Wreck of U-880
Portugal /
Acores /
Lagoa /
World
/ Portugal
/ Acores
/ Lagoa
World
Second World War 1939-1945, shipwreck, submarine
Unterseeboot 880 was a Type IXC/40 U-Boat laid down at the AG Weser Shipyard in Bremen in July 1943 and commissioned into Kriegsmarine service in May 1944. Serving first as a training submarine for the 4th Unterseebootflottille from May through November 1944, the U-880 sailed for Horten in January 1945 to prepare for war patrols in the Atlantic.
Shifting to Bergen, the U-880 and her crew departed on her maiden War Patrol on March 14th, 1945, bound for the waters North of the Azores. During this patrol, the U-880 received orders to form a wolfpack with the several other U-Boats and hunt an eastbound convoy of merchant ships approaching the Azores. Establishing contact and forming into Wolfpack Seewulf on April 14th, the U-880 teamed with the U-1235 and began stalking the convoy for the next few days. Both subs surfaced as usual on the night of April 15th, 1945 to recharge their batteries and cruised about 1000 yards apart in the direction of their quarry. Shortly before midnight, the U-1235 suddenly reported contact with American ships at less than 3500 yards and closing fast, prompting both U-boats into crash dives to evade detection. Though the U-880 escaped detection, her crew were rattled by explosions for the next two hours as the U-1235 was sunk by American Destroyer Escorts.
An hour after the last shots were fired and with the sub's batteries running low, the U-880 slowly rose to the surface and sighting no contacts on the moonless night, surfaced at 0200hrs and prepared to resume her Westerly course. No sooner had she leveled out on the water than a bright starshell illuminated the area, fired from only 500 yards away. Lookouts quickly spotted American Destroyer Escorts and the U-880's crew scrambled below decks for another crash dive, but not before the USS Frost (DE-144) fixed her spotlight on the submerging U-880. Gunfire rang out from the Frost and the U-880 took several rounds in her conning tower before she submerged, causing minor flooding but no major damage, and in the ensuing rush of ships the U-880 made good her escape to deep water.
Running silently at nearly her crush depth, the U-880's Captain hoped to elude the ships hunting him from above, which had increased from one to three with the arrival of the USS Stanton (DE-247) and USS Huse (DE-145), all pinging away with their active sonar. For over two hours, the U-880 remained undetected until the USS Stanton managed to pick up a faint contact at nearly 650ft down. Firing a spread of hedgehog mortars onto the contact's position, the Stanton was shaken by such a heavy detonation the crew thought they had been torpedoed. With the contact still present but not moving, two more spreads were sent down and three loud explosions were heard before the contact began sliding deeper and deeper before fading off the sonar screen.
U-880 was sunk with all 49 of her crew at this location at 0415hrs on April 16th, 1945.
uboat.net/boats/u880.htm
Shifting to Bergen, the U-880 and her crew departed on her maiden War Patrol on March 14th, 1945, bound for the waters North of the Azores. During this patrol, the U-880 received orders to form a wolfpack with the several other U-Boats and hunt an eastbound convoy of merchant ships approaching the Azores. Establishing contact and forming into Wolfpack Seewulf on April 14th, the U-880 teamed with the U-1235 and began stalking the convoy for the next few days. Both subs surfaced as usual on the night of April 15th, 1945 to recharge their batteries and cruised about 1000 yards apart in the direction of their quarry. Shortly before midnight, the U-1235 suddenly reported contact with American ships at less than 3500 yards and closing fast, prompting both U-boats into crash dives to evade detection. Though the U-880 escaped detection, her crew were rattled by explosions for the next two hours as the U-1235 was sunk by American Destroyer Escorts.
An hour after the last shots were fired and with the sub's batteries running low, the U-880 slowly rose to the surface and sighting no contacts on the moonless night, surfaced at 0200hrs and prepared to resume her Westerly course. No sooner had she leveled out on the water than a bright starshell illuminated the area, fired from only 500 yards away. Lookouts quickly spotted American Destroyer Escorts and the U-880's crew scrambled below decks for another crash dive, but not before the USS Frost (DE-144) fixed her spotlight on the submerging U-880. Gunfire rang out from the Frost and the U-880 took several rounds in her conning tower before she submerged, causing minor flooding but no major damage, and in the ensuing rush of ships the U-880 made good her escape to deep water.
Running silently at nearly her crush depth, the U-880's Captain hoped to elude the ships hunting him from above, which had increased from one to three with the arrival of the USS Stanton (DE-247) and USS Huse (DE-145), all pinging away with their active sonar. For over two hours, the U-880 remained undetected until the USS Stanton managed to pick up a faint contact at nearly 650ft down. Firing a spread of hedgehog mortars onto the contact's position, the Stanton was shaken by such a heavy detonation the crew thought they had been torpedoed. With the contact still present but not moving, two more spreads were sent down and three loud explosions were heard before the contact began sliding deeper and deeper before fading off the sonar screen.
U-880 was sunk with all 49 of her crew at this location at 0415hrs on April 16th, 1945.
uboat.net/boats/u880.htm
Coordinates: 47°54'0"N 30°25'1"W
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