German submarine U-43 (1939)

German submarine U-43 was a Type IXA U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The keel for U-43 was laid down in August 1938 at Bremen; she was launched in May 1939 and commissioned in August.

Between November 1939 and July 1943, the U-boat conducted 14 combat patrols, sinking 21 merchant ships for a total of , damaging one ship of and another of — enough for it to be declared a total loss.

U-43 was sunk on 30 July 1943 southwest of the Azores by a torpedo dropped by a United States Navy aircraft; all 55 hands were lost.

Design

As one of the eight original German Type IX submarines, later designated IXA, U-43 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to .

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at . U-43 was fitted with six torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a SK C/30 as well as a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.

Service history U-43 was ordered for the Kriegsmarine on 21 November 1936 (as part of Plan Z and in violation of the Treaty of Versailles). Her keel was laid down on 15 August 1938 by AG Weser, Bremen as yard number 946. She was launched on 23 May 1939 and commissioned on 26 August of that same year under the command of Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm Ambrosius.

1st patrol Commissioned into the 6th U-boat Flotilla, based at Kiel, U-43 left for her first combat patrol of the war on 6 November 1939, sailing around the British Isles and into the Atlantic. There, on 16 November, she attacked the 4,915 GRT British merchant ship Arlington Court, a straggler from Convoy SL-7A, en route from Rosario, Argentina to Hull with a cargo of 7,340 tons of maize. The ship was hit by a single torpedo west-south-west of Start Point in Devon. The crew abandoned ship, the U-boat fired another torpedo, which sank the ship within 30 minutes. Seven of the crew were lost, the survivors were picked up by Dutch and Norwegian freighters. After the attack, U-43 was hunted by convoy escorts for 20 hours, sustaining some damage from depth charges.

Continuing with her patrol, U-43 attacked Convoy 14-BS in the Bay of Biscay, and sank the 4,374 GRT French merchant ship Arijon on 22 November. Convoy escorts counter-attacked with 23 depth charges, but U-43 escaped without damage.

Late on 25 November 1939, about west-north-west of Cape Finisterre (northwest Spain), U-43 attacked the unescorted 2,483 GRT British collier Uskmouth. Both G7a torpedoes malfunctioned (a common problem in the early years of the war), so the U-boat opened fire with her deck gun. After a while she fired another torpedo, but missed, so recommenced shelling. After firing 149 rounds, U-43 left the ship on fire and slowly sinking. Two crewmen were killed, while 23 survivors were picked up by an Italian merchant ship.

On the morning of 8 December U-43 was attacked by an unidentified aircraft and severely damaged. She returned to Wilhelmshaven six days later, on the 14th.

2nd patrol After the 6th U-boat Flotilla was disbanded in December 1939, U-43 was assigned to the 2nd U-boat Flotilla based in Wilhelmshaven. U-43 departed from there on 13 March 1940 and sailed along the coast of Norway, north of Scotland, and into the waters west of Ireland, but had no success. The First Watch Officer (second-in-command of the U-boat) Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Wilhelm Behrens fell overboard and was lost on 31 March. U-43 returned to Wilhelmshaven, after 25 days at sea, on 6 April.

3rd patrol U-43s third voyage began on 12 April 1940. She patrolled the North Sea and along the Norwegian coast, supporting the invasion of that country. On 22 April she was bombed by two British Hudson aircraft and suffered slight damage. She returned to Wilhelmshaven the next day.

4th patrol U-43 sailed from Wilhelmshaven on 13 May 1940 and out into the Atlantic. Her first attack took place on 28 May, south-west of Land's End, when she fired a torpedo at the British merchant ship Alca. She missed, and then opened fire with her deck gun. The armed ship returned fire, but neither vessel made any hits; the U-boat broke off the attack.

U-43 finally found success on 21 June when she attacked Convoy 65-X south-west of Figueira da Foz, Portugal, hitting the 8,627 GRT British tanker Yarraville with a single torpedo. The ship caught fire and sank. Five crew members were killed, the 45 survivors were picked up by a French trawler.

Late on 30 June U-43 hit the 13,376 GRT British merchant ship SS Avelona Star with a single torpedo northwest of Cape Finisterre. The ship, part of Convoy SL-36, was en route from Buenos Aires to London with a cargo of 5,630 tons of frozen meat and 1,000 tons of oranges. The crew abandoned the ship, which foundered the next day. One crewman was killed in the attack, the 84 survivors were picked up by the British merchant ship Beignon, which was subsequently torpedoed and sunk by on 1 July. Three survivors from Avelona Star were killed.

On the evening of 9 July U-43 sank the unescorted 3,944 GRT British merchant ship Aylesbury about southeast of Ireland. Hit by two torpedoes, the ship sank in 15 minutes. All 35 crew survived.

U-43s fourth and final success on her fourth patrol took place on the morning of 17 July when she sank the 3,509 GRT British merchant ship Fellside, a straggler from convoy OA-184, about north-west of Bloody Foreland (Cnoc Fola), County Donegal. The U-boat's first torpedo passed under the vessel, but the second struck the ship and caused her to sink within five minutes. Twelve of the crew were killed, 21 survivors were rescued. U-43 arrived back at Wilhelmshaven on 22 July after 71 days at sea.

