German submarine U-964

U-Boat Infobox
type=VIIC
fieldpost number=
yard number=
order date=
keel=April 21, 1942
launch=December 30, 1942
commission=February 18, 1943
yard=Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=Start Date
enddate=End Date
assigned unit=Assigned Unit
U-Boat Patrol
startdate=No Patrols
enddate=
assigned unit=5th FlotillaU-Boat Patrol
startdate=October 5 1943
enddate=October 16 1943
assigned unit=6th FlotillaU_Boat Command
startdate=February, 1943
enddate=October, 1943
name=Kptlt. Emmo Hummerjohann
U_Boat Sink
type=Type of Ship Sunk
total=Number of Ships Sunk
tonnage=Gross Registered Tonnage
U_Boat Sink
type=Commercial Vessels
total=None
tonnage=0
U_Boat Sink
type=Military Vessels
total=None
tonnage=0

"U-964" was a German Type VIIC submarine built for service during the Second World War. An short-lived boat, "U-964" is most noted for being one of three new boats ordered by the Kriegsmarine to attack Convoy ON-206 in the Western Approaches. To do this, the three boats had to travel a long distance on the surface with Allied air coverage during daylight with predictably fatal consequences for all U-boats involved.

Built by the famous Blohm & Voss shipyards in Hamburg during 1942 as a Type VIIC boat designed to fight in the waters of the Northern Atlantic Ocean. Her construction was rapid and smooth, and following her completion in February 1943 she was taken for training and working-up patrols in the Baltic Sea and off the Norwegian coast. Her commander during this period was a veteran submariner named Kptlt. Emmo Hummerjohann, who was experienced in combat operations and was still in charge when she departed Bergen, Norway in early October 1943 for her maiden combat patrol in the North Atlantic.

War Patrol

Following her departure from Norway, she passed into the Atlantic and headed southwards towards the Western Approaches. After eleven days sailing, she was still well within allied air cover when she received a radio message to link with "U-470" and "U-844" and attack an important convoy several hundred miles to the south. Realising that the only feasible method of reaching the area on time was to travel on the surface, the three boats proceeded south in full daylight.

Luck ran out quite fast as a patrolling aircraft soon spotted the boats and called in Liberator aircraft from several different squadrons. A fierce battle then followed, in which two Royal Air Force Liberators were shot down before all three boats were sunk. "U-964" was seriously damaged by bombs from aircraft of 86 Squadron, and began to sink, her crew scrambling over the side into the sea as she settled. Of the approximately 35 men who escaped the submarine, only five survived to be collected by "U-231" several days later. Only three of these men subsequently recovered from their ordeal.

References

* Sharpe, Peter, "U-Boat Fact File", Midland Publishing, Great Britain: 1998. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
* [http://www.uboat.net/boats/u964.htm U-boat.net webpage for "U-964"]

See Also: List of U-boats