German submarine U-69 (1940)

U-Boat Infobox
type=VIIC
fieldpost number=
yard number=
order date=
keel=19 December 1939
launch=12 October 1940
commission=23 November 1940
yard=Germaniawerft, Kiel
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=Start Date
enddate=End Date
assigned unit=Assigned Unit
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=10 February 1941
enddate=1 March 1941
assigned unit=7th FlotillaU-Boat Patrol
startdate=18 March 1941
enddate=11 April 1941
assigned unit=7th FlotillaU-Boat Patrol
startdate=5 May 1941
enddate=8 July 1941
assigned unit=7th FlotillaU-Boat Patrol
startdate=21 August 1941
enddate=27 August 1941
assigned unit=7th FlotillaU-Boat Patrol
startdate=1 September 1941
enddate=1 October 1941
assigned unit=7th FlotillaU-Boat Patrol
startdate=30 October 1941
enddate=8 December 1941
assigned unit=7th FlotillaU-Boat Patrol
startdate=18 January 1942
enddate=26 January 1942
assigned unit=7th FlotillaU-Boat Patrol
startdate=31 January 1942
enddate=17 March 1942
assigned unit=7th FlotillaU-Boat Patrol
startdate=12 April 1942
enddate=25 June 1942
assigned unit=7th FlotillaU-Boat Patrol
startdate=16 August 1942
enddate=5 November 1942
assigned unit=7th FlotillaU-Boat Patrol
startdate=2 January 1943
enddate=17 February 1943
assigned unit=7th FlotillaU_Boat Command
startdate=November, 1940
enddate=August, 1941
name=Kptlt. Jost Metzler
U_Boat Command
startdate=August, 1941
enddate=August, 1941
name=Kptlt. Hans-Jürgen Auffermann
U_Boat Command
startdate=August, 1941
enddate=March, 1942
name=Kptlt. Wilhelm Zahn
U_Boat Command
startdate=March, 1942
enddate=February, 1943
name=Kptlt. Ulrich Graf
U_Boat Sink
type=Type of Ship Sunk
total=Number of Ships Sunk
tonnage=Gross Registered Tonnage
U_Boat Sink
type=Commercial Vessels
total=16
tonnage=69,131
U_Boat Sink
type=Military Vessels
total=None
tonnage=0
The Unterseeboot 69, or U-69 was the first Type VIIC U-boat (submarine) commissioned into the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War. This meant that in contrast to previous U-boats, it could travel further afield for longer, with a payload of eleven torpedoes, an 88 mm deck gun for smaller vessels, and a flak gun for aircraft. "U-69" was very successful, succeeding in sinking over 69,000 tons of allied shipping in a career lasting two years, making her one of the longest surviving, continuous service,U-boats.

"U-69" was built at the Germaniawerft in Kiel during 1940, and was ready for service in the November. After her warm up in the Baltic Sea (designed to give her an opportunity to train and repair minor faults) she was deployed into the Atlantic Ocean in February, 1941 and achieved immediate success.

War Patrols

The "U-69" sank three large freighters on her very first voyage: the MV "Siamese Prince" [ [http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/766.html uboat.net - Allied Ships hit by U-boats - Siamese Prince (Motor merchant) ] ] and SS "Empire Blanda" [ [http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/770.html uboat.net - Allied Ships hit by U-boats - Empire Blanda (Steam merchant) ] ] were both torpedoed near the Faroe Islands in two days, leaving no survivors from a combined crew of 87. Five days later the SS "Temple Moat" [ [http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/781.html uboat.net - Allied Ships hit by U-boats - Temple Moat (Steam merchant) ] ] was similarly destroyed, again with no survivors from the 42 aboard. The second patrol was conducted down the coast of West Africa, in which the "U-69" laid mines off Lagos and Takoradi, claiming one of her victims, and made full use of the failure of the allies to enforce convoy systems along the African coast. On the second patrol, she claimed seven victims, including the neutral American ship "SS Robin Moor" [ [http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/940.html uboat.net - Allied Ships hit by U-boats - Robin Moor (Steam merchant) ] ] operating 750 miles off the British port of Freetown, Sierra Leone. The sinking of the "Robin Moor" caused President Roosevelt to brand Germany an "international outlaw" and to require Germany and Italy to close all of their consulates in America except for their embassies. ["President Roosevelt Message to the Congress on the Sinking of the Robin Moor, June 20, 1941," at http://www.usmm.org/fdr/robinmoor.html; "Reparations Held Unlikely," Oakland Tribune 1941-06-22 at 1.] After the "Robin Moor"'s passengers and crew were allowed thirty minutes to board lifeboats, the sub torpedoed, shelled and sunk the ship. The survivors then drifted without rescue or detection for up to eighteen days. When news of the sinking reached the U.S., few shipping companies felt truly safe anywhere. As Time Magazine noted in June 1941, "if such sinkings continue, U.S. ships bound for other places remote from fighting fronts, will be in danger. Henceforth the U.S. would either have to recall its ships from the ocean or enforce its right to the free use of the seas." [On the High Seas," Time Magazine, 1941-06-23, at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,851128,00.html]

