German submarine U-758
Encyclopedia
German submarine U-758 was a Type VIIC
U-boat
built for the German
Kriegsmarine
for service during World War II
. Commissioned on 5 May 1942, she served with the 6th U-boat Flotilla until 1 November as a training boat, and as a front boat until 14 October 1944 mostly under the command of Kapitänleutnant Gerhard Bigalk before joining the 33rd U-boat Flotilla as a training boat for the remainder of her service in the war.
, U-758 served on seven patrols with the 6th U-boat Flotilla.
The submarine's first patrol of 41 days between 14 November and 24 December 1942 from Kiel to St. Nazaire was uneventful. Her second patrol from 14 February to 30 March 1943 was not. Midway across the Atlantic ocean on 17 March, U-758 with Wolf pack Raubgraf made contact with and attacked convoy "HX-229" which was eastbound, delivering goods from the United States to the United Kingdom. U-758 destroyed two ships from the 37-ship convoy: The Dutch ship Zaanland (6,813 GRT
) and the American Liberty Ship
James Oglethorpe (7,176 GRT). Torpedoes fired at the Dutch motor tanker Magdala missed their mark.
U-758 undertook five more combat patrols but did not sink or damage any further ships.
. Badly damaged, she was stricken from the navy list on 16 March, 1945. At the cessation of hostilities she was surrendered to the allies. Deemed too badly damaged to be sunk as part of Operation Deadlight
, she was instead broken up for scrap beginning in 1946.
Time
Arrival
Time
Days
German Type VII submarine
Type VII U-boats were the most common type of German World War II U-boat. The Type VII was based on earlier German submarine designs going back to the World War I Type UB III, designed through the Dutch dummy company Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw den Haag which was set up by Germany after...
U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
built for the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
for service during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Commissioned on 5 May 1942, she served with the 6th U-boat Flotilla until 1 November as a training boat, and as a front boat until 14 October 1944 mostly under the command of Kapitänleutnant Gerhard Bigalk before joining the 33rd U-boat Flotilla as a training boat for the remainder of her service in the war.
Service Record
Built in werk 131 of the Kriegsmarinewerft shipyard in WilhelmshavenWilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
, U-758 served on seven patrols with the 6th U-boat Flotilla.
The submarine's first patrol of 41 days between 14 November and 24 December 1942 from Kiel to St. Nazaire was uneventful. Her second patrol from 14 February to 30 March 1943 was not. Midway across the Atlantic ocean on 17 March, U-758 with Wolf pack Raubgraf made contact with and attacked convoy "HX-229" which was eastbound, delivering goods from the United States to the United Kingdom. U-758 destroyed two ships from the 37-ship convoy: The Dutch ship Zaanland (6,813 GRT
GRT
GRT may refer to:* Grease Removal Technology, or GRT- Lipase enzyme* General Recorded Tape, aka GRT Corporation, a defunct corporation that owned Chess Records and Janus Records as well as being a label in its own right* General relativity theory...
) and the American Liberty Ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
James Oglethorpe (7,176 GRT). Torpedoes fired at the Dutch motor tanker Magdala missed their mark.
U-758 undertook five more combat patrols but did not sink or damage any further ships.
Fate
The veteran submarine was caught in the open during a British raid on the port of KielKiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
. Badly damaged, she was stricken from the navy list on 16 March, 1945. At the cessation of hostilities she was surrendered to the allies. Deemed too badly damaged to be sunk as part of Operation Deadlight
Operation Deadlight
Operation Deadlight was the code name for the scuttling of U-boats surrendered to the Allies after the defeat of Germany near the end of World War II....
, she was instead broken up for scrap beginning in 1946.
Table
Departure- Kiel
- St. Nazaire
- Bordeaux
- St. Nazaire
- Lorient
- St. Nazaire
- St. Nazaire
Time
- 14 Nov 1942
- 14 Feb 1943
- 15 May 1943
- 1 Sep 1943
- 16 Dec 1943
- 6 Jun 1944
- 23 Aug 1944
Arrival
- St. Nazaire
- Bordeaux
- St. Nazaire
- Lorient
- St. Nazaire
- St. Nazaire
- Bergen
Time
- 24 Dec 1942
- 30 Mar 1943
- 16 May 1943
- 24 Oct 1943
- 20 Jan 1944
- 15 Jun 1944
- 10 Oct 1944
Days
- 41 days
- 45 days
- 33 days
- 54 days
- 36 days
- 10 days
- 49 days