U-1105

Type

VIIC/41

Ordered

14 Oct 1941

Laid down

6 Jul 1943

Nordseewerke, Emden (werk 227)

Launched

20 Apr 1944

Commissioned

3 Jun 1944

Oblt. Hans-Joachim Schwarz

Commanders

3 Jun 1944

10 May 1945

Oblt. Hans-Joachim Schwarz

Career
1 patrol

3 Jun 1944	-	15 Feb 1945	8. Flottille (training)
16 Feb 1945	-	8 May 1945	5. Flottille (active service)

Successes

1 warship a total loss, total tonnage 1,300 tons

Fate

Surrendered at Loch Eriboll, Scotland on 10 May 1945.

Post war information (see more post-war boats):
Used for trials by the Royal Navy as N-16 between Jul 45 and Nov 45. Transferred to the US Navy in Dec 45, arriving at Portsmouth Navy Yard, NH on 2 Jan 1946. Sunk on 29 Sep 48 in Chesapeake Bay in the first of two depth charge tests. Raised on 18 Aug 49 and towed to the Potomac River. Sunk in a second depth charge test on 19 Sep 49 off Piney Point in the Potomac River, MD.

Re-discovered on June 29 1985. The boat lies in 91 feet deep water. The U-1105 site is one mile west of Piney Point, Maryland at latitude 38.08.10N, longitude 76.33.10W. This is now a Maryland historic shipwreck preserve dive site.

Final location

See the 1 ships hit by U-1105 - View the 1 war patrol

This boat is a dive site

The boat was sunk during US Navy trials in the lower Potomac River of the coast of St. Mary's County on. Mistakes in archiving the coordinates of the site resulted in the boat being lost until it was re-discovered on June 29, 1985 by a team led by Uwe Lovas. The boat lies in 91 feet deep water with 65 feet of water over her.

The U-1105 site is one mile west of Piney Point, Maryland at latitude 38.08.10N, longitude 76.33.10W. This is now a Maryland historic shipwreck preserve dive site.

Depth: 91 feet (28 meters)
Position (lat, long): 38.08, -76.33

See more U-boat dive sites.

General notes on this boat

Rubber coating
U-1105 was one of about ten German U-boats that were coated with rubber in an attempt to elude the Allied ASDIC and Sonar detection equipment. The coating process became known as Alberich. Apparently this worked quite well on this boat but overall this was troublesome as the rubber tended to peel off during passage. U-1105 became known as The Black Panther for this reason.

Final fate
The boat was sunk during explosives trials in Chesapeake Bay on 18 Nov, 1948. She was raised during salvage tests during mid-summer of 1949. Final destruction came on 19 September when she was sunk with a new 250 pound MK 6 depth charge suspended 30 feet beneath her hull.

The boat was rediscovered on 29 June, 1985 by a team of support divers led by Uwe Lovas. In November 1994 U-1105 was designated Maryland's first historic shipwreck preserve and is a preserved dive site at a depth of 91 feet. Her position by Differential GPS: 38-08.09' N, 076-33.09'W. She is managed by Maryland Historical Trust, Crownsville MD 21032

Schnorchel-fitted U-boat

This boat was fitted with a Schnorchel underwater-breathing apparatus and sailed equipped with it in April 1945 but it was of course installed prior to that date.

Read more about the Schnorchel and see list of fitted boats.

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-1105 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.