Events on this day

5 May

This is a run-down from several databases on our site. It's meant to give a clear picture of events on this date, all year round.

U-boat Shipyard report

Ordered (0)	Laid down (2)	Launched (0)	Commissioned (4)
No U-boat orders on this date	1941: U-709 1943: U-1171	No boats launched on this date	1942: U-758 1943: U-471 U-544 U-976
These are commissioned boats. For more see our Shipyard pages.

Allied Ships hit on this date

	U-boat	Commander	Name of ship	Tons	Country	Convoy
1941
	U-38	Liebe	Queen Maud	4,976	br	OB-309
1942
	U-103	Winter	Stanbank	5,966	br
	U-106	Rasch	Lady Drake	7,985	ca
	U-108	Scholtz	Afoundria	5,010	am
	U-507	Schacht	Joseph M. Cudahy	6,950	am
	U-507	Schacht	Munger T. Ball	5,104	am
	U-564	Suhren	Delisle (d)	3,478	am
1943
	U-123	Schroeter	Holmbury	4,566	br
	U-264	Looks	Harperley	4,586	br	ONS-5
	U-264	Looks	West Maximus	5,561	am	ONS-5
	U-266	Jessen	Bonde	1,570	nw	ONS-5
	U-266	Jessen	Gharinda	5,306	br	ONS-5
	U-266	Jessen	Selvistan	5,136	br	ONS-5
	U-358	Manke	Bristol City	2,864	br	ONS-5
	U-358	Manke	Wentworth	5,212	br	ONS-5
	U-584	Deecke	West Madaket	5,565	am	ONS-5
	U-628	Hasenschar	Harbury	5,081	br	ONS-5
	U-638	Staudinger	Dolius	5,507	br	ONS-5
	U-707	Gretschel	North Britain	4,635	br	ONS-5
1944
	U-967	Brandi	USS Fechteler (DE 157)	1,300	am	GUS-38
1945
	U-853	Frömsdorf	Black Point	5,353	am
	U-979	Meermeier	Empire Unity (d)	6,386	br	RU-161
				108,097
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk. (d) = damaged See all Allied ships hit by U-boats during WWII.

Attacks on this day

1940

U-59. The boat was attacked by a submarine in the North Sea and observed a torpedo track that passed about 100 m (109 yds) astern.

1941

U-141. The U-boat was attacked by a Hudson aircraft (RAF Sqdn 269, Sgt C.H. Eatley) about 50 miles (80 km) astern of convoy OB 318. Damage from three depth charges forced the U-boat to break off the patrol. A Whitley aircraft, HMS Electra (H 27) and HMS Escapade (H 17) were directed to the scene, but did not locate the U-boat. (Kenneth Wynn)

1942

U-406. U-406 encountered a British submarine off St. Nazaire which fired a torpedo at her, without success.

1943

U-358. The target of the depth charge attack on 5 May 1943, south of Cape Farewell, Greenland in position 54.56N, 43.44W, by the British corvette HMS Pink, formerly credited with sinking U-192, was actually U-358, which suffered severe damage. (1991-10-01, FDS/NHB)

1944

U-955. At 0324hrs the boat was spotted in the moonlight by a British Liberator FK226 (86 Sqn RAF/G, pilot W/O M.G. Moseley) after being located by radar. Several attempts were made by the aircraft to get into a favorable position for an upmoon attack but eventually contact was lost. U-955 apparently crash-dived after firing at the Liberator and claimed to have shot it down, but it was not hit in the encounter. (Ragnar J. Ragnarsson)

1945

U-3523. The target of the attack by a British Liberator bomber (RAF 206/T) on 5 May 1945 in position 56.59N, 11.48E, formerly credited with the sinking of U-534, was in fact U-3523, which was severely damaged.

U-1008. The target of the attack by a British B-24 Liberator bomber (RAF Sqdn 224/T, pilot W/Cdr M.A. Ensor) on 5 May 1945 in position 56.06N, 11.06E, previously credited with sinking U-3523, was actually U-1008, which escaped with minor damage. (1994-03-01, Axel Niestle)

U-534. Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
British Liberator (Sqdn 547/E). The boat was sunk by another aircraft during this attack.

