March 1943 against convoys to and from North America. It comprised 19 U-boats, mostly from groups ''Sturmer'' and ''Dranger'', which had attacked convoys HX 229 and

SC 122 South Carolina Highway 122 (SC 122), also known as Dave Lyle Boulevard, is a state highway in Rock Hill, York County, South Carolina. It travels from the intersection with West Main Street in Rock Hill and continues west to Waterford ...

. The group was positioned to intercept the fast HX and slow SC convoys from North America, and was co-incident with group ''Seeteufel'', 16 U-boats positioned to attack outbound ON and ONS convoys. Convoys SC 123 and ONS 1 evaded both groups; several ''Seewolf'' boats found HX 230, but all attacks failed in foul weather. With no success to report, the group was dissolved and most boats returned to base, though four remained as a cadre for group ''Adler''. This ''Seewolf'' was formed on 21 March, and dissolved a week later on 30 March. It comprised the following boats:- No ships were sunk or damaged

1945

Seewolf was formed in March 1945Blair p686-688 in an effort to re-establish the U-boat offensive in American waters; it was the last wolfpack of the Atlantic campaign. Seven of the nine boats that sailed to the Americas were in Seewolf; a further two sailed independently. Coincidentally, Allied Intelligence formed the view that the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

were planning to mount a missile attack on the United States, using

V-1 V1, V01 or V-1 can refer to version one (for anything) (e.g., see version control) V1, V01 or V-1 may also refer to: In aircraft * V-1 flying bomb, a World War II German weapon * V1 speed, the maximum speed at which an aircraft pilot may abort ...

V-2 The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develope ...

missiles adapted for launch at sea by submarines. This led to a vigorous response by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, code-named

Operation Teardrop Operation Teardrop was a United States Navy operation during World War II, conducted between April and May 1945, to sink German U-boats approaching the East Coast of the United States, Eastern Seaboard that were believed to be armed with V-1 flyi ...

, to find and destroy the Seewolf boats. This was successful; Of the five boats in American waters by April (two boats had returned to base for repairs, and were still in transit at the end of April) four boats were sunk during the month. Seewolf boats had one success; ''U-546'' sank , shortly before she herself was sunk. The fifth boat was detected and destroyed on 6 May 1945, the last boat in American waters to be destroyed. The two boats in transit when Germany surrendered were given up to the USN on 8 May 1945. One US warship was sunk by this wolfpack.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seewolf Wolfpacks of 1941 Wolfpacks of 1943 Wolfpacks of 1945