The U-boat bases

This new and exiting section of uboat.net will contain detailed and extensive information on the German U-boat bases of World War Two when completed.

Missing right now are pages on bases in Germany, Italy, Greece, the Far East.

Bases in Germany

This set of pages is dedicated to the numerous bases utilized by U-boat in Germany before and during the war. This is of course far from complete and only 2 bases have their pages installed so far.

Kiel (1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 19th), Hamburg (31st & 32nd).

Bases in France

From late 1940 to late 1944 the bases in France were the busiest bases servicing the most famous U-boats. 8 combat flotillas were stationed in France. A map showing the location of the bases is also available.

Lorient (2nd and 10th), Brest (1st and 9th), Saint Nazaire (7th and 6th), La Rochelle (3rd) and Bordeaux (12th). Toulon in the Mediterranean was established in 1943.

Bases in Norway

Norway was invaded by German forces in April 1940 and after several famous battles and fierce fighting finally fell to Germany in the spring. U-boats began to operate from its many favorable ports as early as April 1940 and did so until early May 1945.

3 U-boat flotillas were established there, the 11th at Bergen in May 1942, the 13th at Trondheim in June 1943 and the 14th at Narvik in Dec 1944.

Famous U-boat bunkers

Keroman (Lorient), Elbe (Hamburg), Kilian (Kiel), Bruno in Bergen, Dora in Trondheim.

20 most important U-boat bases (for operations)

BasePatrolsFirst and last patrol
Kiel, Germany53519 Aug 193916 Apr 1945
Lorient, France46413 Jul 19409 Sep 1944
St. Nazaire, France40323 Sep 19408 May 1945
Brest, France35128 Aug 19404 Sep 1944
Bergen, Norway27521 Apr 19403 May 1945
Wilhelmshaven18319 Aug 19393 May 1945
La Pallice, France17721 Dec 19415 May 1945
Narvik1686 Mar 19421 May 1945
Trondheim, Norway14219 Apr 194023 Apr 1945
La Spezia9018 Dec 194127 Jun 1944
Hammerfest9023 Jan 194324 Oct 1944
Kristiansand739 Oct 19402 May 1945
Horten683 Aug 194127 Apr 1945
Toulon, France646 Apr 194317 Aug 1944
Konstanza5927 Oct 194225 Aug 1944
Salamis5712 Nov 19419 Sep 1944
Pola472 Feb 194229 Jul 1944
Kirkenes4230 Jul 19419 Aug 1942
Bordeaux, France4123 Mar 194325 Aug 1944
Skjomenfjord3916 May 194221 Nov 1944