U-boats lost

1943: U-638 +
1945: U-534 , U-579 , U-2367

71 men died when those 4 U-boats were lost on this date. 49 men survived.

Survivors from U-boats almost always landed in allied captivity.
U-boats marked with + were lost with all hands.

- For more information on U-boat losses check out our Fates section.

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

1941

U-105
The 105mm gun exploded during firing, wounding six men.

1942

U-507
One of the crew broke his arm during the handling of a torpedo.

1945

U-349
When the boat was scuttled Obermaschinist Wilhelm Hegenbarth set the charges off and refused to leave the boat.

- For more information on Men lost from U-boats check out this page.

Personnel Information

The following men were born on this day:
Alfred John (1920), Viktor Graf von Reventlow-Criminil (1916), Horst Weiher (1910).

The following men died on this day:
Willi Müller (1945), Hans-Dietrich Schwarzenberg (1945), Oskar Staudinger (1943).

See the entire U-boat commander listing showing all U-boat commanders.
We might include more officers (Allied and Axis) at a later date.

U-boat departures and arrivals on 5 May

This section shows the U-boat departures and arrivals from bases on this day of the year. Current country names shown with harbour names. Boats entering port display days at sea during that patrol.

1940

Sailed:
From Kiel, Germany: U-9
From Trondheim, Norway: U-101, UA

U-boats entering base:
To Kiel, Germany: U-14 (32 days)
To Trondheim, Norway: U-32 (9 days)
To Wilhelmshaven, Germany: U-24 (23 days)

1941

Sailed:
From Lorient, France: U-69
From Wilhelmshaven, Germany: U-111

1942

Sailed:
From Kiel, Germany: U-584
From St. Nazaire, France: U-406

U-boats entering base:
To Lorient, France: U-116 (11 days)
To Pola U-561 (32 days)

1943

Sailed:
From Brest, France: U-603, U-663 (lost 4 days later)
From La Pallice: U-753 (lost 9 days later)
From La Spezia, Italy: U-380
From Lorient, France: U-521 (lost 29 days later)

U-boats entering base:
To Brest, France: U-415 (60 days)
To Pola U-453 (35 days)

1944

Sailed:
From Narvik, Norway: U-636

U-boats entering base:
To Narvik, Norway: U-307 (20 days), U-387 (16 days), U-711 (12 days)
To Penang, Malaysia: U-183 (3 days)
To Trondheim, Norway: U-703 (28 days)

1945

Sailed:
From Kilbotn: U-427
From Kopenhagen: U-534 (lost 1 days later)
From La Pallice: U-255

U-boats entering base:
To Bergen, Norway U-539 (10 days), U-907 (7 days)
To Narvik, Norway: U-1165 (15 days)

U-boats at sea on 5 May

Boats entering port on this day are not counted, but boats departing for patrol are. (+) indicates the boat was lost during this patrol.

1940

U-9, U-25, U-57, U-59, U-61, U-65, UA.
7 boats at sea.

General Events on 5 May

1940

Unable to submerge and with engines siezed after suffering severe damage from a mine strike while submerged, HMS Seal surrendered to two Arado seaplanes in the Kattegat. This was the only RN vessel was surrendered by her commander during the war. Seal was also the only submarine captured at sea by Germany. She was repaired and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine as U-B.

1943

U-406 and U-600 collided in the North Atlantic. Both boats were so badly damaged they had to return to base.

U-421 hit a mine in the Baltic Sea during exercises and was badly damaged.

U-648 had to return to base to due severe technical difficulties.

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Add more events! - If you know of an interesting event that happened on this day that's missing, or an upcoming event that you'd like to share, please contact us. We already have 782 entries that will appear in due course, so your suggestion may not appear immediately, but we are continuously updating the database.

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Commander file

U-boat of the day

U-boat Finder

Events on this day

5 May

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U-boat Shipyard report

Allied Ships hit on this date

Attacks on this day

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

U-boats lost

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

1941

1942

1945

Personnel Information

U-boat departures and arrivals on 5 May

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

U-boats at sea on 5 May

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

General Events on 5 May

1940

1943

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