30th U-boat Flotilla
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30th U-boat Flotilla ("30. Unterseebootsflottille") of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's ''
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
'' was formed in October 1942. Six U-boats reached the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
after a transport over land and canals ''The 30th Flotilla was founded in October 1942 under the command of Kptlt. Helmut Rosenbaum. The boats reached Constanza after a transport over land and canals. The operational area was limited to the Black Sea. Its history ended in September 1944, when the three last Flotillas boats U-19, U-20 and U-23 were scuttled on 10 and 11 September 1944 near the Turkish coast.'' – and operated from the harbours of Constanţa and
Feodosiya uk, Феодосія, Теодосія crh, Kefe , official_name = () , settlement_type= , image_skyline = THEODOSIA 01.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Genoese fortress of Caffa , image_shield = Fe ...
from 1942 to 1944.


History

In the First World War, Imperial German submarines had been transported via rail to the
Pola Flotilla The Pola flotilla (''U-Flottille Pola'') was an Imperial German Navy (IGN) formation set up to implement the U-boat campaign against Allied shipping in the Mediterranean during the First World War in support of Germany's ally, the Austro-Hungarian ...
based in the Adriatic. With Turkey as an ally of the Central Powers, the
Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...
could also access the Black Sea via the
Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
and the
Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...
, where the
Constantinople Flotilla The Constantinople Flotilla (german: U-Flottille Konstantinopel) was an Imperial German Navy formation set up during World War I to prosecute the U-boat campaign against Allied shipping in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea in support of Germany ...
was based. In the Second World War, during
Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
, the ''
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
'' engaged the Soviet
Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...
, but at the Romanian
Siege of Odessa (1941) The siege of Odessa, known to the Soviets as the defence of Odessa, lasted from 8 August until 16 October 1941, during the early phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. Odessa was a port on the ...
, the evacuation of the Red Army forces via the sea could not be prevented with the meagre naval forces available. In October 1942, the 30th Flotilla under the command of Kptlt.
Helmut Rosenbaum Helmut Rosenbaum (11 May 1913 – 10 May 1944) was a ''Korvettenkapitän'' (LT Commander) in Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II who commanded U-boat , and the 30th U-boat Flotilla. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cros ...
was founded. With Turkey remaining neutral, access via the Bosphorus was not feasible. It was decided that small vessels, torpedo boats and U-boats, should be transported from the
German Bight The German Bight (german: Deutsche Bucht; da, tyske bugt; nl, Duitse bocht; fry, Dútske bocht; ; sometimes also the German Bay) is the southeastern bight of the North Sea bounded by the Netherlands and Germany to the south, and Denmark and ...
via the
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
to the Black Sea. The predecessor to the modern
Rhine–Main–Danube Canal The Rhine–Main–Danube Canal (German: ''Rhein-Main-Donau-Kanal''; also called Main-Danube Canal, RMD Canal or Europa Canal), is a canal in Bavaria, Germany. Connecting the Main and the Danube rive ...
, the 19th century Ludwigskanal, was not suitable, though, so transport via land was necessary. Six U-boats of the rather small coastal submarine
Type IIB In theoretical physics, type II string theory is a unified term that includes both type IIA strings and type IIB strings theories. Type II string theory accounts for two of the five consistent superstring theory, superstring theories in ten dimens ...
, which at the time served as training vessels in the Baltic Sea, were assigned to this flotilla in being. Starting from May 1942, they were partially dismantled in Kiel, to reduce weight and size. Toppled over 90°, and fitted with additional floating devices, the stripped down hulls, weighing 140 tons, were shipped through the
Kiel Canal The Kiel Canal (german: Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, literally "North- oEast alticSea canal", formerly known as the ) is a long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal was finished in 1895, but later widened, and links the N ...
and on the
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
up to
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
-Übigau, where they were placed on two 70 ton
Culemeyer Johann Culemeyer (16 October 1883 - 20 January 1951) was a German engineer. Culemeyer was born in Hanover in 1883 and, in 1936, he became a director of the Deutsche Reichsbahn and in that capacity was responsible for the construction, procurement ...
road transporters hauled by Kaelble tractors. The boats then traveled at an average speed of 5 mph over the
Reichsautobahn The ''Reichsautobahn'' system was the beginning of the German autobahns under Nazi Germany. There had been previous plans for controlled-access highways in Germany under the Weimar Republic, and two had been constructed, but work had yet to star ...
(modern day A4 and A9) to the
slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...
in
Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Bav ...
. Traveling down the Danube, one obstacle was the old Stone Bridge of
Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...
with its arches. Eventually, the submarines arrived in the Romanian port of
Galați Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most par ...
where they were re-assembled by the Romanians at the
Galați shipyard __NOTOC__ The Galați shipyard ( ro, Șantierul naval Galați), formally Damen Shipyards Galați, is a shipyard located on the Danube in Galați, a city located in the Moldavia region of Romania. History Origins through communism Shipbuilding is a ...
. The first boat started to operate from the Romanian port of Constanţa in October 1942, the last joined in May 1943. Despite carrying only five torpedoes, the Type II boats were effective in the Black Sea theatre. In total, 26 ships with 45,426 tons were sunk. was a lucky boatGordon Williamson: ''Wolf Pack: The Story of the U-Boat in World War II'', Osprey Publishing, 2006, ,
p.214
/ref> sinking 15 enemy ships with 38,500 tons without suffering casualties amongst her crew. When the Romanians switched sides in 1944, , and were scuttled near the harbour, and later raised by the Soviets. The Flotilla's history ended in September 1944, when its three last boats , ''U-20'' and ''U-23'' had to be scuttled on 10 and 11 September near the Turkish coast.


Flotilla commanders


References


Literature

* Gerd Enders: ''Deutsche U-Boote zum Schwarzen Meer''. February 1997, * Gerd Enders: ''Deutsche U-Boote im Schwarzen Meer''. 1984;


External links

* http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/UFlottillen/30-R.htm * Hans Michael Kloth
U-Boot auf der Autobahn.
In: Spiegel-Online vom 5. February 2008 * {{Uboat 30 Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 Black Sea naval operations of World War II Military units and formations of the Kriegsmarine German–Romania military relations