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Naval Art  Postcards  U-Boats |
[UP] - U-Boats - Historical Photo Postcards |
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| Text for the above items : |
Deutschland at Baltimore Harbour by Ivan Berryman. (PC) On 9th July 1916, with Captain Paul Koenig in command, the German merchant submarine Deutschland entered Baltimore Harbour after a 16-day crossing of the Atlantic from Bremerhaven on a peaceful trade mission and was greeted by a flotilla of tugs and small sight-seeing vessels. Upon arrival in the bay, the German merchant flag was hoisted and many of her 29 crew appeared on her narrow deck to enjoy the moment. The visit was greeted with considerable controversy at the time, given that Europe was at this time at war with Germany, but this unusual event passed peacefully with Deutschland returning home safely the following month. |
U-203 Under Cover of Darkness by Anthony Saunders. (PC) October 1941, U203 approaches her mooring on the western bank at the French port of Brest. Her fate would be sealed by depth charges from the destroyer HMS Pathfinder and aircraft from the escort carrier HMS Biter while attacking the convoy ONS 4 south of Greenland on April 25th 1943. |
Atlantic Comrades by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The Scharnhorst is pictured in 1939 when she and her sister ship Gneisenau menacingly prowled the North Atlantic. She is shown at dawn as two type VII U-Boats glide towards her for a friendly rendezvous and to take on much needed supplies, as well as a few of the luxuries that the tiny u-boats were simply too small to carry. |
Operation Drumbeat by Anthony Saunders (PC) The entry of the United States into the war opened up vast new hunting grounds for the German u-boat fleet. Operation Paukenschlag (Drumbeat in English) began in January 1942, bringing the U-boats their easiest pickings of the war. Over 300 allied vessels were sunk during the Paukenschlag along the US coastline, ranging from New York harbor, to the Straits of Florida. This period, also known as the second Happy Times to the men of the U-boats, was only brought to an end in mid 1942 by the formation of allied convoy systems. On the evening of April 5th 1942, U552, commanded by Kapitanleutnant Erich Topp, sealed the fate of the British tanker MV British Splendour east of Cape Hatteras. The U-boat was part of the fourth wave of boats of Operation Paukenschlag, she returned to Saint Nazaire on April 27th 1942 having sunk seven ships during the patrol. |
U-201 Deadly Chase by Anthony Saunders. (PC) 17th February 1943, U-201 with U-69 were ordered to intercept the westbound convoy ONS165. With fuel low U-201 was eventually forced to surface following a depth charge attack and rammed by the Destroyer HMS Fame. |
U-99 by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Famed for his night time surface attacks on convoys, Otto Kretschmer, commanding U-99 is shown having claimed another victim beneath a full moon during the Summer of 1940. |
Dawn Rendezvous by Anthony Saunders. (PC) Germanys U-boat fleet had almost brought Britain to its knees in the First World war, twenty years later the story was very similar. the German U-boat arm came perilously close to cutting the lifeline that crossed the Atlantic between North America and Britain. in the early years of the war Donitz realised that keeping his U-boats at sea for as long as possible would greatly increase their chances of success. here U-93 (left) and U-94 take fuel from the auxiliary cruiser Kormoran whilst in the mid-Atlantic during 1941 |
U-453 by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The Type VIIC U-Boat U-453 began service in June 1941 under the command of Knight's Cross winner Egon-Reiner von Schlippenbach and claimed 10 vessels sunk including the Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Hebe. U-453 was sunk on 21st May 1944 by the destroyers HMS Tenacious, HMS Termagant and HMS Liddesdale off the coast of Italy. She is shown here on one of 17 patrols defending herself from air attack by a Catalina from RAF Coastal Command. |
Das Boote by Anthony Saunders. (PC) Lother Gunther Buchheim based his famous novel The Boat on his voyage aboard U96 in the early days of World War Two. During this operation on 13th February 1941, U96 sank the straggling tanker, Arthur F Conwin, which had dropped back from the westbound convoy, HX106, after being hit by another U-boat, U103. |
U-47 by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Under the command of Günther Prien, the deadly U-47 became the 10th most successful U-Boat of World War Two in terms of tonnage sunk. However, on 8th October 1939 she sank the British battleship HMS Royak Oak within Scapa Flow, the main British naval base of the war, despite the anti-submarine measures in place. The submarine was presumed lost with all hands when she failed to return from her 10th patrol in March 1941, although no definitive explanation for her loss exists. |
U-552 by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Erich Topps notorious Red Devil Boat, U-552, slips quietly away from the scene of another victory in the North Atlantic in 1941. |
