''Borkum'' was a
wolf pack 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 ro ...
s that operated during the
battle of the Atlantic in
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 opposing ...
.
Service history
''Borkum'' was formed in December 1943 off the coast of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, to intercept convoys sailing to and from
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
,
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
and
South Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
. It was composed of U-boats from the disbanded patrol group
''Weddigen'', with reinforcements from bases in occupied France.
''Borkum'' was first detailed to assist the passage of
blockade runners ''Osorno'' and ''Alsterufer'' which were returning to base. A surface force was also involved in this operation, code-named ''Bernau''. Allied intelligence was aware of this and deployed forces against them. In the ensuing actions ''Borkum'' boats and attacked escort carrier , without success, while two destroyers were sunk; by and by ''U-415''. was destroyed by destroyer and the ''Bernau'' force lost a destroyer and two torpedo boats. The blockade runners were also lost. The ''Borkum'' boats assisted in picking up survivors.
In January 1944 ''Borkum'' was reinforced by new boats, while a number of the original group returned to base. These came under air attack crossing the
Bay of Biscay, and three, , ''U-275'' and were damaged.
The renewed ''Borkum'' group, of eight U-boats, was re-organized into three patrol lines to intercept an expected north-bound convoy (MKS 35).
However MKS 35 had joined with SL 144 and a US hunter-killer group, centred on the carrier ''Block Island'', while in the same period a south-bound convoy OS 64/KMS 38 passed through the same area.
In a series of actions ''U-305'' sank the frigate , escorting the south-bound convoy, while shot down a patrol aircraft, but three U-boats, ''U-270'', and were damaged and forced to return. was subjected to a 13-hour hunt, but eventually escaped.
On 11 January BdU disbanded ''Borkum''; ''U-953'' was sent on a solo patrol in the South Atlantic, which was successful, returning in February 1944.
The remaining four boats were sent to reinforce group
''Rügen'' in the North Atlantic. None of these U-boats survived. ''U-377'' was lost without trace, while ''U-231'' and ''U-305'' were destroyed in transit. ''U-641'' joined ''Rügen'' but was destroyed in an encounter with the corvette .
U-boats involved
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The name
''Borkum'' was named after the island of
Borkum off the German
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
coast.
Notes
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Borkum
Wolfpacks of 1943