Events on this day
23 May
This is a run-down from several databases on our site. It's meant to give a clear picture of events on this date, all year round.
U-boat Shipyard report
| Ordered (0) | Laid down (3) | Launched (3) | Commissioned (1) |
| No U-boat orders on this date | 1942: U-425 1944: U-2505, U-3002 | 1939: U-43 1942: U-267, U-448 | 1942: U-222 |
| These are commissioned boats. For more see our Shipyard pages. | |||
Allied Ships hit on this date
| U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Country | Convoy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | |||||||
| U-9 | Lüth |  | Sigurd Faulbaum | 3,256 |  be | ||
| 1941 | |||||||
| U-38 | Liebe | | Berhala | 6,622 |  nl | OB-318 | |
| 1942 | |||||||
| U-103 | Winter | | Samuel Q. Brown | 6,625 |  am | ||
| U-155 | Piening | Watsonville | 2,220 |  pa | |||
| U-432 | Schultze | | Zurichmoor | 4,455 |  br | ||
| U-558 | Krech | William Boyce Thompson (d) | 7,061 | am | |||
| U-588 | Vogel | | Margot | 4,545 | br | ||
| 34,784 | |||||||
| * Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk. (d) = damaged See all Allied ships hit by U-boats during WWII. | |||||||
Attacks on this day
1940
U-101. For the second day in a row, the outbound boat encountered an enemy submarine in the North Sea. This time a torpedo track was seen passing the bow at a distance of about 50 metres.
1944
U-764. The boat was attacked by an enemy aircraft and damaged slightly. One crew member was wounded.
U-boats lost
1943: U-752
29 men died when this U-boat was lost. 17 men survived.
Survivors from U-boats almost always landed in allied captivity.
- For more information on U-boat losses check out our Fates section.
U-boat Men Lost or Wounded
There were no men lost from U-boats on this date, 23 May.
- For more information on Men lost from U-boats check out this page.
Personnel Information
The following men were born on this day:
Karl Boddenberg (1914), Karl-Heinz Raabe (1920), Hans-Dietrich Schwarzenberg (1923).
The following men died on this day:
Heinz-Ehler Beucke (1979), Hans-Georg von Friedeburg (1945), Karl-Ernst Schroeter (1943), Wolf-Harro Stiebler (1991).
See the entire U-boat commander listing showing all U-boat commanders.
We might include more officers (Allied and Axis) at a later date.
U-boat departures and arrivals on 23 May
This section shows the U-boat departures and arrivals from bases on this day of the year. Current country names shown with harbour names. Boats entering port display days at sea during that patrol.
1940
Sailed:
From Wilhelmshaven, Germany: U-26
1942
U-boats entering base:
To Hamburg, Germany: U-592 (4 days)
To Narvik, Norway: U-589 (8 days)
1943
Sailed:
From St. Nazaire, France: U-594 (lost 13 days later)
U-boats entering base:
To Brest, France: U-634 (39 days), U-709 (39 days)
To La Pallice U-454 (37 days)
1944
Sailed:
From Ramsund, Norway: U-1060
U-boats entering base:
To Brest, France: U-275 (4 days)
To Marviken U-363 (3 days), U-971 (3 days), U-1001 (3 days)
To Trondheim, Norway: U-995 (6 days)
U-boats at sea on 23 May
Boats entering port on this day are not counted, but boats departing for patrol are. (+) indicates the boat was lost during this patrol.
1940
U-8, U-9, U-26, U-28, U-37, U-43, U-56, U-60, U-62, U-101, U-122.
11 boats at sea.
1941
U-38, U-43, U-46, U-48, U-66, U-69, U-73, U-74, U-93, U-94, U-97, U-98, U-103, U-105, U-106, U-107, U-109, U-111, U-138, U-556, U-557, UA.
22 boats at sea.
1942
U-66, U-67, U-68, U-69, U-81, U-83, U-86, U-87, U-89, U-94, U-96, U-98, U-103, U-106, U-107, U-108, U-109, U-116, U-124, U-125, U-126, U-128, U-129, U-130, U-134, U-135, U-153, U-155, U-156, U-157 (+), U-158 (+), U-159, U-161, U-162, U-172, U-205, U-209, U-213, U-214, U-333, U-373, U-404, U-406, U-431, U-432, U-436, U-455, U-502 (+), U-504, U-506, U-507, U-553, U-558, U-559, U-564, U-565, U-566, U-568 (+), U-569, U-578, U-582, U-586, U-588, U-590, U-591, U-593, U-594, U-653, U-701 (+), U-703, U-751, U-753.
72 boats at sea.
1943
U-9, U-66, U-67 (+), U-91, U-92, U-103, U-105 (+), U-107, U-119 (+), U-123, U-126 (+), U-129, U-154, U-161, U-177, U-178, U-180, U-181, U-190, U-193, U-195, U-196, U-197 (+), U-198, U-199 (+), U-202 (+), U-211, U-214, U-217, U-218, U-221, U-223, U-228, U-229, U-230, U-231, U-232 (+), U-251, U-262, U-264, U-304 (+), U-305, U-336, U-340, U-354, U-377, U-378, U-383, U-402, U-403, U-407, U-413, U-414 (+), U-418 (+), U-431, U-435 (+), U-436 (+), U-441, U-448, U-459, U-460, U-461, U-466, U-467 (+), U-468, U-488, U-504, U-511, U-513 (+), U-515, U-521 (+), U-523, U-525, U-527 (+), U-533, U-552, U-558 (+), U-561, U-575, U-584, U-594 (+), U-603, U-607, U-608, U-614, U-621, U-625, U-636, U-639, U-641, U-642, U-645, U-650, U-664, U-666, U-667, U-707, U-731, U-755 (+), U-760, U-951 (+), U-952, U-953.
103 boats at sea.
1944
U-9, U-23, U-24, U-107, U-129, U-155, U-170, U-178, U-181, U-183, U-188, U-190, U-196, U-198 (+), U-269, U-289 (+), U-344, U-347, U-348, U-362, U-385, U-387, U-425, U-441, U-471, U-476 (+), U-477 (+), U-490 (+), U-505, U-516, U-530, U-534, U-537, U-539, U-541, U-543 (+), U-547, U-548, U-549 (+), U-586, U-668, U-675 (+), U-719 (+), U-736, U-737, U-742, U-764, U-767 (+), U-843, U-853, U-857, U-859 (+), U-860 (+), U-861, U-952, U-953, U-955 (+), U-957, U-984, U-988 (+), U-990 (+), U-1060, U-1191 (+), U-1222 (+).
64 boats at sea.
1945
General Events on 23 May
1940
U-122 encountered an enemy submarine in the North Atlantic, but neither boat attacked.
1941
A lookout on U-46 broke his arm during heavy weather in the North Atlantic .
1942
U-333 encountered an enemy submarine in the North Atlantic, but neither boat attacked.
1943
U-91 rescued four survivors from the sinking of U-752.
1945
Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz and members of his government were taken into custody by British troops.
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Add more events! - If you know of an interesting event either missing from this date or an upcoming event that you'd like to share please contact us. We have already some 757 events that will appear on this page at one day or another but we intend to continuously update the database of course.