German submarine U-37 (1938)

Unterseeboot 37 (U-37) was a Type IX U-boat of the Kriegsmarine. Her keel was laid down March 15 1937 by AG Weser of Bremen. She was commissioned August 4 1938 with "Kapitänleutnant" Heinrich Schuch in command. U-37 conducted eleven patrols until she was scuttled on May 8 1945. Throughout the course of the war, U-37 suffered no casualties.

1st Patrol

U-37 left the port of Wilhelmshaven, with Heinrich Schuch in command, on August 19, 1939. The ship operated for nearly 4 weeks in the North Atlantic, prior to returning to port on September 19, 1939.

2nd Patrol

After returning to port in during September, U-37 left Wilhelmshaven on October 5, 1939, once again to conduct operations in the North Atlantic under the command of Kapitän zur See Werner Hartmann. During this patrol eight ships were sunk, including four British, two Greek, one French, and one Swedish. The British steam freighter "Yorkshire" was traveling with the Allied convoy HG-3, sailing from Gibraltar to Liverpool, England. Hartmann returned his ship to port November 8, after nearly 5 weeks at sea.

3rd Patrol

On January 28 1940, U-37 once again departed Wilhelmshaven, for the North Atlantic, with Werner Hartmann in command. Like his previous patrol, Hartmann sunk eight ships, including, three British, two Norwegian, one Danish, one French, and one Greek. Of these ships, two were in convoy at the time. Once again, Hartmann returned to Wilhelmshaven on February 27.

4th Patrol

Werner Hartmann departed Wilhelmshaven on March 30 for his third consecutive patrol. This patrol was directed to patrol around Norway. Again, Hartmann proved successful, sinking three ships; the Norwegian "Tosca", the Swedish "Sveaborg" and the British "Stancliffe". After patrolling for over two weeks, the ship returned to port on April 18.

5th Patrol

For the first time in nearly six months, U-37 was under the command of a new captain, Kapitänleutnant Victor Oehrn. Departing Wilhelmshaven on May 15 for patrols around Portugal and Spain, U-37 had a very successful mission, hitting eleven ships, sinking nine of them. Three French ships were sank, two Greek, one Swedish, one British, one Argentinian, one Finish, and damaged two British ships. After three and a half weeks at sea, Oehrn returned his ship to Wilhelmshaven on June 9.

6th Patrol

Once again, U-37 would head to sea from Wilhelmshaven with Victor Oehrn in command, on August 1. This week and a half long patrol west of Ireland would lead to a single sinking of the British ship "Upwey Grange". Oehrn returned his ship to port on August 12, but rather than returning to Wilhelmshaven, would head to Lorient, France.

7th Patrol

For the first time, U-37 would commence their patrol from a location other than Germany, in Lorient, France, on August 17, with Victor Oehrn in command once again. This patrol was to focus on operations off the southwest coast of Ireland. Seven ships were sunk during this patrol; five of which were British, one Norwegian, and one Greek. Of these ships, one was of the convoy OA-220, the British "Brookwood", traveling from Britain to the United States, and two were of the convory SC-1, the British "HMS Penzance" and "Blarimore", sailing from Sydney Australia to the United Kingdom. After two weeks at sea, U-37 once again returned to Lorient on August 30.

8th Patrol

On September 24, U-37 departed Lorient on Victor Oehrn fourth patrol, in which he would patrol the North Atlantic. During this month long patrol U-37 would sink six ships, four of which were in convoy at the time of attack, all of which were British. Five of these six ships were sailing under the British flag, while the sixth was of Egypt. The British ship "Corrientes" was sunk as part of convoy OB-217, sailing from Liverpool to North America. The "Heminge" was sailing as part of convoy OB-220, also sailing from Liverpool to North America. The "British General" was sunk while sailing as part of convoy OA-222, sailing from Britain to North America. The fourth ship sunk while part of a convoy was the British "Stangrant", sailing as part of the convoy HX-77 from Halifax to the United Kingdom. The ship returned to Lorient on October 22.

9th Patrol

After over a month in port, U-37 departed with a new captain, Oberleutnant zur See Asmus Nicolai Clausen on November 28 for operations around Northwest Africa and Spain. Seven ships were sunk during this patrol; two French, two Swedish, two British and one Spanish. Of these seven ships, three were in convoy at the time of their sinking. The Swedish "Gwalia" and "Daphne" and the British "Jeanne M" were sailing as part of convoy OG-46 from Britain to Gibraltar. After five weeks in the high seas, U-37 returned to Lorient on January 14, 1941.

10th Patrol

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11th Patrol

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References

* [http://www.uboat.net/boats/u37.htm uboat.net webpage for "U-37"]

"See Also: List of U-boats"