German submarine U-124 (1940)

For other ships with the same name, see German submarine U-124.

History
Nazi Germany
Name	U-124
Ordered	15 December 1937
Builder	AG Weser, Bremen
Laid down	11 August 1939
Launched	9 March 1940
Commissioned	11 June 1940
Fate	Sunk by British warships west of Portugal, April 1943
General characteristics
Class and type	Type IXB U-boat
Displacement	Surfaced 1,051 tons tons submerged 1,178 tons
Length	76.5 m (251 ft) overall 58.7 m (193 ft) pressure hull
Beam	6.8 m (22 ft) overall 4.4 m (14 ft) pressure hull
Draught	4.7 m (15 ft)
Propulsion	Diesel/Electric, 2 × MAN M9V40/46 supercharged 9 cylinder diesel engines, 4,400 hp (3,300 kW) 2 × SSW GU345/34 double acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (750 kW)
Speed	18.2 knots (33.7 km/h; 20.9 mph) surfaced 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph) submerged
Range	22,200 km (13,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 118 km (73 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth	230 m (750 ft)
Complement	48 to 56 officers and ratings
Armament	6 × 53.3 cm (21.0 in) Torpedo tubes (four bow, two stern) 22 torpedoes 1 × 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun with 110 rounds
Service record
Part of:	Kriegsmarine: 2nd U-boat Flotilla (Training) 2nd U-boat Flotilla (Front or operational boat)
Commanders:	Kptlt. Georg-Whilhelm Schulz Krvkpt. Johann Mohr
Operations:	11 patrols 1st patrol: 19 August–16 September 1940 2nd patrol: 5 October–13 November 1940 3rd patrol: 16 December 1940–22 January 1941 4th patrol: 23 February–1 May 1941 5th patrol: 10 July–25 August 1941 6th patrol: 16 September–1 October 1941 7th patrol: 30 October–29 December 1941 8th patrol: 21 February–10 April 1942 9th patrol: 4 May–26 June 1942 10th patrol: 25 November 1942–13 February 1943 11th patrol: 27 March–2 April 1943
Victories:	46 ships sunk for a total of 219,862 GRT two warships sunk of 5,775 tons four ships damaged for a total of 30,067 GRT

German submarine U-124 was a Type IXB U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She operated in the Atlantic as part of the 2nd U-boat flotilla, both west of Scotland and east of the eastern US coast. She was also present off northern South America.

She was sunk with all hands west of Portugal in 1943.

Service history

U-124 was laid down on 11 August 1939 at the AG Weser yard in Bremen as 'werk' 956. She was launched on 9 March 1940 and commissioned on 11 June, with Kapitänleutnant Whilhelm Schulz in command. He was relieved on 8 September 1941 by Korvettenkapitän Johann Mohr. He remained in command until the boat's loss in 1943.

Operational history

U-124 conducted 11 war patrols, sinking 46 ships, totalling 219,862 GRT and sinking two warships, totaling 5,775 tons. She also damaged four ships, totalling 30,067 GRT. She was a member of two wolfpacks.

1st patrol

U-124's first patrol began with her departure from Wilhelmshaven on 19 August 1940. Her route took her across the North Sea and through the 'gap' between the Faroe and Shetland Islands. She attacked three ships northwest of Scotland; the Stakesby, the Harpalyce and the Firecrest, all on the 25th. To avoid retaliation from HMS Godetia, the boat dived to 90 m (300 ft). The British flower class corvette dropped 12 depth charges. Striking rocks on the sea-bed, the boat lay there for an hour, the corvette lost contact, but the collision had damaged three of her torpedo tubes. As a result, she spent the rest of the patrol reporting on the weather.

The submarine docked at Lorient on the French Atlantic coast, on 16 September.

2nd patrol

U-124's second foray was conducted further northwest of the Scottish mainland. Her first victim was the Trevisa; sunk on 16 October 1940 218 mi (351 km) west of an appropriately named islet - Rockall. The boat also encountered a British river class submarine, HMS Clyde on the 17th; although she was unaware of three torpedoes that were fired toward her.

The submarine went on to sink another four ships; the Cubano, the Sulaco (there was only one survivor) both on 20 October, the Rutland on the 31st and the Empire Bison on 1 November. The latter ship's four survivors, on a raft when the U-boat came to investigate, played dead as they did not wish to be taken prisoner.