Wolves at Saint Nazaire by Anthony Saunders (PC) Portrayed in the southern lock at the French port of Saint Nazaire during the Autumn of 1941 are from left: U552, commanded by Kapitanleutnant Erich Topp, U567, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Engelbert Endrass and U93, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Horst Elfe. Saint Nazaire was home for two U-boat flotillas: 7. U-Flotille, the Wegener Flotilla and 6.U-Flotille, the Hundius Flotilla. It produced some of the top U-boat commanders including Topp, Endrass, Prien and Kretschmer. The base reached a peak of activity in mid 1943, however, by the end of the war the entire port had been flattened by the allied air forces. The only buildings to survive the onslaught were the bomb proof U-bunkers which can still be seen to this day |
Scourge of the Atlantic by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The ten German U-Boats of the Type VIIA class operating in the seas around the United Kingdom and Ireland were so deadly in the first part of the war, they were the scourge of the Atlantic. Sinking much Allied merchant shipping in the first months of World War Two, they continued through the 'Happy Time' of the Battle of the Atlantic, where the tally of shipping claimed by U-boats reached a peak, and the crews were regarded as heroes. Famously, U-29 sunk the Royal Navy carrier HMS Courageous on 17th September, the first British warship sunk by German forces in World War Two. By the end of 1940 though, 6 of the boats had been sunk and the remaining 4 were used only for training. In total they had accounted for around 100 vessels sunk, damaged, or captured. |
U-997 by Ivan Berryman. (PC) A Type VIIC U-boat, U-997 was one of lucky ones to survive the war. One of around 700 of the Type VIIs - the workhorse of the German U-boat threat - it was an example of the 91 Type VIIC/41 variety, one of which is the only surviving Type VII in existence (U-995 is a memorial in Germany). U-997 served between September 1943 and the end of the war when the submarine was surrendered and subsequently sunk by Allied aircraft with more than 100 other U-boats during Operation Deadlight, north-west of Ireland. |
Kapitanleutnant zur See Friedrich Christiansen by Ivan Berryman. (PC) During a patrol on 6th July 1918, Christiansen spotted a British submarine on the surface of the Thames Estuary. He immediately turned and put his Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 floatplane into an attacking dive, raking the submarine C.25 with machine gun fire, killing the captain and five other crewmen. This victory was added to his personal tally, bringing his score to 13 kills by the end of the war, even though the submarine managed to limp back to safety. Christiansen survived the war and went on to work as a pilot for the Dornier company, notably flying the giant Dornier Do.X on its inaugural flight to New York in 1930. He died in 1972, aged 93. |
Lone Wolf by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The Type VII U-Boat became the standard design for German submarine warfare during the Second World War, sometimes hunting in packs, but more often alone. This Type VIIC has just claimed another victim, surfacing under the cover of night to observe the fiery demise of another victim. |
Kapitanleutnant Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere, U-35 by Ivan Berryman. (PC) U-35 under the command of Kapitanleutnant Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere, the all time most successful u-boat captain sinking 194 ships, many of which were sunk by the u-boats 88mm deck gun. Kapitanleutnant Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere commanded U-35 from 13th November 1915 to 16th March 1918. His most successful patrols were in April / May 1916, where in a 5 week patrol he sunk 23 ships , and in July / August 1916 where in a 4 week patrol he sunk 54 ships. In total he made 15 patrols. |
North Atlantic Predator by Ivan Berryman. (PC) U-99 was commanded by Otto Kretschmer from launch in 1940 until being sunk in March 1941, less than a year later. However, during this time U-99 became one of the most successful submarines of the war, claiming almost 40 ships sunk. Attached to each side of the coning tower is a horseshoe, dredged up by the anchor, painted gold and positioned here for luck. This luck ran out on 17th March 1941 when the destroyers HMS Walker and HMS Vanoc discovered and successfully attacked U-99. Forced to the surface by severe damage, the submarine was then scuttled while forty of the crew including Kretschmer were rescued to become prisoners of war. |
U-269 by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Type VIIC U-Boat U269 during an engagement in the English Channel with a B24 Liberator from 224 Squadron based at St Eval in Cornwall. |
Dawn Departure by Ivan Berryman. (PC) A Type VIIC U-Boat slips quietly toward the open sea from her pen at Lorient, France in 1942. |
U-107 by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The German Type IXB U-Boat U-107 completed 13 active patrols between 1941 and 1944, well above the average lifespan for a U-boat during this period. U-107 sunk 39 ships with a total tonnage in excess of 200,000 tons. Shown here under attack from a Sunderland, this would be her ultimate demise. On 18th August 1944, Sunderland EJ150 of No.201 Sqn sunk the U-Boat with depth charges in the Bay of Biscay with the loss of the entire crew. |
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