German submarine U-48 (1939)

For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-48.

Career (Nazi Germany)
Name:	U-48
Ordered:	21 November 1936
Builder:	F. Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel
Yard number:	583
Laid down:	10 March 1937
Launched:	8 March 1939
Commissioned:	22 April 1939
Fate:	Scuttled, 3 May 1945 off Neustadt
General characteristics
Type:	Type VIIB
Displacement:	761 t (749 long tons) 865 t (851 long tons) submerged
Length:	66.6 m (219 ft)
Beam:	6.2 m (20 ft)
Depth:	220 m (720 ft)
Propulsion:	2 × 1400 PS (1 MW) diesel engines 2 × 375 PS (280 kW) electric motors
Speed:	17 knots (31 km/h) surfaced 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h) submerged
Range:	6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km)
Complement:	44-48
Crew:	47
Armament:	5 x 53.3cm torpedo tubes: 4 bow, 1 stern (14 torpedoes or 26 TMA or 39 TMB mines) 1 x 8.8 cm SK C/35 naval gun with 220 rounds C30 20 mm flak guns
Service record
Part of:	Kriegsmarine 7th U-boat Flotilla 21st U-boat Flotilla 26th U-boat Flotilla
Identification codes:	M 27 354
Commanders:	Herbert Schultze Hans-Rudolf Rösing Heinrich Bleichrodt Diether Todenhagen Siegfried Atzinger
Operations:	12 patrols
Victories:	51 ships sunk for a total of 306,875 gross register tons (GRT) 1 warship sunk for a total of 1,060 tons 3 ships damaged for a total of 20,480 GRT

German submarine U-48 was a Type VIIB U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II, and the most successful U-boat commissioned during the war. During her two years of active service, U-48 sank 55 ships for a total of 321,000 tons, and damaged two more for a total of 12,000 tons on twelve war patrols conducted during the opening stages of the Battle of the Atlantic.

U-48 was built at the Germaniawerft in Kiel during 1938 and 1939, being completed a few months before the outbreak of war in September 1939 and given to Kplt. Herbert Schultze. When war was declared, she was already in position in the North Atlantic, and received the news of war via radio, giving her immediate powers to operate against allied shipping.

U-48 survived the war and was later scuttled by her own crew on 3 May 1945 off Neustadt in order to keep the submarine out of the hands of the advancing allies.

War patrols

First patrol (19 Aug 1939 - 17 Sep 1939)

U-48 left her home port of Kiel on 19 August 1939, even before World War II began. for a period of 30 days, the submarine traveled north of the British Isles, into the North Atlantic and eventually into the Bay of Biscay. She then proceed to cruise to the West of the Western Approaches, two days after Britain and France declared war on Germany. It was here that she spotted her first target, the 5,000 ton SS Royal Sceptre. On 5 September 1939. U-48 attacked Royal Sceptre with her deck gun. All of the crew took to the lifeboats except the Radio Officer who remained broadcasting "SOS". He was taken prisoner by U-48, but then released to the lifeboats as Schultze praised his courage. He verified that the lifeboats were provisioned with food and water. U-48 then stopped SS Browning. The crew abandoned ship, but Schultze told them to return to their ship and pick up the crew of Royal Sceptre. However Browning was en-route to Brazil, so it was not immediately realised that they survived. Churchill assumed the worst, that the crew and sixty passengers were lost. He declared the sinking to be

“

an odious act of bestial piracy on the high seas

”

U-48 stopped, searched and released several neutral ships before encountering and sinking Winkleigh on 8 September 1939 after her crew had taken to lifeboats. On 11 September U-48 sank the Firby. Some of the crew required medical attention following the sinking. U-48 provisioned the lifeboats and gave medical assistance and radioed:

“

Transmit to Mr Churchill. I have sunk the British steamer Firby. Posit 59°40'N 13°50'W. Save the crew if you please. German submarine

”

Churchill, falsely, told the House of Commons that the U-boat captain who sent the message had been captured. After 30 days at sea, U-48 returned to the port of Kiel on 17 September 1939. During her first war patrol, U-48 sank three ships for a total of 14,777 tons.