3rd patrol

On her third sortie, U-124 'only' managed to boost her score by one, sinking the Empire Thunder north northeast of Rockall on 6 January 1941.

4th patrol

On her fourth patrol, the boat sank eleven ships, four on the same day north of the Cape Verde Islands on 8 March 1941; the Nardana, the Hindpool, the Tielbank and the Lahore . She then destroyed another seven vessels southwest of Freetown, in Sierra Leone. They were: the Umona on 30 March, the Marlene on 4 April, the Portadoc on 7 April, the Tweed a day later, the Aegeon on the 11th, the St. Helena on the 12th and the Corinthic on the 13th. The Corinthic was first struck by a dud torpedo, but another functioned correctly and sank the ship.

5th patrol

U-124 drew a blank on her fifth sortie, failing to destroy a single target. She scoured the central Atlantic southwest of Gibraltar, but found nothing.

6th patrol

She was back in the money for her sixth patrol. Mohr, (her new commander), rather ambitiously claimed two ships totalling 15,000 tons sunk and a third vessel of 8,000 tons damaged. The reality was rather different. The Baltallin (1,303 tons) on 20 September 1941 and the Empire Moat (2,922 tons) also on the 20th, were both lost from convoy OG-74; they went down north northheast of the Azores.
In addition, the Empire Stream was sunk on 25 September - among the dead were two stowaways. A final effort on 26 September accounted for three more ships, also near the Azores: the Petrel, the Cortes and the Siremalm, (there were no survivors from the latter vessel).

U-124 returned to Lorient on 1 October.

7th patrol

After almost a month in her base, U-124 set out on her seventh patrol on 30 October 1941. On 24 November, she was accosted by the British light cruiser HMS Dunedin which, with two consorts, had been searching for the Armed Merchant Raider Atlantis and her supply ship Python. Dunedin was hit by two torpedoes, despite being outside the theoretical range of the U-boat's projectiles and sank 17 minutes later. 419 men died, there were 67 survivors.

The submarine remained in the South Atlantic and sank the US Sagadahoc on 3 December. She was the fourth and last of the so-called neutral ships to meet her end. Her demise followed a six hour chase and her lights not being set correctly.

U-124 was shelled by the coastal battery at Fort Thornton, Georgetown on Ascension Island on 9 December; no damage was sustained.

8th patrol

A change of operational area saw the boat deploy to the Eastern United States seaboard following the success of Operation Drumbeat (Paukenschlag); leaving Lorient on 21 February 1942. Like the original 'drumbeaters', Mohr found the American defences easy to penetrate.

The boat scored her first victory before reaching her destination; sinking the British Resource about 230 mi (370 km) north of Bermuda on 14 March.

She then sank seven ships and damaged two more - all in March. One of them, the E. M. Clark, was hit in such a way that her whistle sounded continuously until the ship went down. Another, the Esso Nashville, was hit by a torpedo which failed to detonate, but a follow-up broke the tanker's back. She was only held together by deck plates and piping. The bow and stern sections soon separated, the bow sinking in short order. The stern was towed to Baltimore where it was fitted with a new fore-part and the ship returned to service in March 1943.

Two more ships were hit before U-124 returned to Lorient. It was her most successful patrol; 68,215 tons of shipping was lost or incapacitated.

9th patrol

It was back to the mid-Atlantic for the boat's ninth patrol, beginning on 4 May 1942. Four ships met their end on the 12th. U-124's next victim was the Free French corvette Mimosa which was sunk with heavy loss of life on 9 June. Many of the casualties came from St. Pierre et Miquelon. The impact of the sinking had a lasting effect in the community.

Two more ships were sunk before the boat returned to Lorient on 26 June.

10th patrol

Another change of operational zone, this time to the northern coastal area of South America. The submarine left Lorient on 25 November 1942. She sank the Trewloras about 50 mi (80 km) east of Port of Spain, Trinidad on 28 December.

The boat was attacked by a US Catalina flying boat on 1 January 1943 east of Port of Spain. No damage was caused.

She sank four more ships; the Broad Arrow, the Birmingham City, the Collingsworth and the Minotaur, all on the 9th. The Collingsworth's helmsman had swung the ship to port so hard that one torpedo only missed by about 10 ft (3.0 m). Unfortunately this was the weapon that hit the Minotaur despite strenuous evasive action by her helmsman.

