Wolfpack Zieten

Summary

Zieten was the name given to two wolfpacks of German U-boats that operated during the World War II Battle of the Atlantic in 1942, the first, larger and more successful was from 6 January 1942 to 22 January 1942,[1] the second, smaller from 23 March to 29 March 1942.[2]

Wolfpack Zieten 1
Active6 January 1942 - 22 January 1942
Country Nazi Germany
BranchKriegsmarine
Size12 submarines
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Peter-Erich Cremer
Rolf Mützelburg
Erich Topp
Karl Thurmann
Wolfpack Ziethen 2
Active23–29 March 1942
Country Nazi Germany
BranchKriegsmarine
Size4 submarines

It was named after Hans Joachim von Zieten (1699 - 1786), a German cavalry officer under Frederick the Great

Zieten 1 edit

The group was responsible for sinking eleven merchant ships 39,900 gross register tons (GRT) and damaging a further three merchant ships 17,621 GRT.

Raiding History edit

Date U-boat Name of ship Nationality GRT Convoy Fate
6 January 1942 U-701 Baron Erskine   United Kingdom 3,657 SC-62 Sunk
15 January 1942 U-203 Catalina   Portugal 632 Sunk
15 January 1942 U-552 Dayrose   United Kingdom 4,113 Sunk
15 January 1942 U-553 Diala   United Kingdom 8,106 ON-52 Damaged
16 January 1942 U-86 Toorak   United Kingdom 8,627 ON-52 Damaged
17 January 1942 U-87 Nyholt   Norway 8,087 ON-52 Sunk
17 January 1942 U-203 Octavian   Norway 1,345 Sunk
18 January 1942 U-86 Dimitrios G. Thermiotis   Greece 4,271 SC-63 Sunk
18 January 1942 U-552 Frances Salman   United States 2,609 Sunk
21 January 1942 U-754 Belize   Norway 2,153 Sunk
21 January 1942 U-203 North Gaspe   Canada 888 Damaged
22 January 1942 U-553 Innerøy   Norway 8,260 Sunk
22 January 1942 U-333 Vassilios A. Polemis   Greece 3,429 ON-53 Sunk
22 January 1942 U-754 William Hansen   Norway 1,344 Sunk
Total: 57,521

U-boats edit

U-boat Commander From To
U-84 Horst Uphoff[3] 13 January 1942 22 January 1942
U-86 Walter Schug[4] 7 January 1942 22 January 1942
U-87 Joachim Berger[5] 6 January 1942 17 January 1942
U-135 Friedrich-Hermann Praetorius[6] 6 January 1942 20 January 1942
U-203 Rolf Mützelburg[7] 7 January 1942 22 January 1942
U-333 Peter-Erich Cremer[8] 17 January 1942 22 January 1942
U-552 Erich Topp[9] 6 January 1942 19 January 1942
U-553 Karl Thurmann[10] 6 January 1942 22 January 1942
U-582 Werner Schulte[11] 15 January 1942 22 January 1942
U-654 Ludwig Forster[12] 6 January 1942 22 January 1942
U-701 Horst Degen[13] 6 January 1942 22 January 1942
U-754 Hans Oestermann[14] 6 January 1942 22 January 1942

Zieten 2 edit

The group had no success and lost one U-boat.

U-boats edit

U-boat Commander From To
U-209 Heinrich Brodda[15] 23 March 1942 29 March 1942
U-376 Friedrich-Karl Marks[16] 23 March 1942 29 March 1942
U-378 Alfred Hoschatt[17] 23 March 1942 29 March 1942
U-655 Adolf Dumrese[18] 23 March 1942 24 March 1942

References edit

Notes
  1. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Wolfpack Ziethen 1". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  2. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Wolfpack Ziethen 2". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  3. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Horst Uphoff". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  4. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Walter Schug". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  5. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Joachim Berger". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  6. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Friedrich-Hermann Praetorius". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  7. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Rolf Mützelburg (Knight's Cross)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  8. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Peter-Erich Cremer (Knight's Cross)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  9. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Erich Topp (Knight's Cross)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  10. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Karl Thurmann (Knight's Cross)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  11. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Werner Schulte". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  12. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ludwig Forster". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  13. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Horst Degen". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  14. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Hans Oestermann". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  15. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Heinrich Brodda". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  16. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Friedrich-Karl Marks". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  17. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Alfred Hoschatt". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  18. ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Adolf Dumrese". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
Bibliography
  • Hadley, Michael L (1985). U-Boats Against Canada: German Submarines in Canadian Waters. McGill-Queen’s University Press. p. 56. ISBN 0-7735-0584-9.
  • Newpower, Anthony (2006). Iron Men and Tin Fish: The Race to Build a Better Torpedo During World War II. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 80. ISBN 0-275-99032-X.
  • Edwards, Bernard (1996). Dönitz and the Wolf Packs - The U-boats at War. Cassell Military Classics. pp. 117, 119, 123–125. ISBN 0-304-35203-9.