Second Patrol (4 Oct 1939 - 25 Oct 1939)

U-48's second patrol was even more successful. Having left Kiel on 4 October, U-48 proceeded to follow the same course as her previous voyage. During her second patrol U-48 sank a total of five enemy ships, including the large French tanker SS Emile Miguet on 12 October, Heronspool and Louisiane on 13 October, Sneaton on 14 October, and Clan Chisholm on 17 October. Following the sinking of the Clan Chisholm, U-48 attacked the British steamer Rockpool with gunfire from her deck on 19 October at 1:32 pm. However, the steamer returned fire. This resulted in U-48 crash diving in order to avoid being struck by the gunfire from Rockpool. She later re-surfaced and attempted to sink the steamer again when an Allied destroyer came upon the engagement. U-48 then broke off the fighting with the Rockpool and submerged once more to leave the area. Following the sinking of five enemy merchant ships for a total of 37,153 tons as well as the engagement with the Rockpool, U-48 returned to the safety of Kiel on 25 October 1939 after spending 22 days at sea.

Third Patrol (20 Nov 1939 - 20 Dec 1939)

U-48 left Kiel for her third patrol on 20 November 1939. During this patrol, she sank a total of four vessels including two merchant ships from neutral nations. The first ship to fall victim to U-48 on her third patrol was the 6,336-ton neutral Swedish motor tanker Gustaf E. Reuter. She was torpedoed and sunk by U-48 on 27 November 1939 14 miles (23 km) west-northwest from Fair Isle. The wreck was later sunk by an escort vessel. 1 person died in the attack while 33 of her crew survived. The tug HMS St. Mellons (W 81) attempted to salvage her, however the Gustaf E. Reuter eventually had to be sunk by HMS Kingston Beryl on 28 November. Following the sinking of the Gustaf E. Reuter, U-48 sank the British freighter Brandon on 8 December off the southern coast of Ireland. The next day, she sank the British tanker San Alberto. The ship was so badly damaged that she had to be sunk by HMS Mackay (D 70). Finally on 15 December 1939 U-48 stopped the neutral Greek freighter Germaine which had been chartered by neutral Ireland to carry maize to Cork. Schultze maintained that she was going to England, so he sank her. U-48 returned to Kiel on 20 December 1939 after sinking a total of 25,618 tons and spent a total of 31 days at sea.

Fourth Patrol (24 Jan 1940 - 26 Feb 1940)

After a brief break over the Christmas period, she again put to sea, sinking the British Blue Star Line liner SS Sultan Star in the Western Approaches, it was only carrying freight. A string of mines she laid off St Abb's Head failed to have effect, but two neutral Dutch ships were added to her tally shortly afterwards, as well as a Finnish ship, all of them operating in the North Atlantic in cooperation with the Allied convoy system.

Fifth Patrol

Her fifth patrol, in June 1940 was one of her most successful, making full use of the confusion in Europe following the Fall of France. U-48 was commanded by Hans Rudolf Rösing, as Herbert Schultze was hospitalised with a kidney and stomach complaint. She attacked three ships off the Donegal coast. The Stancor carrying fish from Iceland, the Eros carrying 200 tons of small arms from America, and the Frances Massey with iron ore. 34 lost their lives on the Frances Massey. The Eros cargo was vital following the losses at Dunkirk. The badly damaged Eros was taken in tow by HMS Berkeley (L 17) assisted by HMS Bandit (W 69) and HMS Volunteer (D 71) and headed to the Irish coast, where the Muirchú and Fort Rannoch were waiting for them. The Eros was beached on Errarooey strand. While she was being repaired, Irish troops guarded the site.

