1945
JANUARY 1945
Atlantic
Monthly Loss Summary
-
5 British, Allied and neutral ships of 29,000 tons in the
Atlantic from all causes
- 1
U-boat by USN in mid-Atlantic
Europe
British
Isles Inshore Campaign - As the campaign continued, there were losses on
both sides: 15th/16th - Off the Clyde, Scotland on
the 15th, "U-482" torpedoed a merchantman and badly damaged
escort carrier "THANE" (not repaired and laid up) ferrying
aircraft from Northern Ireland. After a long hunt the
U-boat was sunk next day by frigate "Loch
Craggie" and sloops "Amethyst",
"Hart", "Peacock" and
"Starling" of the 22nd EG. 21st - After
torpedoing a merchant ship from a Thames/ Bristol Channel
convoy,
"U-1199" was sunk
close to Lands End by escorting destroyer
"lcarus" and corvette "Mignonette". 26th
- "U-1172"
severely damaged
frigate "MANNERS" (constructive total loss) off the Isle of
Man and was sunk in the counter-attack by sister ships
"Aylmer", "Bentinck" and
"Calder" of the 4th and 5th EGs. 27th -
Further south in St George's Channel, and after attacking
Halifax/UK convoy HX322, "U-1051" was sunk by frigates "Bligh",
"Keats" and "Tyler" of the 5th EG.
One U-boat
was lost in UK waters, possibly mined
off the Moray Firth, and others were destroyed and
damaged in air-raids on Germany.
Merchant Shipping War
- E-boats and small battle units continued operating out
of Holland against Allied shipping in the North Sea and
English Channel, and were now joined by Seehunde midget
submarines. The new
craft enjoyed some success, but mines remained the
biggest problem for the Allies at sea.
Monthly Loss Summary
12
British, Allied and neutral ships of 47,000 tons in UK
waters.
FEBRUARY 1945
Atlantic
Russian Convoys - There was still no let up for the Russian
convoys. Although JW64 reached Kola Inlet safely
on the 13th with all 26 merchantmen, the arriving
corvette "DENBIGH CASTLE" was torpedoed by "U-992" and
became a total loss. Four days later on the 17th
return RA64 was ready to set out. Just off Kola
Inlet "U-425"
was sunk by sloop "Lark" and
corvette "Alnwick Castle", but later that day "LARK" was damaged by "U-963" and also
became a total loss. Corvette "BLUEBELL" was then torpedoed by "U-711"
and blew up with only one man surviving.
22nd - In
operations against convoys south of Portugal, "U-300", one of a small number of U-boats scattered across the North
Atlantic was sunk by escorting minesweepers
"Recruit" and "Pincher".
Monthly Loss Summary
- 6
British, Allied and neutral ships of 39,000 tons in UK
waters, 3 escorts
- 3
U-boats including 1 by US and French escorts off Morocco
Europe
British
Isles Inshore Campaign -
U-boats still took a steady toll of shipping in the
inshore campaign and sank two corvettes, but a number
were lost, mainly to the Royal Navy: 3rd -
Frigates "Bayntun", "Braithwaite",
"Loch Dunvegan" and "Loch Eck" of the
10th Escort Group patrolling north of the Shetland
Islands shared in the sinking of three U-boats (1-3) in the next two weeks. The first
was "U-1279"
(1) on the 3rd. 4th
- Off the north coast of Ireland "U-1014"
was accounted for by
23rd EG frigates "Loch Scavaig", "Loch
Shin", "Nyasaland" and "Papua". 9th
- Submarine "Venturer" on patrol off Bergen,
Norway sank another U-boat when she torpedoed "U-864". The first was "U-771"
in November 1944. 14th - The same four frigates of
10th EG sank "U-989" (2) north of the Shetlands. 16th -
Attacking Scottish coastal convoy WN74 off the Moray
Firth, "U-309"
was lost to Canadian frigate "St
John" of 9th EG. 17th - The third sinking of
the month by 10th EG north of the Shetlands was "U-1278"
(3). 20th - "U-208" attacked convoy HX337 in St George's Channel
between SE Ireland and Wales, and sank escorting corvette
"VERVAIN". The U-boat was then hunted down and destroyed by sloop
"Amethyst" of 22nd EG. 22nd - Off
Falmouth, Bristol Channel/Thames convoy BTC76 was
attacked by "U-1004" and Canadian corvette "TRENTONIAN"
was
sent to the bottom of
the English Channel. 24th - "U-927"
was lost in the
western Channel area to a RAF Wellington of No 179
Squadron. 24th - During the inshore campaign, 10 U-boats were sunk in the Lands End area, three
in February. On the 24th "U-480" sank a merchant ship from coastal convoy
BTC78 and was then hunted down and finished off by
frigates "Duckworth" and "Rowley" of
the 3rd EG. 27th - Three days later "U-1018"
attacked BTC81 to be
sunk by frigate "Loch Fada" of the 2nd EG. On
the same day "U-327" was detected by a USN liberator and
sunk by "Loch Fada" again, working with
"Labuan" and "Wild Goose". Two more U-boats were lost off Norway, one by accident
and the other mined.
