How was U-188 rendered unseaworthy?

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Panzerspitze
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Posts: 280
Joined: 20 Aug 2009, 00:53

How was U-188 rendered unseaworthy?

#1

Post by Panzerspitze » 22 Jul 2021, 10:38

Was it purely from the long voyage from Lorient to Penang then back to Bordeaux? There was no record of attacks on this boat during the roundtrip patrols.

http://uboat.net/boats/u188.htm

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.
...
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.

https://uboat.net/boats/patrols/u188.html

1 Oblt. Siegfried Lüdden 4 Mar 1943 Kiel 4 May 1943 Lorient 62 days 1,190 P View
2 Kptlt. Siegfried Lüdden 30 Jun 1943 Lorient 30 Oct 1943 Penang 123 days 17,153 P View
3 Kptlt. Siegfried Lüdden 1 Jan 1944 Penang 19 Jun 1944 Bordeaux 171 days 42,549 P View
Last edited by Panzerspitze on 23 Jul 2021, 05:23, edited 2 times in total.

EwenS
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Joined: 04 May 2020, 12:37
Location: Scotland

Re: How was U-188 rendered unseaworthy?

#2

Post by EwenS » 22 Jul 2021, 15:44

Having been at sea for nearly 6 months there was no doubt a lot of wear and tear to be fixed as well as her radios. AIUI the Germans were trying to ensure that all the boats sailing from Bordeaux were schnorkel equipped. They succeeded in getting some to sea but not others. They probably concentrated on those most quickly repairable.

The situation in Bordeaux changed dramatically on 15 Aug with the Allied landings in southern France, threatening to cut the city off from the rest of the country and Germany. So it then became a race against time.

Background to the position is here.
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ETO/Ul ... 08-11.html


Orwell1984
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Posts: 578
Joined: 18 Jun 2011, 19:42

Re: How was U-188 rendered unseaworthy?

#3

Post by Orwell1984 » 22 Jul 2021, 18:34

You may find this book interesting in giving insight on the state of U-188:

Image

https://www.amazon.ca/U-188-German-Subm ... 1848327609

Panzerspitze
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Posts: 280
Joined: 20 Aug 2009, 00:53

Re: How was U-188 rendered unseaworthy?

#4

Post by Panzerspitze » 23 Jul 2021, 03:45

EwenS wrote:
22 Jul 2021, 15:44
Having been at sea for nearly 6 months there was no doubt a lot of wear and tear to be fixed as well as her radios. AIUI the Germans were trying to ensure that all the boats sailing from Bordeaux were schnorkel equipped. They succeeded in getting some to sea but not others. They probably concentrated on those most quickly repairable.

The situation in Bordeaux changed dramatically on 15 Aug with the Allied landings in southern France, threatening to cut the city off from the rest of the country and Germany. So it then became a race against time.

Background to the position is here.
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ETO/Ul ... 08-11.html
Thanks! Very interesting to read through. So it's probably one of the three "1200-tonners" blown up. From the sound of it, it's not so much running out of time installing snorkels, but the fact these 1200-tonners (Type IX/C and/or Type X/D) could not be fixed up to good enough conditions to sail for the faraway destinations in Asia as three others did. So they had nowhere to go, as Norway (and the Baltic) couldn't seem to base them.
Last edited by Panzerspitze on 23 Jul 2021, 05:26, edited 2 times in total.

Panzerspitze
Member
Posts: 280
Joined: 20 Aug 2009, 00:53

Re: How was U-188 rendered unseaworthy?

#5

Post by Panzerspitze » 23 Jul 2021, 03:47

Orwell1984 wrote:
22 Jul 2021, 18:34
You may find this book interesting in giving insight on the state of U-188:

Image

https://www.amazon.ca/U-188-German-Subm ... 1848327609
Thanks. Surprising there's even a book about this specific boat.

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