Germany learned that a troop convoy, including RMS Queen Mary and RMS Mauretania (1938) were bringing 25,000 Australian soldiers to Britain. U-48 was ordered to Cape Finisterre where a u-boat 'wolf pack' was being assembled to intercept the troop convoy. However the u-boats attacked other ships in the vicinity, alerting the convoy to their presence, so they altered direction, avoiding the 'wolf pack'. On 19 June 1940, convoy HG-34 was attacked. U-48 sank Baron Loudoun (3 died), British Monarch (all 40 on board died), and Tudor (one death). Convoy HX-49 dispersed. U-48 sank Moordrecht which had been in that convoy, 25 died. Ireland had chartered neutral Greek ships; U-48 sank Violando N. Goulandris (6 died) while U-28 sank Adamandios Georgandis (one death). Ireland sought an explanation from Germany "... steamships, the entire cargoes of which comprised grain for exclusive consumption in Éire were sunk by unidentified submarines ..."

U-48 and enjoying an extended patrol thanks to the newly established refuelling facilities available at Trondheim in Norway. In all she claimed eight ships from the convoys in the Eastern Atlantic on this cruise, and bagged five more on her sixth patrol in August, which finished with her stationed at Lorient in France, greatly extending her raiding abilities.

In September, on her seventh patrol she shocked the world by sinking the SS City of Benares, one of eight ships in six days from Convoy SC-3 and Convoy OB-213. Benares was a refugee ship, carrying children from Britain to Canada to keep them safe from The Blitz on Britain's cities. 258 people, including 77 children, were killed. Among the other sinkings was the British frigate HMS Dundee. Her eighth patrol was also highly successful, sinking seven ships out of Atlantic convoys, including one from Convoy SC-7. The operating zone for both these patrols was far to the North of her previous areas, being south of Greenland.

Although on her ninth and tenth patrols the U-48 claimed two and five victims respectively, she was clearly beginning to become obsolete in the face of improving technology on both sides, despite a winter refit. Her range and torpedo capacity were too small for the widening nature of the sea war, and she would be a risk to her crew and other U-boats if she continued much longer in the main battlefield of the North Atlantic. On her final patrol she sank five more ships, the boat boosted by the award of the Knight's Cross to Erich Zürn, the boat's executive officer, for his success and judgement during the ship's career.

Retirement

U-48 returned to Kiel on 22 June 1941, where her crew were removed, and she was transferred to a training flotilla operating exclusively in the Baltic Sea. Unlike many of her contemporaries, U-48 never sailed on patrols against Soviet targets following Operation Barbarossa the following month, and in 1943 was deemed unfit even for this reduced service, being laid up at Neustadt in Holstein with only a skeleton crew performing minor maintenance. It was there she remained for the next two years, until the maintenance crew, realising that the war was ending and the boat would be captured, scuttled her in the Bay of Lübeck on 3 May 1945, where she remains.

The sinking of the City of Benares

In the late hours of the 17 September 1940, U-48, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Bleichrodt, put a single torpedo into the 11,000 ton liner SS City of Benares, flagship of Convoy OB-213, as she was silhouetted against the moonlight in the mid-Atlantic. On board the liner were 90 children being evacuated to Canada under the Children's Overseas Reception Board's initiative in order to escape the effects of the Blitz.

The sinking ship took on an immediate list, thus preventing the launching of many of the liferafts and trapping numerous crew and passengers below decks. As a result, many of the 400 people on board were unable to escape. As hundreds of survivors struggled in the water, the U-boat's powerful searchlight swept once over the chaotic scene, before the boat left the area for good. The survivors in the boats were not rescued for nearly 24 hours, as the nearest Allied units were 300 miles away, and in that time dozens of children and adults died from exposure, or drowned, leaving only 148 survivors. One boat was not picked up for a further eight days. In total 258 people, including 77 of the evacuees, died in the disaster, which effectively ended the overseas evacuation programme.

The controversy of the City of Benares disaster has been debated ever since. It has been suggested that had the British openly declared that the ship was carrying evacuees, then the Germans would have taken pains not to sink it, recognising the potential for a propaganda crisis, which indeed occurred. However, the ship was not only travelling unlit at night in an allied convoy, but it was also the flagship of Rear-Admiral Edmund Mackinnon, the convoy commander. Other historians have argued that the Germans would have attacked any large liners at the time, no matter the cargo or the passenger list.

