Events on this day

21 March

Choose new date to check

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 (4)
No U-boat orders on this date	1942: U-311, U-841, U-959	1940: U-102 1942: U-382 1944: U-795	1942: U-442 U-517 1945: U-2546 U-4711
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-38	Liebe	Algier	1,654	da
	U-38	Liebe	Christiansborg	3,270	da
1941
	U-105	Schewe	Benwyvis	5,920	br	SL-68
	U-105	Schewe	Clan Ogilvy	5,802	br	SL-68
	U-105	Schewe	Jhelum	4,038	br	SL-68
1942
	U-124	Mohr	Atlantic Sun (d)	11,355	am
	U-124	Mohr	Esso Nashville (d)	7,934	am
1944
	U-66	Seehausen	Matadian	4,275	br
1945
	U-1195	Cordes	John R. Park	7,194	am	TBC-102
	U-399	Buhse	James Eagan Layne total loss	7,176	am	BTC-103
				58,618
* 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

1941

U-69. The boat was depth charged for several hours by two convoy escorts from an inbound convoy from Halifax. No damage to the boat reported. (Blair, vol 1, page 259)

1943

The attack by the American submarine USS Herring on 21 March, 1943 formerly credited with sinking U-163 was actually against a nonsub target or possibly a Spanish fishing boat.

U-332. The boat was attacked by a British Leigh Light Wellington bomber (Sqdn 172, pilot I. D. Prebble) north of Corunna, Spain and left unable to dive. A request for assistance from the Luftwaffe brought four Ju 88 bombers to escort U-332 in, but they were attacked by British Beaufighters, two being shot down and the others driven off. This nonetheless gave the crew of U-332 time to make repairs to allow shallow diving, allowing her to return to base at La Pallice. (Blair, vol 2, page 267)

1944

U-333. The boat was sighted west of Tiree in the Hebrides by Allied aircraft which in brought in the famous Support Group 2 (Cpt. Walker), which then hunted the boat aggressively. KL Cremer bottomed the boat at a depth of 40m (131 ft) for ten hours and despite considerable problems "unsticking" from the muddy seabed, U-333 managed to surface and again escaped. (Blair, vol 2, page 496)

U-66. British patrol boats attacked U-66 after she sank the British tanker Matadian. The boat bottomed on the muddy seabed before escaping. (Blair, vol 2, page 546)

1945

U-773. The boat was depth charged by an escort in the North Atlantic and so heavily damaged that she had to return to base.

U-boats lost

No U-boats were lost on this date, 21 March.

- For more information on U-boat losses check out our Fates section.

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

1943

U-590
On U-590 a crew member broke his arm.

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

Personnel Information

The following men were born on this day:
Hans-Jörg Blauert (1918), Gerhard Linder (1920), Karl-Heinz Meenen (1921), Ulrich Wörisshoffer (1917).

The following men died on this day:
Klaus Friedland (2010), Karl-Heinrich Harlfinger (1944).

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 21 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

Sailed:
From Wilhelmshaven, Germany: U-20, U-21

1942

Sailed:
From Bergen, Norway: U-455
From Brest, France: U-654
From Hamburg, Germany: U-657, U-702, U-703
From Kiel, Germany: U-459
From Lorient, France: U-66
From St. Nazaire, France: U-85 (lost 25 days later)

U-boats entering base:
To Kirkenes U-589 (22 days)
To Salamis, Greece: U-83 (12 days), U-559 (18 days)

1943

Sailed:
From Kristiansand: U-639
From La Spezia, Italy: U-755
From St. Nazaire, France: U-404

U-boats entering base:
To Bergen, Norway: U-269 (6 days)
To Salamis, Greece: U-593 (9 days)

1944

Sailed:
From Kiel, Germany: U-385, U-548
From Marviken: U-766

U-boats entering base:
To Narvik, Norway: U-711 (3 days)
To Penang, Malaysia: U-183 (41 days)
To St. Nazaire, France: U-539 (80 days)

1945

Sailed:
From Bergen, Norway: U-249
From Horten, Norway: U-873, U-1106 (lost 9 days later)

U-boats entering base:
To Kiel, Germany: U-475 (3 days)

U-boats at sea on 21 March

Boats entering port on this day are not counted, but boats departing for patrol are. (+) indicates the boat was lost during this patrol.

General Events on 21 March

1942

The I WO had to take over command of U-371 when the commander temporarily lost consciousness.

1943

On U-221, one of the crew captured from the motor merchant Jamaica jumped overboard during an alarm excercise in the North Atlantic, either trying to escape or to commit suicide.

U-762 and U-962 collided underwater during exercises off Hela in the Baltic. U-962 was damaged.

1944

U-307 fired on an enemy submarine with the machine gun in the Norwegian Sea east of Jan Mayen island.

1945

Convoy RA 65 sailed from Kola Inlet.

---

Add more events! - If you know of an interesting event that happened on this day that's missing, or an upcoming event that you'd like to share, please contact us. We already have 782 entries that will appear in due course, so your suggestion may not appear immediately, but we are continuously updating the database.

Choose new date to check

uboat.net

Commander file

U-boat of the day

U-boat Finder

Events on this day

21 March

Choose new date to check

U-boat Shipyard report

Allied Ships hit on this date

Attacks on this day

1941

1943

1944

1945

U-boats lost

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

1943

Personnel Information

U-boat departures and arrivals on 21 March

1940

1942

1943

1944

1945

U-boats at sea on 21 March

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

General Events on 21 March

1942

1943

1944

1945

Choose new date to check