U-156
Type | IXC | |||
| Ordered | 25 Sep, 1939 | |||
| Laid down | 11 Oct, 1940 | AG Weser, Bremen (werk 998) | ||
| Launched | 21 May, 1941 | |||
| Commissioned | 4 Sep, 1941 | Kptlt. Werner Hartenstein (Knights Cross) | ||
| Commanders |
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| Career | 5 patrols | 4 Sep, 1941 - 31 Dec, 1941 4. Flottille (training) 1 Jan, 1942 - 8 Mar, 1943 2. Flottille (front boat) | ||
| Successes | 20 ships sunk for a total of 97.504 GRT 3 ships damaged for a total of 18.811 GRT 1 warship damaged for a total of 1.190 tons | |||
| Fate | Sunk at 1315hrs on 8 March, 1943 east of Barbados, in position 12.38N, 54.39W, by depth charges from a US Catalina aircraft (VP-53/P-1). 53 dead (all hands lost). | |||
See the 24 ships hit by U-156 - View the 5 war patrols
Wolfpack operations
U-156 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
Eisbär (23 Aug, 1942 - 29 Aug, 1942)
Attacks on this boat
16 Sep, 1942
An American B-24 bomber from Ascension Island, piloted by James D. Harden, found the U-156 on the surface carrying out rescue operations of over thousand survivors from the sunken (by U-156) HMS Laconia. U-156, having radioed earlier that she would not attack any ship assisting, displayed a large Red Cross in hopes of making the Americans cancel an attack. Harden described the situation to base and was told "Sink sub" and then commenced an attack which damaged the boat. The boat radioed home about the attack and sailed west to repair damages. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 62.)
1 recorded attacks on this boat.
General notes on this boat
On 12 September, 1942 U-156 sank the Allied liner Laconia west of Africa in what has become known as the Laconia incident. Please check out this page which has several photos and map of the area.
Men lost from the boat
16 Feb, 1942
U-156 began to shell the oil refinery at Aruba in the Caribbean, but the gun crew forgot to remove the water plug from the barrel, causing an explosion that killed
one man [Matrosengefreiter Heinrich Büssinger]. The
gunnery officer [II WO Leutnant zur See Dietrich von dem Borne, see right] lost his right leg in this incident, and so had to be put ashore into captivity at Martinique on 21 February. The commander decided to saw off the ruined portion of the gun barrel, and using this shorter barrel, on 27 February U-156 sank a 2,498-ton British steamer.
Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -
 | We have an emblem for this boat! You can view it here. (The emblem on the left is not the emblem for this boat). |
 U-Boot Gruppe Eisbär Pfitzmann, Martin Buy this title at amazon.de |
Books dealing with this subject include: Battle Beneath the Waves, Stern, Robert C., 1999 The Enemy We Killed, My Friend, Jones, David C., 1999 (transl.) Der Fall Laconia, Brennecke, Jochen, 1959 German U-Boat 156 Brought War to Aruba February 16, 1942, Hochstuhl, William C., 2001 German U-Boat Losses During World War II, Niestle, Axel, 1998  Laconia, Perepeczko, Andrzej, 1963 One Common Enemy, McLoughlin, Jim, 2006 The Sinking of the Laconia, Grossmith, Frederick, 1994 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 U-Boot Gruppe Eisbär, Pfitzmann, Martin, 1986 |
There was another U-156 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 14 Apr, 1917 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 28 Aug, 1917. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 156 during WWI.