Raiding career

Locations of the 55 ships sunk by U-48 during her career.

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate	Location	Deaths
5 September 1939	SS Royal Sceptre	British	4,853	Sunk	46.23°N 14.59°W / 46.23; -14.59	1
8 September 1939	SS Winkleigh	British	5,055	Sunk	48.06°N 18.12°W / 48.06; -18.12	0
11 September 1939	SS Firby	Canadian	4,869	Sunk	59.40°N 13.50°W / 59.40; -13.50	0
12 October 1939	MV Emile Miguet	French	14,115	Sunk	50.15°N 14.50°W / 50.15; -14.50	2
12 October 1939	SS Heronspool	British	5,202	Sunk	50.13°N 14.48°W / 50.13; -14.48	0
13 October 1939	SS Louisiane	French	6,903	Sunk	50.14°N 15.20°W / 50.14; -15.20	1
14 October 1939	SS Sneaton	British	3,677	Sunk	49.05°N 13.05°W / 49.05; -13.05	1
17 October 1939	SS Clan Chisholm	British	7,256	Sunk	44.57°N 13.40°W / 44.57; -13.40	4
26 November 1939	Gustaf E. Reuter	Swedish	6,336	Sunk	59.38°N 02.03°W / 59.38; -02.03	1
8 December 1939	SS Brandon	British	6,668	Sunk	50.28°N 08.28°W / 50.28; -08.28	9
9 December 1939	MV San Alberto	British	7,397	Damaged, scuttled by HMS Mackay	49.20°N 09.45°W / 49.20; -09.45	1
15 December 1939	SS Germaine	Greek	5,217	Sunk	51.00°N 12.18°W / 51.00; -12.18	0
10 February 1940	SS Burgerdijk	Dutch	6,853	Sunk	49.45°N 06.30°W / 49.45; -06.30	0
14 February 1940	SS Sultan Star	British	12,306	Sunk	48.54°N 10.03°W / 48.54; -10.03	1
15 February 1940	MV Den Haag	Dutch	8,971	Sunk	48.02°N 08.26°W / 48.02; -08.26	26
17 February 1940	SS Wilja	Finnish	3,392	Sunk	49.00°N 06.33°W / 49.00; -06.33	0
6 June 1940	SS Stancor	British	798	Sunk	58.48°N 08.45°W / 58.48; -08.45	0
6 June 1940	SS Frances Massey	British	4,212	Sunk	55.33°N 08.26°W / 55.33; -08.26	34
7 June 1940	SS Eros	British	5,888	Damaged	55.33°N 08.26°W / 55.33; -08.26	0
11 June 1940	SS Violando N Goulandris	Greek	2,375	Sunk	44.04°N 12.30°W / 44.04; -12.30	6
19 June 1940	MV Tudor	Norwegian	6,607	Sunk	45.10°N 11.50°W / 45.10; -11.50	1
19 June 1940	SS Baron Loudoun	British	3,164	Sunk	45°N 11.21°W / 45; -11.21	3
19 June 1940	SS British Monarch	British	5,661	Sunk	45°N 11.21°W / 45; -11.21	40
20 June 1940	MV Moerdrecht	Dutch	7,493	Sunk	43.34°N 14.20°W / 43.34; -14.20	25
16 August 1940	SS Hedrun	Swedish	2,325	Sunk	57.10°N 16.37°W / 57.10; -16.37	8
19 August 1940	SS Ville de Gand	Belgian	7,590	Sunk	55.28°N 15.10°W / 55.28; -15.10	15
24 August 1940	SS La Brea	British	6,666	Sunk	57.24°N 11.21°W / 57.24; -11.21	2
25 August 1940	SS Empire Merlin	British	5,763	Sunk	58.30°N 10.15°W / 58.30; -10.15	35
25 August 1940	MV Athelcrest	British	6,825	Sunk	58.24°N 11.25°W / 58.24; -11.25	30
15 September 1940	SS Alexandros	Greek	4,343	Sunk	56.30°N 16.30°W / 56.30; -16.30	5
15 September 1940	HMS Dundee	British	1,060	Sunk	56.45°N 14.14°W / 56.45; -14.14	12