Monthly Loss Summary
19
British, Allied and neutral ships of 49,000 tons in UK
waters.
MARCH 1945
Atlantic
Russian Convoys - As Russian convoy JW65 approached
Kola Inlet with 24 merchant ships on the 20th,
waiting U-boats sank two
and "U-716" sank sloop "LAPWING"
of the escort.
Monthly Loss Summary
- 4
British, Allied and neutral ships of 27,000 tons in the
Atlantic from all causes, 1 sloop
- 1
U-boat by USN off Nova Scotia
Europe
British
Isles Inshore Campaign - The inshore campaign continued: 7th - "U-1302" successfully attacked Halifax/UK
convoy SC167 in St George's Channel, but after a long
search off the coast of western Wales was sunk by
Canadian frigates "La Hulloise",
"Strathadam" and "Thetford Mines" of
the 25th EG. 10th - Deep minefields laid by the
Royal Navy to protect UK inshore waters from the U-boats
claimed two victims. On the 10th, "U-275"
was lost in the
English Channel off Beachy Head. 12th - Two days
later, the deep minefields damaged "U-260" off Fastnet Rock, southern
Ireland, and she had to be scuttled. 12th -
Between now and the 29th, three more U-boats went down
close to Lands End, starting with "U-683" to frigate "Loch Ruthven"
and sloop "Wild Goose" of the 2nd EG. 14th
- South African frigate "Natal" on passage off
the Firth of Forth, Scotland in the North Sea sank "U-714". 21st - Two U-boats were
lost off the north coast of Ireland. The first was "U-1003" damaged by Canadian frigate
"New Glasgow" of the 26th EG and later
scuttled. 22nd - "U-296" was also sunk off the north coast of
Ireland - by RAF aircraft of No 120 Squadron. 26th
- The second loss off Lands End was "U-399", sunk by frigate
"Duckworth" and other ships of 3rd EG. The same
Group accounted for the third U-boat off Lands End on the
29th. 27th - The frigates of 21st EG were split
into two divisions, and sank three U-boats in the
Hebrides area. On the 27th, "U-965" was sunk by Hedgehog off the northern
end of the islands by the 'first' division -
"Conn", accompanied by "Deane" and
"Rupert". The same day further south, "U-722" went down to the 'second' division -
"Byron", "Fitzroy" and
"Redmill". 29th - "U-246" torpedoed and badly damaged Canadian frigate "TEME" (constructive total loss), but was
then hunted down and sunk by "Duckworth" and
the 3rd EG off Lands End. 30th - Frigates
"Conn", "Deane" and
"Rupert", the 'first' division of 21st EG and
still off the northern end of the Hebrides, sank "U-1021". One more U-boat was lost to US aircraft in southern UK
waters and two to the RAF on Northern Transit Area
patrols, but now the Allied air-raids were really
starting to bite. In Germany around 12 U-boats, completed or in service, were
destroyed in the month mainly by the USAAF on the night
of the 30th.
APRIL 1945
Atlantic
Russia/UK Convoy RA66, the Last Convoy
Battle of the War - Kola Inlet bound convoy JW66 (22 ships)
arrived safely on the 25th with escort carriers
"Premier" and "Vindex", cruiser
"Diadem", Home Fleet destroyers and the 8th and
19th EGs all under the command of Rear-Adm A. E.
