U-61

Type

IIC

 
Ordered21 Jul 1937
Laid down 1 Oct 1938 Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel (werk 260)
Launched15 Jun 1939
Commissioned12 Aug 1939Oblt. Jürgen Oesten (Knights Cross)
Commanders
12 Aug 1939 - 28 Jul 1940  Oblt. Jürgen Oesten (Knights Cross)
28 Jul 1940 - 5 Nov 1940   Wolf-Harro Stiebler
5 Nov 1940 - 4 May 1941   Willy Mattke
5 May 1941 - 15 Jan 1942  Oblt. Hans Lange
16 Jan 1942 - 9 Nov 1942  Oblt. Horst Geider
10 Nov 1942 - 15 Sep 1943  Oblt. Wolfgang Ley
16 Sep 1943 - 1 Dec 1944  Oblt. Rudolf Schultze
2 Dec 1944 - Mar, 1945  Oblt. Werner Zapf
Career11 patrols 12 Aug 1939 - 31 Oct 1939  5. Flottille (training)
1 Nov 1939 - 31 Dec 1939  5. Flottille (front boat)
1 Jan 1940 - 14 Nov 1940  1. Flottille (front boat)
15 Nov 1940 - 1 Mar 1945  21. Flottille (school boat)
Successes5 ships sunk for a total of 19,668 GRT
1 ship damaged for a total of 4,434 GRT
Fate

Scuttled on 2 May, 1945 at Wilhelmshaven.

See the 6 ships hit by U-61 - View the 11 war patrols

Men lost from U-boats

Unlike many other U-boats, which during their service lost men due to accidents and various other causes, U-61 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


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Books dealing with this subject include:

German U-Boat Losses During World War II. Niestle, Axel, 1998.
Hitler's U-boat War. Blair, Clay, 1996.
Hitler's U-boat War, Vol II. Blair, Clay, 1998.
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-61 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 22 Jul 1916 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 2 Dec 1916. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 61 during WWI.