U-155
Type | IXC | |||||||||||||
| Ordered | 25 Sep, 1939 | |||||||||||||
| Laid down | 1 Oct, 1940 | AG Weser, Bremen (werk 997) | ||||||||||||
| Launched | 12 May, 1941 | |||||||||||||
| Commissioned | 23 Aug, 1941 | Kptlt. Adolf Cornelius Piening (Knights Cross) | ||||||||||||
| Commanders |
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| Career | 10 patrols | 23 Aug, 1941 - 31 Jan, 1942 4. Flottille (training) 1 Feb, 1942 - 14 Aug, 1944 10. Flottille (front boat) 15 Aug, 1944 - 8 May, 1945 33. Flottille (front boat) | ||||||||||||
| Successes | 25 ships sunk for a total of 126.664 GRT 1 warship sunk for a total of 13.785 tons 1 auxiliary warship damaged for a total of 6.736 GRT | |||||||||||||
| Fate | Transferred from Wilhelmshaven to Loch Ryan, Scotland on 30 June, 1945 for Operation Deadlight. Operation Deadlight (post-war Allied operation, info) | |||||||||||||
See the 27 ships hit by U-155 - View the 10 war patrols
Wolfpack operations
U-155 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
Westwall (25 Nov, 1942 - 25 Dec, 1942)
Attacks on this boat
19 Aug, 1942
During an aircraft attack on U-155 a man was lost overboard. [Maschinengefreiter Konrad Garneier]
27 Apr, 1943
While inbound to France the boat was attacked during the night by an unknown aircraft but managed to drive her off and reach France. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 219)
14 Jun, 1943
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:Polish Mosquito HJ648 (307 Sqdn RAF/B, pilot S/L S. Szablowski)
At 09.29 hours, four Mosquito aircraft (3 from 307 Polish Sqdn RAF and 1 from 410 Sqdn RCAF) attacked a group of 5 outbound boats (U-68, U-155, U-159, U-415 and U-634) in the Bay of Biscay. The leading Mosquito first strafed U-68 and then U-155, but its port engine stopped after being hit by AA fire and the aircraft was forced to make a belly landing back at the base in Predannack. A second Mosquito, piloted by F/O J. Pelka, attacked too but its guns did not fire and the remaining aircraft did not attack due to the intense AA fire.5 crew members aboard U-155 were wounded, two of them badly. The boat returned to base together with U-68 and recieved the doctor from her for medical treatment of the wounded men.
(Sources: Franks/Zimmerman/Ritschel)21 Nov, 1943
U-155 was badly damaged in an attack by enemy aircraft.
23 Jun, 1944
Mosquito aircraft (Sqdn 248/P) attacked the boat. 2 men were killed and 7 more wounded. The boat was almost in port when attacked and reached Lorient the same day.
[Matrosenobergefreiter Karl Lohmeier, Mechanikerobergefreiter Friedrich Feller]
4 May, 1945
Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:British P-51 Mustang (Sqdn 126)
6 recorded attacks on this boat.
General notes on this boat
The crew of U-155 held their 25th meeting in September 1995! "Onboard" were the former Commander Oblt. Rudolph and the British pilot who bombed the boat in 1944 when she was returning to her base in Lorient.
The first commander of U-155, Adolf Piening, invented the so-called Piening-Route as a means to travel the Bay of Biscay.
U-155 had the youngest U-boat Commander during the war, Leutnant zur See Ludwig-Ferdinand von Friedeburg. He took over the command of U-155 on 15 August 1944. He was 20 years and 3 months old at the time.
Schnorchel-fitted U-boat
This boat was fitted with a Schnorchel underwater-breathing apparatus and sailed equipped with it in August 1944 but it was of course installed prior to that date. Read more about the Schnorchel and see list of fitted boats.
Men lost from the boat
10 Mar, 1942
When U-155 headed back from the US-East coast it lost I WO Oberleutnant zur See Gert Rentrop (see right) overboard.
19 Aug, 1942
During an aircraft attack on U-155 a man was lost overboard. [Maschinengefreiter Konrad Garneier]
14 Jun, 1943
When a Wellington aircraft (547 RAF Sqdn) attacked the boat in the Bay of Biscay, one man died. [Bootsmaat Heinz Wilke]
14 Jun, 1943
4 Mosquito aircraft (Sqdn 307, Polish) attacked the U-155 on 14 June wounding 5 men in the Bay of Biscay. U-155 shot down one of the Mosquito aircraft.
23 Jun, 1944
Mosquito aircraft (Sqdn 248/P) attacked the boat. 2 men were killed and 7 more wounded. The boat was almost in port when attacked and reached Lorient the same day.
[Matrosenobergefreiter Karl Lohmeier, Mechanikerobergefreiter Friedrich Feller]
Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -
 Torpedoes in the Gulf Wiggins, Melanie Buy this title at amazon.co.uk See more sellers |
Books dealing with this subject include: Dark Sky, Deep Water, Franks, Norman, 1997 (transl.) German U-Boat Losses During World War II, Niestle, Axel, 1998 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-155 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 28 Mar, 1916 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 19 Feb, 1917. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 155 during WWI.