U-106

Type

IXB

 
Ordered24 May 1938
Laid down 26 Nov 1939 AG Weser, Bremen (werk 969)
Launched17 Jun 1940
Commissioned24 Sep 1940Oblt. Jürgen Oesten (Knights Cross)
Commanders
24 Sep 1940 - 19 Oct 1941  Kptlt. Jürgen Oesten (Knights Cross)
20 Oct 1941 - Apr, 1943  Kptlt. Hermann Rasch (Knights Cross)
20 Jun 1943 - 2 Aug 1943  Oblt. Wolf-Dietrich Damerow
Career10 patrols 24 Sep 1940 - 31 Dec 1940  2. Flottille (training)
1 Jan 1941 - 2 Aug 1943  2. Flottille (front boat)
Successes22 ships sunk for a total of 138,581 GRT
2 ships damaged for a total of 12,634 GRT
1 auxiliary warship damaged for a total of 8,246 GRT
1 warship damaged for a total of 31,100 tons
Fate

Sunk 2 Aug, 1943 north-west of Cape Ortegal, Spain, in position 46.35N, 11.55W, by depth charges from British and Australian Sunderland aircraft (Sqdn 228/N & 461/M). 22 dead and 36 survivors.

See the 26 ships hit by U-106 - View the 10 war patrols

Wolfpack operations

U-106 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
   Westwall (25 Nov 1942 - 25 Dec 1942)
   Unverzagt (12 Mar 1943 - 22 Mar 1943)

Attacks on this boat

30 Oct 1941
After torpedoing the large American tanker Salinas the boat was hunted for 9 hours by escorts from convoy ON-28. The boat was seriously damaged. (Sources: Blair, vol 1, page 374)

27 Jul 1942
A Wellington aircraft (Sqdn 311/A) attacked U-106 killing the I WO Oberleutnant zur See Günter Wißmann and wounding the Commander. The boat had only left Lorient, France 2 days earlier and was forced to return, arriving on July 28.

1 Aug 1943
The boat managed to fight off a Wellington bomber (Canadian Sqdn 407) that dropped 6 depth charges on the boat and then shadowed the boat vectoring in other allied forces. They arrived the next day and sank the boat. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 393)

3 recorded attacks on this boat.

Men lost from the boat

23 Oct 1941
An incredibly sad event befell U-106 on this date. When the replacement watch opened the tower hatch in rough seas they found out that the entire previous tower watch of 4 men had been washed overboard. [Oberleutnant zur See Werner Grüneberg, Fähnrich zur See Herbert von Bruchhausen, Oberbootsmannmaat Karl Heemann, Matrose Ewald Brühl]

27 Jul 1942
A Wellington aircraft (Sqdn 311/A) attacked U-106 killing the I WO Oberleutnant zur See Günter Wißmann and wounding the Commander. The boat had only left Lorient, France 2 days earlier and was forced to return, arriving on July 28.

  Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -



U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 2
Wynn, Kenneth


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Books dealing with this subject include:

The Approaching Storm. Chewning, Alpheus J., 1994.
German U-Boat Losses During World War II. Niestle, Axel, 1998.
Hitler's U-boat War. Blair, Clay, 1996.
Hitler's U-boat War, Vol II. Blair, Clay, 1998.
On The Triangle Run. Lamb, James B., 2000.
They Shall Not Pass Unseen. Southall, Ivan, 1956.
Torpedoes in the Gulf. Wiggins, Melanie, 1995.
U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 1. Wynn, Kenneth, 1998.
U-Boat Operations of the Second World War - Vol 2. Wynn, Kenneth, 1998.


There was another U-106 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 12 Jun 1917 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 28 Jul 1917. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 106 during WWI.