Unterseeboot 81 was a German Type VIIC U-boat that had a successful career with the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War.

Construction and commissioning

She was ordered on 25 January 1939 and was laid down on 11 May 1940 at Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack, becoming 'werk 9'. She was launched on 22 February 1941 and commissioned under her first commander Oblt. Friedrich Guggenberger on 26 April of that year. Guggenberger commanded her for her work ups with the 1. Unterseebootsflottille between 26 April until 31 July 1941. She then became a front boat of 1. Unterseebootsflottille, and set out on a number of training patrols.^[1]

Career

Early patrols

Her first successes came on her second patrol, which took her from Trondheim into the North Sea and the North Atlantic, before putting into the French port of Brest. During the patrol she came across convoy SC-42. She sank the SS Empire Springbuck on 9 September, followed by the MV Sally Maersk on 10 September, for a combined total of 8,843 tons. She was then one of the U-boats ordered into the Mediterranean. Her first attempt to break into the Mediterranean ended in disaster, when on 30 October she was attacked and severely damaged by a British Catalina of No. 209 Squadron RAF, as U-81 attempted to cross the Straits of Gibraltar. The Catalina was joined by a Lockheed Hudson, which dropped depth charges onto U-81. She was severely damaged and had to return to Brest. There she was repaired in order to return to the Mediterranean.^[1]

Sinking the Ark Royal

HMS Legion moves alongside the damaged and listing HMS Ark Royal in order to take off survivors

Patrols in the Mediterranean

Her next patrol was uneventful and resulted in no ships attacked. She sailed again on 4 April 1942 and headed into the eastern Mediterranean. On 16 April she sank the Egyptian sailing ships Bab el Farag and Fatouh el Kher, as well as the British SS Caspia and the Free French anti-submarine naval trawler Vikings. U-81 sank a further two Egyptian sailing ships, Hefz el Rahman on 19 April and the El Saadiah on 22 April. U-81 put into port at Salamis on 25 April having spent 22 days at sea and sunk 7,582 tons of shipping. A further patrol out of Salamis was uneventful and she returned to La Spezia on another patrol, which saw the sinking of the British SS Havre on 10 June. U-81?s next patrol was into the western Mediterranean. She sank the British SS Garlinge on 10 November and went on to intercept one of the convoys of Operation Torch, sinking the SS Maron on 13 November.

U-81?s next patrol was uneventful and saw her briefly shift operations to Pola. On 25 December Oblt. Johann-Otto Krieg took command of U-81 from Guggenberger. She sailed from Pola on 30 January 1943 on her next patrol. On 10 February she damaged the Dutch SS Saroena and on 11 February she sank four sailing vessels, the Egyptian Al Kasbanah and Sabah el Kheir, the Lebanese Husni and the Palestinian Dolphin. U-81 put into Salamis on 19 February after 21 days at sea, and 388 tons of shipping sunk and 6,671 tons damaged. Her next patrol sank three more Egyptian sailing vessels, the Bourghieh, the Mawahab Allah and the Rousdi, whilst her next brought more substantial results. The British troop transport SS Yoma was sunk on 17 June, followed by the Egyptian sailing vessel Nisr on 25 June and the Syrian sailing vessels Nelly and Toufic Allah on 26 June. On 27 June she sank the Greek SS Michalios, but was engaged by shore-based guns off Latakia. Her next patrol saw only the SS Empire Moon hit on 22 July, but she was declared a total loss and spent the rest of the war under repair. Her next three patrols were uneventful but on 18 November she sank the SS Empire Dunstan.

Sinking

U-81 was attacked by US bombers whilst in Pola, at 1130hrs on 9 January 1944. She sank with two of her crew dead and an unknown number of survivors. The wreck was raised on 22 April 1944 and broken up.^[1] She had conducted 17 patrols, sinking 23 ships totaling 63,289 tons and damaging two others totaling 14,143 tons.^[1]

References

• U-81 at Uboat.net
• Mike Rossiter, Ark Royal: the life, death and rediscovery of the legendary Second World War aircraft carrier (Corgi Books, London, 2007). ISBN 978-0-552-15369-0
• William Jameson, Ark Royal: The Life of an Aircraft Carrier at War 1939-41 (Periscope Publishing Ltd, 2004). ISBN 1-90438-127-8

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