German submarine U-107 (1940)

German submarine U-107 was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that operated during World War II. Between January 1941 and August 1944, she sailed on 13 active patrols at a time when a U-boat averaged a lifespan of seven to ten patrols. During that time, U-107 sank 39 Allied ships and damaged four. The U-boat was launched on 2 July 1940, based at the U-boat port of Lorient, with a crew of 53 under the initial command of Günter Hessler. She was later commanded, in order, by Harald Gelhaus, Valker Simmermacher and her final commander, Karl Heinz Fritz.

Type IXB submarines were slightly larger than the original Type IX submarines, later designated IXA. U-107 had a displacement of 1,051 tonnes (1,034 long tons) when at the surface and 1,178 tonnes (1,159 long tons) while submerged.^[2] The U-boat had a total length of 76.50 m (251 ft), a pressure hull length of 58.75 m (192 ft 9 in), a beam of 6.76 m (22 ft 2 in), a height of 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in), and a draught of 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in). The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of 4,400 metric horsepower (3,240 kW; 4,340 shp) for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 1,000 metric horsepower (740 kW; 990 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.92 m (6 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).^[2]

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18.2 knots (33.7 km/h; 20.9 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph).^[2] When submerged, the boat could operate for 64 nautical miles (119 km; 74 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph); when surfaced, she could travel 12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). U-107 was fitted with six 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 22 torpedoes, one 10.5 cm (4.13 in) SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 as well as a 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.^[2]

• 4 March 1943, came under attack from an unidentified Allied aircraft.

Moderately damaged by the attack.

• 22 March 1943 at 14:35 it came under attack from another unidentified Allied aircraft

Undamaged

On 16 August 1944, U-107 departed from Lorient on a transport run to La Pallice.^[3] She was intercepted on 18 August in the Bay of Biscay, west of La Rochelle, in position 46°46′N 03°49′W / 46.767°N 3.817°W / 46.767; -3.817, by Allied forces, and was sunk by depth charges from a Short Sunderland (serialEJ150) of No. 201 Squadron, Royal Air Force. All 58 hands were lost.^[4][5]

U-107 took part in 15 wolfpacks, namely:

• Störtebecker (5 – 7 November 1941)
• Seeräuber (14 – 23 December 1941)
• Blücher (23 – 28 August 1942)
• Iltis (6 – 23 September 1942)
• Hartherz (3 – 7 February 1943)
• Delphin (11 – 14 February 1943)
• Robbe (16 February – 13 March 1943)
• Amsel 2 (4 – 6 May 1943)
• Elbe (7 – 10 May 1943)
• Elbe 2 (10 – 14 May 1943)
• Weddigen (24 November – 7 December 1943)
• Coronel (7 – 8 December 1943)
• Coronel 2 (8 – 14 December 1943)
• Coronel 3 (14 – 17 December 1943)
• Borkum (18 – 30 December 1943)

• Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXB boat U-107". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
• Hofmann, Markus. "U 107". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 13 December 2015.