U-128 on its Fourth Patrol

U-128, a Type IX C u-boat, was an extremely successful submarine attached to the 2. Unterseebootsflottille (2nd Submarine Flotilla) in Lorient. Built by Deschimag AG of Bremen, the boat was commissioned by Kapitänleutnant Ullrich Heyse on 12 May 1941. Heyse went on to achieve great success with this submarine in 1942 and early 1943. In the course of six patrols - of which the first was merely a transfer to Norway and the fifth is a seven-day radar trial - Ullrich Heyse and U-128 sank 12 ships totaling 83,639 GRT and damaged another! No wonder that the crew swore by their commander. The 35-year-old Berliner, a member of Crew 1933, knew how to lead his men. Once, on the boat, he pulled a knife from his pocket and sat down to help several of his men peel potatoes. Then, as he peeled, he discussed all the popular topics with this small circle. On land the captain often joined his men for a beer, which further strengthened the bonds with his crew. Before the war Heyse had served on merchant vessels, and as a submarine commander it was difficult for him to now have to sink such ships. In several cases he provided survivors with food, cigarettes and rum and expressed regret for having sunk their ship! Under Heyse, the boat wore a slightly modified version of the emblem of Ulm, U-128's sponsor city on the front of the conning tower, plus a white horse emblem on both sides. Encircling the horse were the words "HÜAHOH HÜAHOH ALTER SCHIMMEL" (secara harfiah berarti: "Hieh Hieh Kuda Tua"). As our drawing depicts, in the summer of 1942 the boat was camouflaged pale gray with dark grey longitudinal stripes. One of the stripes ran from the turret mantle aft to beneath the Wintergarten platform. All of the upwards-facing parts of the boat were painted black as per directives. Six days after completing his sixth patrol, on 21 January 1943, Heyse was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Crosses). In March 1943 he handed the boat over to Oberleutnant zur See Hermann Steinert. Luck deserted him on his very first patrol, however. On 17 May 1943 US Naval aircraft bombed the submarine near a convoy and forced it to surface. The boat sustained heavy damage in further attacks and was unable to dive. With the destroyers USS Jouett and USS Mofett closing in, Steinert ordered his crew to abandon ship. The leading engineer initiated the scuttling procedure, but the submarine was sunk by gunfire from the destroyers. The USS Mofett rescued 51 members of U-128's crew, four of whom died aboard the destroyer.

 This photo (and the first photo above) depicts U-128, probably as it departed Lorient on its fourth patrol on 25 April 1942. The boat emblem and the coat of arms of the sponsor city of Ulm my be seen on the conning tower. Under Kapitänleutnant Hermann Steinert the boat also wore the Olympic rings of Crew 1936 on the conning tower.

Source :
"U-Boot im Focus" magazine - edition no.2 (2007)

