U-188

Type

IXC/40

Ordered

15 Aug 1940

Laid down

18 Aug 1941

AG Weser, Bremen (werk 1028)

Launched

31 Mar 1942

Commissioned

5 Aug 1942

Oblt. Siegfried Lüdden (Knights Cross)

Commanders

5 Aug 1942

9 Aug 1944

Kptlt. Siegfried Lüdden (Knights Cross)

Career
3 patrols

5 Aug 1942	-	31 Jan 1943	4. Flottille (training)
1 Feb 1943	-	20 Aug 1944	10. Flottille (active service)

Successes

8 ships sunk, total tonnage 49,725 GRT
1 warship sunk, total tonnage 1,190 tons
1 ship damaged, total tonnage 9,977 GRT

Fate

Decommissioned on 20 August 1944 at Bordeaux and laid up in the U-boat pen. Scuttled there on 25 August 1944 as the unseaworthy boat was unable to escape the Allied advance. Wreck broken up in 1947.

See the 10 ships hit by U-188 - View the 3 war patrols

Wolfpack operations

U-188 operated with the following Wolfpacks during its career:
   Seeteufel (21 Mar 1943 - 29 Mar 1943)
   Adler (7 Apr 1943 - 13 Apr 1943)
   Meise (13 Apr 1943 - 20 Apr 1943)

Attacks on this boat and other events

2 May 1943
10.14 hrs, Bay of Biscay, inbound: British Whitley aircraft (612 Sqn RAF/W) strafed U-188 and dropped four depth charges. Gunfire wounded the commander, KptLt Siegfried Lüdden, and one of the crew, who died in hospital in Paris on 14 May. [Matrosengefreiter Leo Rupp] (Sources: Rohwer/Ritschel)

1 recorded attack on this boat.

General notes on this boat

HMS Beverly took part in sinking U-188's sister ship U-187 on 4 Feb, 1943.

19 Jun 1944. U-188 arrived at Bordeaux with a cargo of tin, wolfram, opium and quinine after leaving Penang, Sumatra on the 9th January. U-boat HQ had assumed U-188 was sunk because the boat's radio had failed and it had been unable to send messages since early May.