Wreck of U-154
Portugal /
Madeira /
Ponta do Sol /
World
/ Portugal
/ Madeira
/ Ponta do Sol
World
Second World War 1939-1945, military, navy, shipwreck, submarine
Unterseeboot 154 was a Type IXC U-Boat laid down at the AG Weser Shipyard in Bremen in September 1940 and commissioned into the German Kriegsmarine in August 1941. Assigned to the 4th Unterseebootflottille at Stettin for training, U-154 and her crew put to sea on her maiden War Patrol in February 1942.
Spending the balance of 1942 engaged in long-range and long-duration patrols to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico hunting Allied merchant shipping, by the start of 1943 U-154 and her crew had tallied 10 allied ships sunk and three damaged for their efforts. Changing her patrol area to the Northeast coast of South America at the start of 1943, U-154 found poorer hunting and increased Allied anti-submarine patrols during her sorties, and as a result recorded no victories for her 192 days at sea during 1943.
A change in command in January 1944 and orders to return to the Caribbean Sea brought new hopes of better hunting to U-154 and her crew, despite an unsuccessful 7th War Patrol to the waters off the Panama Canal which lasted until April 1944. Departing Lorient in June on her 8th War Patrol and immediately proceeding Southwest towards the Caribbean Sea, U-154 was 14 days out of port when her sonar operators picked up numerous propeller sounds in her area; an obvious sign of a convoy.
Quickly moving to investigate her findings, U-154 inadvertently betrayed her own position to the ships of a US Navy Hunter-Killer Group built around the Escort Carrier USS Croatan (CVE-25). Picked up by the sonar operators aboard the USS Frost (DE-144) and USS Inch (DE-146), the tables were quickly turned on the would-be attacker as the two Destroyer Escorts bore down on the U-154. Electing to go deep and elude the coming attack, U-154's Captain kept his boat a step ahead of her attackers' dogged pursuit for over two hours before finding himself in firing position on the USS Frost. Sending a pair of ineffective torpedo shots towards the fast-moving Destroyer Escort, U-154 once again went deep but was quickly overhauled by the USS Inch, which sent a devastating spread of depth charges directly onto the diving U-Boat. Joined by the USS Frost moments later, the two DE's echo-located the damaged U-154 and proceeded to mercilessly depth charged the U-Boat until a large plume of fuel oil and debris rose to the surface of the Atlantic, signifying the loss of U-154 and her 57 crew at this location on July 3rd, 1944.
uboat.net/boats/u154.htm
Spending the balance of 1942 engaged in long-range and long-duration patrols to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico hunting Allied merchant shipping, by the start of 1943 U-154 and her crew had tallied 10 allied ships sunk and three damaged for their efforts. Changing her patrol area to the Northeast coast of South America at the start of 1943, U-154 found poorer hunting and increased Allied anti-submarine patrols during her sorties, and as a result recorded no victories for her 192 days at sea during 1943.
A change in command in January 1944 and orders to return to the Caribbean Sea brought new hopes of better hunting to U-154 and her crew, despite an unsuccessful 7th War Patrol to the waters off the Panama Canal which lasted until April 1944. Departing Lorient in June on her 8th War Patrol and immediately proceeding Southwest towards the Caribbean Sea, U-154 was 14 days out of port when her sonar operators picked up numerous propeller sounds in her area; an obvious sign of a convoy.
Quickly moving to investigate her findings, U-154 inadvertently betrayed her own position to the ships of a US Navy Hunter-Killer Group built around the Escort Carrier USS Croatan (CVE-25). Picked up by the sonar operators aboard the USS Frost (DE-144) and USS Inch (DE-146), the tables were quickly turned on the would-be attacker as the two Destroyer Escorts bore down on the U-154. Electing to go deep and elude the coming attack, U-154's Captain kept his boat a step ahead of her attackers' dogged pursuit for over two hours before finding himself in firing position on the USS Frost. Sending a pair of ineffective torpedo shots towards the fast-moving Destroyer Escort, U-154 once again went deep but was quickly overhauled by the USS Inch, which sent a devastating spread of depth charges directly onto the diving U-Boat. Joined by the USS Frost moments later, the two DE's echo-located the damaged U-154 and proceeded to mercilessly depth charged the U-Boat until a large plume of fuel oil and debris rose to the surface of the Atlantic, signifying the loss of U-154 and her 57 crew at this location on July 3rd, 1944.
uboat.net/boats/u154.htm
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 33°59'43"N 19°29'52"W
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