U-196

Type

IXD2

Ordered

4 Nov 1940

Laid down

10 Jun 1941

AG Weser, Bremen (werk 1042)

Launched

24 Apr 1942

Commissioned

11 Sep 1942

Kptlt. Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat (Knights Cross)

Commanders

11 Sep 1942 - 21 Sep 1944	KrvKpt. Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat (Knights Cross)
1 Oct 1944 - 1 Dec 1944	Oblt. Werner Striegler

Career

3 patrols

11 Sep 1942 - 31 Mar 1943  4. Flottille (training)
1 Apr 1943 - 30 Sep 1944  12. Flottille (front boat)
1 Oct 1944 - 1 Dec 1944  33. Flottille (front boat)

Successes

3 ships sunk for a total of 17,739 GRT

Fate

Missing since 1 Dec, 1944 near the Sunda Straits south of Java, exact position unknown, possibly because of a diving accident. 65 dead (all hands lost).

See the 3 ships hit by U-196 - View the 3 war patrols

Attacks on this boat

25 May 1943
During a convoy attack the boat fired two torpedoes but only one ejected - the other one being stuck in the tube (a very possible detonation that would destroy the boat had to be averted). The boat was steeply dived and the torpedo harmlessly slid out the tube. During all of this the convoy escorts dropped 4 depth charges on the boat without results. Date is approximate. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 298)

1 recorded attack on this boat.

General notes on this boat

23 Oct 1943. U-196 under Korvkpt. Kentrat completed from 13 March, 1943 to 23 Oct, 1943 the longest patrol a submarine in WWII ever did (225 days at sea).

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-196 did not suffer any casualties (we know of) until the time of her loss.

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