15 September 1940	SS Empire Volunteer	British	5,319	Sunk	56.43°N 15.17°W / 56.43; -15.17	6
18 September 1940	SS City of Benares	British	11,081	Sunk	56.43°N 21.15°W / 56.43; -21.15	260
18 September 1940	SS Marina	British	5,088	Sunk	56.46°N 21.15°W / 56.46; -21.15	2
18 September 1940	SS Magdalena	British	3,118	Sunk	57.20°N 20.16°W / 57.20; -20.16	31
21 September 1940	SS Blairangus	British	4,409	Sunk	55.18°N 22.21°W / 55.18; -22.21	6
21 September 1940	SS Broompark	British	5,136	Damaged,	49.02°N 40.26°W / 49.02; -40.26	1
11 October 1940	MV Brandanger	Norwegian	4,624	Sunk	57.10°N 17.42°W / 57.10; -17.42	6
11 October 1940	SS Port Gisborne	British	8,390	Sunk	56.38°N 16.40°W / 56.38; -16.40	26
12 October 1940	MV Davanger	Norwegian	7,102	Sunk	57°N 19.10°W / 57; -19.10	17
17 October 1940	MV Languedoc	British	9,512	Sunk	59.14°N 17.51°W / 59.14; -17.51	0
17 October 1940	SS Scoresby	British	3,843	Sunk	59.14°N 17.51°W / 59.14; -17.51	0
18 October 1940	SS Sandend	British	3,612	Sunk	58.12°N 21.29°W / 58.12; -21.29	5
20 October 1940	MV Shirak	British	6,023	Damaged by U-47, Sunk by U-48	57.00°N 16.53°W / 57.00; -16.53	0
1 February 1941	SS Nicolaos Angelos	Greek	4,351	Sunk	59°N 17°W	all
24 February 1941	SS Nailsea Lass	British	4,289	Sunk	50.06°N 10.23°W / 50.06; -10.23	5
29 March 1941	SS Germanic	British	5,352	Sunk	61.18°N 22.05°W / 61.18; -22.05	5
29 March 1941	SS Limbourg	Belgian	2,483	Sunk	61.18°N 22.05°W / 61.18; -22.05	22
29 March 1941	SS Hylton	British	5,197	Sunk	60.20°N 18.10°W / 60.20; -18.10	0
2 April 1941	SS Beaverdale	British	9,957	Sunk	60.50°N 29.19°W / 60.50; -29.19	21
3 June 1941	SS Inversuir	British	9,456	Damaged by U-48, sunk by U-75	48.30°N 28.30°W / 48.30; -28.30	0
5 June 1941	MV Wellfield	British	6,054	Sunk	48.34°N 31.34°W / 48.34; -31.34	8
6 June 1941	SS Tregathen	British	5,201	Sunk	46.17°N 36.20°W / 46.17; -36.20	45
8 June 1941	MV Pendrecht	Dutch	10,746	Sunk	45.18°N 36.40°W / 45.18; -36.40	0
12 June 1941	SS Empire Dew	British	7,005	Sunk	51.09°N 30.16°W / 51.09; -30.16	23

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Blair, Clay (1996). Hitler's U-Boat War. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0297840762. 
• Duggan, John P (2003). Herr Hempel. Irish Academic Press. ISBN 071652757X. 
• Sharpe, Peter, U-Boat Fact File, Midland Publishing, Great Britain: 1998. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
• Bridgland, Tony, Waves of Hate, Leo Cooper, Great Britain: 2002. ISBN 0-85052-822-4.
• ubootwaffe.net webpage for U-48

See also

• List of German U-boats
• List of successful U-boats
• Battle of the Atlantic (1939–1945)
• Kriegsmarine

External links

• U-48 at uboatnet