U-373
Type | VIIC | |||||
| Ordered | 23 Sep 1939 | |||||
| Laid down | 8 Dec 1939 | Howaldtswerke AG, Kiel (werk 4) | ||||
| Launched | 5 Apr 1941 | |||||
| Commissioned | 22 May 1941 | Oblt. Paul-Karl Loeser | ||||
| Commanders |
| |||||
| Career | 13 patrols | 22 May 1941 - 1 Sep 1941 3. Flottille (training) 1 Sep 1941 - 8 Jun 1944 3. Flottille (front boat) | ||||
| Successes | 3 ships sunk for a total of 10,263 GRT | |||||
| Fate | Sunk 8 June, 1944 in the Bay of Biscay west of Brest, France, in position 48.10N, 05.31W, by depth charges from a British Liberator aircraft (Sqdn. 224/G). 4 dead and 47 survivors. | |||||
See the 3 ships hit by U-373 - View the 13 war patrols
The same aircraft also sank the U-441 only some 20 minutes later.
Wolfpack operations
U-373 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
Lachs (15 Aug 1942 - 27 Sep 1942)
Ungestüm (14 Dec 1942 - 23 Dec 1942)
Neuland (6 Mar 1943 - 12 Mar 1943)
Dranger (14 Mar 1943 - 20 Mar 1943)
Seewolf (25 Mar 1943 - 30 Mar 1943)
Attacks on this boat
2 Mar 1943
The boat was attacked by an American Liberator aircraft (USAAF A/S-Sqdn 1 / E) with 5 bombs and suffered medium damages, but remained on patrol after repairs by the crew. (Sources: Rohwer)
24 Jul 1943
Near Madeira, Portugal, U-373 was attacked by Avenger and Wildcat aircraft from the escort carrier USS Santee on 24 July. The boat was damaged by a Fido homing torpedo hit killing 2 and wounding 7 men. The boat did not have to abort its mission. [Matrosenobergefreiter Franz Schulte, Matrosengefreiter Peter Regneri] (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 393)
3 Jan 1944
The boat was attacked by British Wellington (Sqdn 612, pilot John B. Russell) which dropped depth charges. Another aircraft, this time a British B-24 Liberator (Sqdn 224, pilot Harold R. Facey) assisted and dropped 8 more depth charges at the boat. U-373 was heavily damaged and reached Brest on Jan 4. Upon reaching port 2 unexploded depth charges were found on the tower and the boat had to leave port to jettison them (an extremely dangerous business) which they successfully did. (Sources: Blair, vol 2, page 486)
3 recorded attacks on this boat.
Men lost from the boat
27 Jul 1943
U-373 was attacked by Avenger and Wildcat aircraft from the escort carrier USS Santee on 24 July. The boat was damaged by a Fido homing torpedo hit killing 2 and wounding 7 men. The boat did not have to abort its mission. [Matrosenobergefreiter Franz Schulte, Matrosengefreiter Peter Regneri]
Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -
Buy this title at amazon.com See more sellers |
Books dealing with this subject include:
|
