Events on this day

29 April

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 (6)	Launched (6)	Commissioned (6)
No U-boat orders on this date	1940: U-503, U-504 1941: U-514 1943: U-870, U-1233 1944: U-2325	1942: U-627, U-628 1943: U-861, U-981, U-982 1944: U-1132	1941: U-84 1942: U-412 1943: U-975 1944: U-806 U-901 U-1056
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-75	Ringelmann	City of Nagpur	10,146	br
1942
	U-108	Scholtz	Mobiloil	9,925	am
	U-562 [Mine]	Hamm	Alliance	81	br
	U-562 [Mine]	Hamm	Terpsithea	157	br
	U-66	Zapp	Harry G. Seidel	10,354	pa
1943
	U-123	Schroeter	Nanking	5,931	sw
	U-258	Mässenhausen	McKeesport	6,198	am	ONS-5
1945
	U-286	Dietrich	HMS Goodall (K 479)	1,150	br	RA-66
				43,942
* 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

1941

After sighting a surfaced U-boat the British corvette HMS Gladiolus forced it down and launched depth charges. Debris, including a life-raft, was produced, but the boat apparently escaped, as no U-boat was lost on this day. The identity of the U-boat is unknown. (Blair, vol 1, page 272)

1942

U-402. A US Navy Catalina flying boat (VP-84) piloted by Lt (jg) Robert A. Proctor dropped four depth charges after locating U-402 on radar about 20 miles south of Cape Lookout, North Carolina. (Ragnar J. Ragnarsson)

1943

U-119. At 11.24 hours, the outbound boat was strafed and bombed by an Australian Sunderland flying boat (RAAF Sqdn 461/P). The boat was not damaged, but one man was killed by gunfire. [Bootsmaat Alfred Schmidt] (Rohwer/Ritschel)

U-437. 00.30 hrs, Bay of Biscay, outbound: a British Wellington bomber (RAF Sqdn 172/H), piloted by Peter H. Stembridge dropped six bombs on U-437 in a Leigh Light attack. The boat was heavily damaged and requested immediate help, and was assisted to base by U-455. (Blair, vol 2, page 276)

1944

U-473. 02.15 hrs, Bay of Biscay, outbound: Polish Wellington bomber HF386 (RAF Sqdn 304/2W, pilot F&L Leslaw Miedzybrodzki) dropped six depth charges on U-473 after located her on radar. U-473 repulsed the attack with flak and then held the shadowing aircraft at a distance for an hour. No damage. (Franks/Zimmerman)

1945

U-427. During an attack on convoy RA 66 U-427 attempted to torpedo two of the escorts, Canadian destroyers HMCS Haida and Iroquois. The escorts then dropped a total of 260 depth charges [per U-427 war diary] on U-427's supposed position over several hours. Through good luck and no doubt equal skill the U-boat escaped. This is believed to have been the penultimate attack on an Arctic convoy. Some sources give the tally of depth charges as 678, which we have been unable to verify.

U-boats lost

1943: U-332 +
1944: U-421
1945: U-307 , U-1017 +, U-286 +

167 men died when those 5 U-boats were lost on this date. 14 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

There were no men lost from U-boats on this date, 29 April.

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

Personnel Information

The following men were born on this day:
Günter La Baume (1911), Klaus Becker (1920), Hans-Joachim Bertelsmann (1916), Otto Fränzel (1921), Heinz-Joachim Neumann (1909).

The following men died on this day:
Willi Dietrich (1945), Eberhard Hüttemann (1943), Hans Jenisch (1982), Werner Riecken (1945), Helmuth Wüst (2003).

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 29 April

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-101

U-boats entering base:
To Kiel, Germany: U-52 (23 days)

1941

Sailed:
From Bergen, Norway: U-141
From Lorient, France: U-94

1942

Sailed:
From Hamburg, Germany: U-584
From Kirkenes: U-88, U-251, U-376, U-378, U-436, U-456, U-589
From St. Nazaire, France: U-437

U-boats entering base:
To Bergen, Norway: U-454 (7 days)

1943

Sailed:
From Brest, France: U-202 (lost 35 days later)
From Kiel, Germany: U-340, U-731, U-760
From Lorient, France: U-91, U-664
From St. Nazaire, France: U-465 (lost 4 days later)

U-boats entering base:
To Bergen, Norway: U-255 (32 days), U-467 (34 days), U-629 (31 days)
To Trondheim, Norway: U-355 (3 days)

1944

Sailed:
From Bergen, Norway: U-853, U-957
From Kiel, Germany: U-293, U-394
From Lorient, France: U-846 (lost 6 days later)
From Narvik, Norway: U-312

U-boats entering base:
To Brest, France: U-214 (71 days)
To Egersund U-476 (5 days), U-997 (5 days)
To Kiel, Germany: U-1061 (12 days)
To La Pallice U-262 (87 days)
To Pola U-596 (21 days)

1945

Sailed:
From Bergen, Norway: U-907
From Horten, Norway: U-977, U-991
From Kristiansand: U-287 (lost 18 days later), U-1272
From La Pallice: U-485

U-boats entering base:
To Kristiansand U-1061 (6 days)

U-boats at sea on 29 April

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

General Events on 29 April

1945

Convoy RA 66 sailed from Kola Inlet.

Fourteen survivors from the sinking of U-307 were rescued by the frigate HMS Loch Insh; these were the last U-boat men captured at sea during the war.

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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

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Events on this day

29 April

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U-boat Shipyard report

Allied Ships hit on this date

Attacks on this day

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

U-boats lost

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

Personnel Information

U-boat departures and arrivals on 29 April

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

U-boats at sea on 29 April

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

General Events on 29 April

1945

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