Events on this day

19 March

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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 (0) Launched (4) Commissioned (1)
No U-boat orders on this dateNo boats laid down on this date1942: U-445, U-621, U-622
1945: U-2368
1942: U-614
These are commissioned boats. For more see our Shipyard pages.

Allied Ships hit on this date


 U-boatCommanderName of shipTonsCountryConvoy
1940 
 U-19SchepkeCharkow 1,026   da
 U-19SchepkeMinsk 1,229   da
1941 
 U-105ScheweMandalika 7,750   nlSL-68
1942 
 U-124MohrPapoose 5,939   am
 U-124MohrW.E. Hutton 7,076   am
 U-332LiebeLiberator 7,720   am
1943 
 U-333SchwaffCarras 5,234   grSC-122
 U-523PietzschMathew Luckenbach 5,848   amHX-229
 U-527UhligMathew Luckenbach (d)5,848   amHX-229
 U-666EngelCarras (d)5,234   grSC-122
1944 
 U-311ZanderSeakay 10,342   amCU-17
 U-510EickJohn A. Poor 7,176   am
 70,422
* 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

1943

U-666. Shortly after the Greek merchant Carras from convoy SC-122 was damaged in an attack by U-666, a British Fortress aircraft (220 Sqn RAF, pilot William Knowles) hit the boat with four depth charges, causing serious damage and forcing the boat to return to France. (Blair, vol 2, page 265)

1944

U-1059. Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
American Avenger (VC-6 USN, pilot Lt (jg) N.T. Dowty)

The sinking of U-1059
At 07.26 hours, the boat was attacked by an Avenger/Wildcat team from USS Block Island operating on ULTRA reports southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. The aircraft completely suprised U-1059, as she was not underway and men were seen swimming in the water. While the Wildcat (Lt (jg) W.H. Cole) made a strafing run, the Avenger dropped three depth charges that straddled the boat perfectly. U-1059 began to sink, but the AA gunners scored hits on the Avenger during its second attack run and it crashed into the sea, killing the pilot and one the crew. The mortally wounded pilot had nevertheless dropped two depth charges that sent the boat to the bottom. Ensign M.E. Fitzgerald survived the aircraft crash and found himself on a dinghy amidst German survivors. He helped a wounded survivor but kept the others at a distance with his pistol until USS Corry arrived and rescued him and eight German survivors, including the badly-wounded commander, Oblt Günther Leupold. (Franks/Zimmerman)

U-256. Aircraft attack, aircraft shot down:
British B-24 Liberator (224 Sqn RAF/F, pilot F/L R. Dunn)

23.12 hrs, Bay of Biscay, inbound: the boat was illuminated by Leigh Light and strafed by the Liberator. The Germans observed hits to the right wing from the 20mm AA guns and to the fuselage from the 37mm AA gun. Flames were seen coming from the bomb bay and one of the engines as the aircraft passed astern of U-256 at a height of 50m (55 yards), dropping six depth charges, and then crashed into the sea 500m (547 yards) away, killing the crew of ten. The boat was not damaged in the attack.

(Franks/Zimmerman)

U-618. While attempting to enter the Mediterranean the boat was harassed by allied aircraft and surface ships for an entire week (19 Mar - 25 Mar) before being forced to return to France with heavy battle damage. (Blair, vol 2, page 494)

U-311. Despite being hunted for hours by the escorts of the large tanker convoy CU 17, U-311 penetrated the defences and sank the large US steam tanker Seakay in the Atlantic west of Lands End, eluding the escorts afterwards. (Blair, vol 2, page 506)

U-183. At 1150 hours (zone -6.5), HMS Stoic (Lt. P.B. Marriott, DSO, RN), attacked but missed the German submarine U-183 with four torpedoes North of Sumatra in position 06°09'N, 95°09'E.


U-boats lost


1943: U-5 , U-384 +
1944: U-1059

115 men died when those 3 U-boats were lost on this date. 24 men survived.

Survivors from U-boats almost always landed in allied captivity.
U-boats marked with + were lost with all hands.

- 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, 19 March.

- For more information on Men lost from U-boats check out this page.


Personnel Information

The following men were born on this day:
Karl-Hartwig Siebold (1917).

The following men died on this day:
Hans-Adolf Engel (1983), Joachim Franze (1984), Karl-Wilhelm Pancke (1987), Wilfried Prellberg (1986), Hermann Rahn (1943), Hans-Achim von Rosenberg-Gruszczynski (1943).