Cunninghame-Graham. Return convoy RA66 (24 ships)
set out on the 29th with JW66s escort, some of
which went ahead to clear the 14 U-boats waiting off the Inlet. Frigates
"Anguilla", "Cotton", "Loch
lnsh" and "Loch Shin" of the 19th EG
accounted for "U-307" followed by "U-286", the last U-boats sunk by warships of the Royal
Navy. In the action, frigate "GOODALL" of the 19th EG was torpedoed by
"U-968" and went down with heavy loss of life.
She was the last major warship of the Royal and Dominion
Navies lost in the war against Germany. RA66 arrived
safely in the Clyde on 8th May
Monthly Loss Summary
- 5
British, Allied and neutral ships of 32,000 tons in the
Atlantic from all causes, 1 frigate and 1 US destroyer
off the Azores
- 9
U-boats including 7 by USN off east coast of USA, off the
Azores and in mid-Atlantic
Europe
U-boat
Campaign - Throughout
the month over 40 U-boats were lost in and around the waters of northwest
Europe. The Royal Navy was directly involved in 12 of the sinkings: 5th - "U-1169" went down off the southeast coast of
Ireland in a deep-laid minefield in St George's Channel.
Two U-boats
were sunk in English Channel operations: 6th
- The first, "U-1195" sank a ship from a convoy off the Isle
of Wight, and was lost to old escorting destroyer
"Watchman". 15th - The second U-boat
sunk in Channel operations was "U-1063". Attacking a convoy off Start
Point, she was sent to the bottom off Land's End by
frigate "Loch Killin" of 17th EG.
Four more U-boats went down to the south and
southwest of Ireland, two of them on the 8th: 8th
- Frigates "Byron" and "Fitzroy" of
21st EG sank "U-1001", and "Bentinck" and
"Calder" of 4th EG accounted for "U-774". 10th - Two days later "U-873" sailing from still uncaptured St
Nazaire attacked a UK-out convoy and fell victim to
escorting destroyer "Vanquisher" and corvette
"Tintagel Castle". 15th - The last
U-boat loss off Ireland was "U-285" sunk by frigates
"Grindall" and "Keats" of the 5th EG.
Two more were lost in the
Irish Sea northwest of Anglesey, Wales: 12th -"U-1024" was disabled by the Squid of frigate
"Loch Glendhu" of 8th EG. Boarded by "Loch
More", she was taken in tow but foundered. 30th
- The second loss in the Irish Sea was "U-242" detected by a RAF Sunderland of No
201 Squadron and sunk by destroyers "Havelock"
and "Hesperus" of the 14th EG.
There were other losses
due to the Royal Navy: 12th - Home Fleet
submarines gained another success when "Tapir"
sank outward-bound "U-486" off Bergen, Norway. 16th - "U-1274"
attacked Forth/Thames
convoy FS1784 off St Abbs Head, SE Scotland, sinking one
ship, but was then lost to destroyer "Viceroy"
of the escort. 21st - Frigates of the 4th EG,
"Bazely", "Bentinck" and
"Drury" sank "U-636" northwest of Ireland.
Other U-boats lost were: 6 to RAF and US
aircraft in and around the British Isles; 1 by accident
and 2 more missing, cause of loss unknown, during the
inshore campaign; 5 in the Skagerrak and Kattegat, 3 by
rocket-firing Mosquitoes of RAF Coastal Command; around
17 completed boats in air-raids on Germany.
Monthly Loss Summary
14
British, Allied and neutral ships of 50,000 tons in UK
waters.
MAY 1945
Atlantic
Russian Convoys - One last convoy
sailed each way soon after the German surrender. Since
August 1941, 78 convoys had sailed in both directions and passed through nearly
1,400 merchant ships for the loss of 85 - a loss rate of
6 percent. Millions of tons of vital cargo and thousands
of tanks and aircraft had been delivered to the Russians.