5th patrol U-43 sailed from Wilhelmshaven on 9 September 1940, stopping at Bergen, Norway for three days before sailing on the 15th for another Atlantic patrol. She sank only one ship, the 5,802 GRT British merchantman Sulairia, separated from Convoy OB 217, on 25 September. The U-boat hit the ship with a single torpedo causing her to sink west of Achill Head, County Mayo.The Times Atlas of the World - Third edition, revised 1995, , p. 9 One man was lost, the remaining 56 crewmen were picked up by .

U-43 then made for her new home port at Lorient in France, where the 2nd U-boat Flotilla had relocated in June after the fall of that country, arriving there on 18 October. Her commander, Wilhelm Ambrosius, was promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 November, and left U-43, going on to take command of the 22nd U-boat Flotilla in January 1941. Command of the U-boat passed to Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang Lüth.

6th patrol Under her new captain, U-43 left Lorient on 10 November 1940 and returned to the waters west of Ireland, where she sank three more merchant ships and damaged a fourth.

On the morning of 2 December she attacked Convoy OB 251 west-south-west of Rockall and sank two ships. Her first victim was the 7,113 GRT British merchant ship Pacific President, which was hit by two torpedoes and quickly sank with the loss of her crew of 50 men. Forty-five minutes later U-43 hit the 12,247 GRT British oil tanker Victor Ross with two torpedoes. A third torpedo was fired five minutes later, but missed, the U-boat evaded a ramming attempt by crash-diving shortly afterwards. However, she persisted and hit the ship with a fourth torpedo 20 minutes later, sinking her. There were no survivors from her 44 crew.

In the evening of 6 December, U-43 spotted a ship and pursued her for three and a half hours before firing a single torpedo, which missed. The U-boat fired another torpedo 20 minutes later, hitting the unknown ship and sinking her in 63 seconds. The vessel is believed to be the 1,902 GRT Norwegian merchant ship Skrim, which had lost contact with Convoy OB 252 two days before in heavy weather and was never seen again.

Finally, on 13 December, U-43 fired two torpedoes at the unescorted 10,350 GRT British merchant ship Orari about southwest of Ireland. One torpedo hit the ship in the stern. However, U-43 had no torpedoes left, and the sea was too rough for her to use her deck gun. The crew of the ship managed to plug the hole with tarpaulins, and the ship made it under her own power to the Clyde.

U-43 returned to Lorient on 17 December 1940 after a patrol of 38 days. On 4 February 1941, while at Lorient docks, U-43 was sunk after a valve was accidentally left open, putting the U-boat out of action for the next three months.

7th patrol After this enforced absence U-43 began her next patrol on 11 May 1941, still under the command of Wolfgang Lüth, who had been promoted to Kapitänleutnant on 1 January. Once again she sailed out into the mid-Atlantic, where she sank three ships.

Early on the morning of 15 May U-43 opened fire with her deck gun and anti-aircraft guns on the 488 GRT French three-masted sailing ship Notre Dame du Châtelet, en route from St. Malo to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland to fish. After being hit by 45 shells the ship sank. Lüth suspected that the vessel was reporting the positions of U-boats to Allied forces, while the 10 survivors thought they had been attacked by a British submarine. They, from her crew of 38, abandoned ship in two lifeboats. Two were picked up by the on 23 May.

On the evening of 6 June U-43 put two torpedoes into the 4,802 GRT Dutch merchant ship Yselhaven about east of Newfoundland. The ship, separated from Convoy OB 328, sank within two minutes. Only 10 of her crew of 34 survived to be rescued by the Finnish merchantman Hammarland on 15 June.

In the early hours of 17 June, U-43 torpedoed and sank the 2,727 GRT British merchant ship Cathrine, part of Convoy SL-76, which was loaded with 3,700 tons of manganese ore, about south-west of Cape Clear (southern Ireland). Only three men survived from her crew of 27; they spent 33 days in a lifeboat before being found by a British trawler.

U-43 returned to Lorient on 1 July after a patrol lasting 52 days.

8th and 9th patrols U-43s next patrol, beginning on 2 August 1941, took her back out into the mid-Atlantic for 53 days, but she had no success before returning to Lorient on 23 September.

U-43 went to sea again on 10 November 1941, this time she was more successful, sinking three ships near the Azores.

Early on the morning of 29 November, U-43 fired two torpedoes at the 5,569 GRT British merchant ship Thornliebank, part of Convoy OS-12, and loaded with general cargo and munitions, about north-north-west of the Azores. Both torpedoes struck the ship, which exploded violently. There were no survivors from the crew of 75 men. Despite being about distant, debris from the explosion struck the surfaced U-boat, slightly injuring a crewman; the next day a shell without a fuze, which had been blown from the torpedoed ship was found lodged in the conning tower.

On the evening of 30 November, the 4,868 GRT British merchant ship Ashby, a straggler from Convoy OS-12, was hit by one of two torpedoes fired by U-43, south-south-east of Flores in the Azores. The ship sank within four minutes with the loss of 17 of her crew of 50. The survivors were picked up by the Portuguese destroyer Lima. After the attack the U-boat was depth charged for several hours by convoy escorts, but managed to escape unharmed.