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 19 March

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



U-boats entering base:
To Wilhelmshaven, Germany: U-7 (6 days)


1941


Sailed:
From Kiel, Germany: U-76

U-boats entering base:
To St. Nazaire, France: U-95 (32 days)


1942


Sailed:
From Brest, France: U-582

U-boats entering base:
To Hamburg, Germany: U-657 (2 days)
To Narvik, Norway: U-377 (14 days), U-403 (19 days)


1943



U-boats entering base:
To Bergen, Norway: U-657 (4 days)


1944


Sailed:
From Bergen, Norway: U-821
From Kiel, Germany: U-473
From La Pallice: U-228, U-763, U-960
From Trondheim, Norway: U-711


1945


Sailed:
From Bergen, Norway: U-764, U-1235 (lost 28 days later)
From Danzig, Germany: U-475
From Horten, Norway: U-881, U-1109
From Kiel, Germany: U-1010


U-boats at sea on 19 March

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-1, U-2, U-3, U-4, U-9, U-19, U-20, U-24, U-28, U-30, U-32, U-34, U-38, U-43, U-46, U-47, U-49, U-51, U-52, U-56, U-57, U-59.
22 boats at sea.

1941

U-37, U-46, U-48, U-69, U-74, U-98, U-105, U-106, U-110, U-124, U-551 (+).
11 boats at sea.

1942

U-67, U-68, U-71, U-73, U-83, U-84, U-87, U-94, U-96, U-97, U-105, U-123, U-124, U-126, U-128, U-129, U-135, U-154, U-155, U-158, U-160, U-161, U-202, U-203, U-205, U-209, U-213, U-332, U-334, U-371, U-373, U-376, U-378, U-404, U-405, U-431, U-435, U-436, U-456, U-504, U-505, U-506, U-507, U-552, U-553, U-559, U-568, U-569, U-571, U-572, U-578, U-582, U-585, U-586, U-587 (+), U-588, U-589, U-592, U-593, U-594, U-652, U-653, U-655 (+), U-701, U-753, U-754, UA.
67 boats at sea.

1943

U-19, U-24, U-43, U-66, U-67, U-68, U-77 (+), U-81, U-84, U-86, U-89, U-91, U-103, U-105 (+), U-106, U-107, U-109, U-119, U-123, U-129, U-134, U-155, U-159, U-160, U-161, U-167 (+), U-168, U-169 (+), U-172, U-174 (+), U-180, U-182 (+), U-183, U-185, U-188, U-190, U-191 (+), U-196, U-198, U-202, U-212, U-221, U-228, U-229, U-230, U-251, U-257, U-258 (+), U-260, U-302, U-305, U-306, U-332, U-333, U-336, U-338, U-354, U-355, U-373, U-375, U-378, U-380, U-405, U-406, U-409, U-410, U-415, U-431, U-435, U-439, U-440, U-441, U-445, U-447, U-448, U-461, U-463, U-468, U-469 (+), U-504, U-506, U-509, U-510, U-513, U-515, U-516, U-518, U-521, U-523, U-524 (+), U-526 (+), U-527, U-530, U-558, U-561, U-564, U-566, U-572, U-590, U-591, U-592, U-593, U-598, U-600, U-603, U-608, U-610, U-615, U-616, U-618, U-621, U-625, U-630 (+), U-631, U-632 (+), U-634, U-635 (+), U-638, U-641, U-642, U-644 (+), U-653, U-659, U-663, U-664, U-665 (+), U-666, U-703, U-704, U-706, U-758.
131 boats at sea.

1944

U-20, U-24, U-66 (+), U-92, U-123, U-154, U-155, U-168, U-170, U-178, U-181, U-183, U-188, U-190, U-196, U-214, U-218, U-223 (+), U-228, U-255, U-256, U-262, U-267, U-278, U-302 (+), U-307, U-311 (+), U-312, U-313, U-333, U-354, U-361, U-371, U-413, U-415, U-421, U-437, U-448 (+), U-453, U-455 (+), U-466, U-471, U-488 (+), U-505, U-510, U-518, U-532, U-539, U-541, U-546, U-549, U-550 (+), U-552, U-608, U-618, U-621, U-667, U-672, U-674, U-741, U-763, U-802, U-821, U-843, U-851 (+), U-852 (+), U-856 (+), U-952, U-960, U-962 (+), U-963, U-968, U-970, U-986 (+), U-990, U-1062, UIT-24.
77 boats at sea.

1945

U-190, U-242 (+), U-299, U-307, U-310, U-312, U-313, U-315, U-318, U-321 (+), U-363, U-396 (+), U-399 (+), U-483, U-510, U-518 (+), U-530, U-532, U-546 (+), U-548 (+), U-668, U-711, U-716, U-722 (+), U-764, U-773, U-774 (+), U-775, U-778, U-805, U-826, U-843, U-853 (+), U-857 (+), U-858, U-861, U-868, U-878, U-879 (+), U-880 (+), U-905 (+), U-953, U-965 (+), U-968, U-978, U-992, U-995, U-997, U-1001 (+), U-1002, U-1003 (+), U-1004, U-1005, U-1019, U-1022, U-1024 (+), U-1058, U-1063 (+), U-1064, U-1104, U-1169 (+), U-1195 (+), U-1202, U-1203, U-1233, U-1235 (+), U-2321.
67 boats at sea.


General Events on 19 March

We have no events listed in the calendar for this date, 19 March.

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