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Wreck of U-1235

Portugal / Acores / Lagoa /
 Second World War 1939-1945, shipwreck, submarine
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Unterseeboot 1235 was a Type IXC/40 U-Boat laid down at the Deutsche Werft Shipyard in Hamburg in May 1943 and commissioned into Kriegsmarine service in May 1944. After conducting several training cruises in the Baltic Sea, the U-1235 reported to Norway and the U-Boat pens at Stavanger for her first War Patrol, which commenced on February 6th, 1945.

Mechanical difficulties prompted the U-1235 to cut her maiden patrol short at 14 days and she was ordered to Bergen for a yard period which lasted over a month before enough material could be delivered to effect the needed repairs. Her second War patrol commenced on March 14th, only to be cut short again by mechanical difficulties after two days, indicative of the declining capability of Germany to maintain its U-Boat fleet by mid-1945. Ready to depart once again after a few days, the U-1235 cleared Bergen on March 19th and made for the Azores.

28 days out, the U-1235 surfaced after dark on April 15th to recharge her batteries and close distance to a Allied convoy she sighted the previous day. Working in a wolfpack with fellow U-boat U-880, the U-1235 and her crew were unaware that two US Destroyer Escorts were only 3500 yards away and closing, having picked up the U-1235 on their radars. Lookouts aboard U-1235 sighted the onrushing American Ships and the sub made a crash dive and rigged for silent running, but the USS Stanton (DE-247) had identified the submerged U-boat and began alternating depth charge and hedgehog attacks at 2345hrs.

Shortly after midnight, the Stanton was joined in her attack by the USS Frost (DE-144) and the two ships proceeded to rain depth charges down onto the hapless U-1235. A heavy underwater explosion was heard at 0030hrs, but the sonar contact was still present so both ships sent spreads of hedgehog mortars onto the U-1235 at 0100hrs. After the last round was heard to detonate, a massive underwater explosion shook the two vessels and spread a slick of oil, wood and personal effects on the surface, indicating the loss of the U-1235 and all 57 hands at this location on April 16th, 1945.


uboat.net/boats/u1235.htm
Coordinates:   47°52'59"N   30°26'0"W
This article was last modified 11 years ago