11th patrol and loss

U-124 left Lorient for the last time on 27 March 1943. Heading southwest, she had hardly left the Bay of Biscay when she was attacked and sunk by two British warships, the corvette HMS Stonecrop and the sloop Black Swan west of Oporto in Portugal.

All 53 crew members died.

U-37, a U-boat similar to U-124 at Lorient in 1940. Note the twin rudders

Summary of raiding history

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate
25 August 1940	Firecrest	Great Britain	5,394	Sunk
25 August 1940	Harpalyce	Great Britain	5,619	Sunk
25 August 1940	Stakesby	Great Britain	3,900	Damaged
16 October 1940	Trevisa	Canada	1,813	Sunk
20 October 1940	Cubano	Norway	5,810	Sunk
20 October 1940	Sulaco	Great Britain	5,389	Sunk
31 October 1940	Rutland	Great Britain	1,437	Sunk
1 November 1940	Empire Bison	Great Britain	5,612	Sunk
6 January 1941	Empire Thunder	Great Britain	5,965	Sunk
8 March 1941	Hindpool	Great Britain	4,897	Sunk
8 March 1941	Lahore	Great Britain	5,304	Sunk
8 March 1941	Nardana	Great Britain	7,974	Sunk
8 March 1941	Tielbank	Great Britain	5,984	Sunk
30 March 1941	Umona	Great Britain	3,767	Sunk
4 April 1941	Marlene	Great Britain	6,507	Sunk
7 April 1941	Portadoc	Canada	1,746	Sunk
8 April 1941	Tweed	Great Britain	2,697	Sunk
11 April 1941	Aegeon	Greece	5,285	Sunk
12 April 1941	St. Helena	Great Britain	4,313	Sunk
13 April 1941	Corinthic	Great Britain	4,823	Sunk
4 July 1941	Auditor	Great Britain	5,444	Sunk
20 September 1941	Baltallin	Great Britain	1,303	Damaged
20 September 1941	Empire Moat	Great Britain	2,922	Sunk
25 September 1941	Empire Stream	Great Britain	2,922	Sunk
26 September 1941	Cortes	Great Britain	1,374	Sunk
26 September 1941	Petrel	Great Britain	1,354	Sunk
26 September 1941	Siremalm	Norway	2,468	Sunk
26 November 1941	HMS Dunedin	Great Britain	4,850	Sunk
3 December 1941	Sagadahoc	USA	6,725	Sunk
14 March 1942	British Resource	Great Britain	7,209	Sunk
17 March 1942	Acme	USA	6,878	Damaged
17 March 1942	Ceiba	Honduras	1,698	Sunk
18 March 1942	E. M. Clark	USA	9,647	Sunk
18 March 1942	Kassandra Louloudis	Greece	5,106	Sunk
19 March 1942	Papoose	USA	5,939	Sunk
19 March 1942	W. E. Hutton	USA	7,076	Sunk
l21 March 1942	AtlanticSun	USA	11,355	Damaged
21 March 1942	Esso Nashville	USA	7,934	Damaged
23 March 1942	Naeco	USA	5,373	Sunk
12 May 1942	Cristales	Great Britain	5,389	Sunk
12 May 1942	Empire Dell	Great Britain	2,609	Sunk
12 May 1942	Llandover	Great Britain	4,959	Sunk
12 May 1942	Mount Parnes	Great Britain	4,371	Sunk
9 June 1942	FFL Mimosa	France	925	Sunk
12 June 1942	Dartford	Great Britain	4,093	Sunk
18 June 1942	Seattle Spirit	USA	5,627	Sunk
28 June 1942	Treworlas	Great Britain	4,692	Sunk
9 January 1943	Birmingham City	USA	6,194	Sunk
9 January 1943	Broad Arrow	USA	7,178	Sunk
9 January 1943	Collingsworth	USA	5,101	Sunk
9 January 1943	Minotaur	USA	4,554	Sunk
2 April 1943	Gogra	Great Britain	5,190	Sunk
2 April 1943	Katha	Great Britain	4,357	Sunk

See also

• List of German U-boats

References

• "The Boats – U-124". Uboat.net. Retrieved 3 April 2007.
• "U-124". Ubootwaffe.net. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
• "Ubootarchiv.net". (in German)