The cost to the Royal Navy included one escort carrier
severely damaged, two cruisers, six destroyers, and eight
other escorts sunk in
the cold and often stormy waters of the Arctic. The
Germans lost "Scharnhorst" and indirectly
"Tirpitz",
three big destroyers, over 30 U-boats.
Battle of the
Atlantic - Conclusion
Just 68 months
before, northwest of the British Isles liner
"Athenia" was torpedoed by
"U-30" and 11 days later
"U-39" sunk by Royal Navy destroyers.
Since then, tens of thousands of lives, thousands
of ships and hundreds of U-boats had been lost in the
battle to sustain Britain as the base without
which the liberation of Europe would had been
impossible.
As the United States took over from
Britain the mantle of the world's most powerful
navy, so the last merchantmen and U-boats of the Battle of the
Atlantic went to the bottom in American waters
and involving American ships. 6th - "U-881" was sunk by the US Navy south of
Newfoundland. On the same day, "U-853" torpedoed
freighter
"Black Point" off New York, was hunted
down and sunk by US destroyer escort
"Atherton" and frigate
"Moberley".
|
Monthly Loss Summary
- 1
merchant ship of 5,000 tons in the Atlantic
- 2
German U-boats
Europe
End of
the U-boats - Right
to the end of the war there was no let-up in the struggle
against the U-boats,
especially faced with the threat from the new and
dangerous Types XXI and XXIII. Between the 2nd and 6th,
23 U-boats of all types were destroyed by the
Typhoons, Beaufighters, Mosquitoes and Liberators of the
RAF and Allied Tactical Air Forces. As the German fighter
defences crumbled, Allied aircraft roamed the Kattegat
and nearby waters catching many of the U-boats in the
Baltic or sailing for Norway. One more was lost by
unknown causes off Scotland. Two others represented
respectively, the last U-boat destroyed by the Royal Navy and the final
sinking of the European war. While much of this was
happening, steps were taken to arrange for the surrender
of Germany's still formidable submarine fleet.
4th - A Royal Navy
task force consisting of escort carriers
"Queen", "Searcher" and
"Trumpeter" with cruisers and destroyers and
under the command of Vice-Adm R. R. McGrigor returning
from Murmansk, launched strikes against shipping off
Norway, and "U-711" was sunk near Narvik. The same day Adm
Doenitz ordered his U-boats
to stop operations and return to base. Many crews
preferred to scuttle their boats.
7th - U-boats gained their last success when Type
XXIII coastal boat "U-2336" sank merchantmen
"Avondale Park" and "Sneland" off the
Firth of Forth. Further north, to the west of Bergen, a
RAF Catalina of No 210 Squadron on Northern Transit Area
patrol destroyed "U-320", the very last U-boat casualty.
8th - Operational U-boats were ordered to surface and sail for
Allied ports flying a black flag of surrender. Most made
for the UK, although a few reached the US.
9th - The first of
over 150 surrendered U-boats started to arrive, but more than 200 were
scuttled. Of those surrendering, a quarter were taken
over by the Allied powers and in Operation 'Deadlight',
the rest sunk by the Royal Navy in the Atlantic off
Northern Ireland through to January 1946.
DEFENCE OF TRADE - June 1944 to May 1945
Total Losses = 210 British, Allied and
neutral ships of 942,000 tons ( 78,000 tons per month)
By Location
|
Location |
Number
of British, Allied, neutral ships
|
Total
Gross Registered Tonnage
|
| North Atlantic |
31
|
177,000 tons
|
| South Atlantic |
5
|
28,000 tons
|
| UK waters |
135
|
500,000
tons
|
| Mediterranean |
5
|
7,000 tons
|
| Indian Ocean |
21
|
134,000 tons
|
| Pacific Ocean |
13
|
96,000 tons
|
By Cause
Causes* in order of tonnage sunk
(1. 4. ... -
Order when weapon first introduced)
|
Number
of British, Allied, neutral ships
|
Total
Gross Registered Tonnage
|
| 1.
Submarines |
120
|
629,000
tons
|
2. Mines
4. Aircraft
5. Other causes
7. Coastal forces
3. Warships
6. Raiders |
50
14
15
11
-
-
|
162,000 tons
96,000 tons
28,000 tons
27,000 tons
-
-
|
|
