Kriegsmarine Uboot and crew identification

[Naxos]

any idea what Boot or crew this is?

Regards, Hardy

[Gordon Williamson]

Not much hope with the info available on this photo. Its a Type VIIC, but what variant is impossible to tell just from the rear decking. The pattern of drain holes on the hull might give an indicator of which firm made the boat as these differed from maker to maker, but even then there would be a considerable number of them. Being commanded by an Oberleutnant zur See rather than a Kaleu would narrow the field a little but not enough to determine a specific boat I'm afraid.

[Naxos]

Thanks Gordon, this is another picture of the same Boot/Crew (sorry for the poor scan, I dont own this one)

All the Best, Hardy

[Gordon Williamson]

OK, this defines the Type a little better. Its a Type VIIC/41. I'll see if I can work anything further out on the drain hole patterns.

[Naxos]

Gordon, thanks for your help - it means a lot to me -

Regards, Hardy

[Gordon Williamson]

Can you get any photos which show the drain holes in the forward part of the hull or just under the conning tower. Unfortunately the drain holes on the aft part of the hull were pretty much identical for all boats whereas the others differed quite a bit.

One clue is around the diesel exhausts. On boats up to U-207 there were two drain slots under the exhaust port, all directly through the outer plating. Thereafter this area had a separate plate over it and this is what your pic shows, so we can assume it is a boat with a number after U-207. Nowhere near enough to identify it positively though. Any shots that show the midships or forward drain holes would help immensely.

[Naxos]

Gordon, I found this picture from and older Ebay sale -if you check the background you will see that it is the same Boot.

Hardy

[Gordon Williamson]

Hardy,

OK, that makes it easy. The tower emblem is a unicorn. It is U-763, commanded by Oberleutnant Karl-Heinz Schr?ter. Schr?ter also commanded U-1195 and brought the unicorn emblem with him from that boat, but it was on U-763 that the Olympic rings were carried as well as the unicorn.

U-763 survived the war at sea but was destryed in a bombing raid at K?nigsberg. Schr?ter went on to command a Type XXI, U-3062, but this latter boat was never commissioned. He survived the war.

Interestingly, although she only sank one vessel in her five war cruises,U-763 is one of the few boats that succeeded in shooting down enemy aircraft. She shot down a Liberator and a Halifax bomber of RAF Coastal Command and severely damaged a Mosquito fighter bomber.

Gordon, I found this picture from and older Ebay sale -if you check the background you will see that it is the same Boot.

Hardy

[Naxos]

Thank you Gordon, I really appreciate your help.

Here are some details of the picture.

All the Best, Hardy

[Gordon Williamson]

Okay, this enlargement shows that what appeared to be two rings on the commander's sleeve is actually "two and a half", so who you see is her other commander Kapit?nleutnant Ernst Cordes.

Interestingly, whilst Cordes went from U-763 to U-1195, Schr?ter went the other way, from U-1195 to U-763 !

[reinoudmilitary]

Nice to see how you solved this puzzle Gordon!

[Guest Rick Research]

Wow!

DRAIN HOLES!

Boggle boggle.

And people think I perform magic tricks from ribbon bars!

[Naxos]

Rick, Gordon you are both Magicians.

Thanks for all your help, Hardy

[Gordon Williamson]

Also interesting are these box shaped structures at the side of the conning tower. These were actually armoured shelters for the crew. Given that for a limited period, boats were ordered not to crash dive to avoid aircraft, but rather to fight it out on the surface (hence this boats rather rare successes in shooting down enemy planes) these shelters were constructed to give the bridge crew some small measure of safety against fire from enemy planes.