Unfortunately for the crew of the "U-69", it was nearly a year before they were able to paint another mark on their conning tower, as the tightening of convoys in the second half of 1941 combined with some frustratingly short patrols, called off because of mechanical failure, or sickness on the boat. Thus it wasn't until May 1942, five patrols later, that she added to her tally, when she sank the tiny sailing vessel "James E. Newson" off the United States' seaboard with her guns. This seemed to reverse the boat's run of bad luck, and she sank a further three ships that month, making use of the Second happy time to add to her score.

In June 1942, her captain Ulrich Gräf reported sinking a large ship somewhere off the coast of Surinam, as "U-69's" patrol entered the Caribbean Sea, but allied researchers after the war have failed to identity this vessel, and it is likely to be an error on the part of the captain.

In October in the mouth of the St Lawrence River, "U-69" sank its most controversial victim, when it torpedoed the unlit Newfoundland ferry SS Caribou, killing 137 people. Time was running out for the boat however, and following another fruitless patrol in the winter of 1942, the boat was caught in February 1943 close to Convoy ONS-165 in the middle of the North Atlantic. Identified on HF/DF radar, she was forced to the surface by depth charges and then rammed by the destroyer HMS "Fame". None of her 46 crew survived the sinking.

The Sinking of the "Caribou"

Easily the most controversial actions of the "U-69" was the destruction of the civilian ferry SS Caribou in the mouth of the St Lawrence River at 3.25am on the 14 October 1942. "U-69" had been in the area for a few days, and had sunk the SS "Carolus" the day before with eleven lives. Early in the morning, the "Caribou" was spotted, primarily because she produced a lot of smoke, and thus was silouetted against the phosphorescent sea. Gräf then took his time preparing the shot, aided by the lack of escorting warships, before sinking her with one torpedo.

The "Caribou" had departed Sydney, Nova Scotia, some hours before heading for Port aux Basques in Newfoundland, where it was home berthed. Local military authorities had insisted that the ship travel without lights to not make itself a target. In fact, if the ship had been lit up it is unlikely she would have been hit, as she would clearly have been a civilian vessel. This controversy, which raged in Canada in the weeks which followed her destruction, was further complicated by the presence of at least 57 military personnel from Britain, Canada and the United States on board, thus actually legitimising her as a military target.

Controversy also surrounded the actions of HMCS Grandmére, a minesweeper that was escorting the ferry (thus heightening her military appearance). Instead of searching for the submarine, or dropping depth charges immediately, Lt Cuthbert in "Grandmére" instead made an effort to rescue survivors. For this he was criticised, as his own ship could have been sunk too, and "U-69" was able to escape by hiding under the wreckage of the sinking. Cuthbert refused to apologise for his actions, by which 102 lives were saved, the survivors dropped in Sydney whilst ships from Newfoundland began to collect the bodies from the sea.

In all 57 military personnel, 31 merchant seamen and 49 civilians, including many women, were killed in the sinking, totalling 137 persons lost in the 12 Celsius waters of the Atlantic.

Raiding career

References

* Sharpe, Peter, "U-Boat Fact File", Midland Publishing, Great Britain: 1998. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
* Greenfield, Nathan M., "The Battle of the St. Lawrence", Harper Perennial, Canada: 2004. ISBN 0-00-639450-7.
* [http://www.uboat.net/boats/u69.htm U-boat.net webpage for "U-69"]

See Also: List of U-boats; ss "Tewkesbury"

For other U-boats with similar designations, see Unterseeboot 69