“Hallo, wie geht’s?” Emblem of U-93

This photo of U-93 was taken in December 1940 shortly before the “Hallo, wie geht’s?” (Hello, how’s it going?) emblem was replaced by the new “Devil” emblem. Both the submarine’s paint and the emblem are heavily weathered, and the emblem has even been partly overpainted. Parts of the black and white hand and the word “Hallo” have disappeared. If one speaks of the “Red Devil” emblem to submarine enthusiasts, most automatically think of U-552, the boat in which Kapitänleutnant Erich Topp made a name for himself from 1941 to 1943. But there were many other boats whose commanders selected a “Teufel” (Devil) emblem for their vessels. One of these was the U-93, but prior to this the boat wore another, no less striking emblem. Commissioned by Kapitänleutnant Claus Korth at Krupp’s Germania Shipyard in Kiel on 30 July 1940, after acceptance trials the type VII C joined the 7. U-Flotille (7th Submarine Flotilla) in St. Nazaire. Korth had previously commanded the U-57, a type II C, from December 1938 until May 1940 with the 5th and later the 1st Submarine Flotillas. During that time he completed 11 patrols and his submarine wore an eye-catching “Fackelschwingenden Teufel” (Torch-Swinging Devil) emblem. His new boat would also carry an unusual emblem. And it wasn’t long before a suitable design was on the table. It consisted of a large smiling sun rising behind a black and white wavy band, and beneath this were the words “Hallo, wie geht’s?”. The design was inspired by the Number 1 of the tender Lech, once the mother ship of Korth’s first boat, the U-57. Whenever the U-57 docked, this senior boatswain would greet the crew with “Hello, how’s it going?”. As Kapitänleutnant Korth brought most of U-57’s crew with him to the U-93, the majority of his new boat’s crew was familiar with this hail which now formed part of the boat’s emblem. As well, to the submariners the rising sun of course meant return and survival, following the motto: “Uns geht die Sonne nicht unter” (The sun doesn’t set on us). The “Hallo, wie geht’s?” emblem was worn by U-93 on its first three patrols in autumn 1940. In the weeks following the end of the third patrol on 29 November 1940, however, Kapitänleutnant Korth began to miss his “Roten Teufel” (Red Devil) emblem from the early days. He therefore gave Oberleutnant zur See Götz von Hartmann, assigned to the crew as 1st Watch Officer (1. Wachtsoffizier) in December 1940 and a skilled artist, the task of designing a new devil emblem for U-93. Hartmann’s design depicted a devil with a dip net catching a steamer in which Churchill, the British First Sea Lord, sits smoking a cigarette. Accepted by the captain, in January 1941 this equally striking design replaced the “Hallo, wie geht’s?” emblem on the front of U-93’s conning tower. The boat completed three patrols while wearing this emblem in the spring and summer of 1941. After his sixth patrol Kapitänleutnant Korth stood down and in autumn 1941 transferred command to Oberleutnant zur See Horst Elfe. It is not known if this captain, who had previously commanded U-139, allowed the “Devil” emblem to remain on U-93. It is, however, to be assumed that the new captain was conscious of crews’ sensibilities with regard to the “glücksbringer” (good luck) emblems on their boats. If Oberleutnant zur See Elfe did retain the emblem, it certainly did not have the desired effect for commander or crew. After departing on its second patrol under its new captain the day before Christmas 1941, on 15 January 1942 it was depth-charged and sunk by the British destroyer HMS Hesperus in the North Atlantic north of Madeira at position 36º40’N/15º52’W. Part of the “Gruppe Seydlitz” with U-71 and U-571, it attempted to attack convoy HG 78 between Gibraltar and the Azores but was located and destroyed by the escort. Most of the crew was saved, just six men losing their lives. Concerning the famous “Roten Teufel” emblem of Erich Topp’s U-552, it should be stated here that the devil was no new idea by Topp or a member of his crew. Instead Topp first encountered this devil when he succeeded Kapitänleutnant Claus Korth as captain of U-57, which was wearing the above-described “Torch-Swinging Devil” as boat emblem. In December 1940 Topp adopted the devil for his new boat, the U-552.

 This photo provides a very detailed view of U-93’s second emblem. If one believes the existing literature, a version of the emblem with two men in the boat was also used. Only Churchill is represented in our photo. The above photo shows U-93 leaving Lorient on its 4th patrol, the first with the new emblem, on 11 January 1941.

Source :
"U-Boot im Focus" magazine, edition no.2 - 2007

A Type II Coastal U-Boat

Although this shows the small conning tower of a Type II coastal boat, it does drive home the lookouts' vulnerability, especially during hard weather when water constantly washed over the top of the tower. Larger boats had more space, but the towers weren't very much higher. The lapel-less collar of the person leaning on the hatch cover indicates that he is an engineer. The pressure-resistant hatch leading into the U-boat was almost a meter below his feet, and this raised grating merely prevented men falling down the opening in the upper deck. At sea, only the conning tower hatch would have been used, but in port it was more convenient to use the lower entrances. Trees in the background and the presence of a civilian suggests that this is close to harbour.

U-Boat Type IXD2 Back to the Port from a Successful Mission

A large, long-distance boat of Type IXD2, probably U-178 or U-181, coming into port with the attack periscope raised to act as a flagpole for a mass of success pennants. The unusual patterns on the side of the hull are shadows from the reception party on the pier.