Events on this day

21 October

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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 (9)	Launched (5)	Commissioned (9)
No U-boat orders on this date	1940: U-157 1941: U-271, U-418, U-713 1942: U-681, U-855 1944: U-2356, U-2357, U-2536	1942: U-362, U-536, U-841 1944: U-3513, U-3514	1941: U-163 U-253 1942: U-273 U-306 U-418 U-667 1943: U-999 U-1194 1944: U-2341
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
1939
	U-15 [Mine]	Buchholz	Orsa	1,478	br
	U-19 [Mine]	Meckel	Capitaine Edmond Laborie	3,087	fr
	U-19 [Mine]	Meckel	Deodata	3,295	nw
1941
	U-123	Hardegen	HMS Aurania (F 28) (d)	13,984	br	SL-89
	U-79	Kaufmann	HMS Gnat (T 60) total loss	625	br
	U-82	Rollmann	Serbino	4,099	br	SL-89
	U-82	Rollmann	Treverbyn	5,281	br	SL-89
1943
	U-68	Lauzemis	HMS Orfasy (T 204)	545	br
				32,394
* 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-100. During an attack on convoy HX 79, the boat was shelled by a tanker after missing it with a torpedo at 00.31 hrs. No damage. (Ritschel)

1941

U-123. After the British Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Aurania launched a lifeboat by mistake on being damaged but not sunk by torpedoes from U-123, one seaman was rescued and taken on board as a POW. In the evening the boat suffered slight damage from two bombs dropped by a British Sunderland flying boat.

1942

U-333. The former U-570 (captured 27 Aug. 1941) on her first patrol in British service as HMS Graph, commanded by Lt Cdr Peter Marriot, fired a spread of torpedoes at the heavily damaged inbound U-333 north of Cape Ferrol, Spain. Alert lookouts spotted the tracks and U-333 took successful evasive action. It only became apparent after the war that this attack was by the former U-boat. (Blair, vol 2, page 69)

1943

U-271. One of the crew was killed when U-271 was attacked by two Avengers from USS Core while serving as a flak boat.

U-boats lost

1943: U-431 +
1944: U-957

52 men died when those 2 U-boats were lost on this date.
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, 21 October.

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

Personnel Information

The following men were born on this day:
Philipp Becker (1921), Heinrich Bleichrodt (1909), Victor Oehrn (1907).

The following men died on this day:
Richard Böttcher (1973), Rüdiger Perleberg (1990), Dietrich Schöneboom (1943), Hans-Jürgen Zetzsche (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 21 October

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.

1939

Sailed:
From Kiel, Germany: U-53
From Wilhelmshaven, Germany: U-31

U-boats entering base:
To Kiel, Germany: U-47 (2 days)

1941

Sailed:
From Lorient, France: U-106, U-129, UA

U-boats entering base:
To Kirkenes U-132 (45 days)
To Lorient, France: U-108 (64 days)

1942

Sailed:
From La Spezia, Italy: U-605 (lost 25 days later)
From Lorient, France: U-103

U-boats entering base:
To La Pallice U-752 (3 days)

1943

Sailed:
From Kiel, Germany: U-542 (lost 39 days later)
From La Pallice: U-333
From Pola: U-453

U-boats entering base:
To La Pallice U-645 (60 days)

1944

Sailed:
From Kiel, Germany: U-1202
From Trondheim, Norway: U-396

U-boats entering base:
To Flensburg, Germany: U-155 (43 days), U-309 (7 days)
To Narvik, Norway: U-957 (5 days)

U-boats at sea on 21 October

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

1939

U-16 (+), U-25, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-46, U-48, U-53.
8 boats at sea.

General Events on 21 October

1941

U-83 (Kraus) fired a spread of torpedoes at a British task force (which included the ageing aircraft carriers HMS Eagle and HMS Argus) in the Straits of Gibraltar. The boat reported a destroyer sunk, but no hits were in fact scored.

1944

German patrol boat F 631 attacked U-245 in the North Sea in error.

1947

U-190 was sunk off Nova Scotia by the Royal Canadian Navy on 21 October 1947 as a training exercise called "Operation Scuttled". The site chosen was the position off Halifax where she sank HMCS Esquimalt in 1945, the last Canadian vessel lost to enemy action in WW2.

2014

NOAA has reported that U-576 (Heinicke) has been discovered together with her last victim, the motor merchant Bluefields. The wrecks are less than 250 yards apart. U-576 has accordingly been added to our U-boats discovered since their loss page.

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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.

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uboat.net

Commander file

U-boat of the Day

U-boat Finder

Events on this day

21 October

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U-boat Shipyard report

Allied Ships hit on this date

Attacks on this day

1940

1941

1942

1943

U-boats lost

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

Personnel Information

U-boat departures and arrivals on 21 October

1939

1941

1942

1943

1944

U-boats at sea on 21 October

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

General Events on 21 October

1941

1944

1947

2014

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