Mediterranean U-boat Campaign (World War II) - Second Happy Time

Second Happy Time

La Spezia became headquarters when the Mediterranean U-boats were reorganized as the 29th U-boat Flotilla in May 1942. No more U-boats were assigned to the Mediterranean from mid-January to early October 1942 as opportunities along the east coast of North America seemed more productive while the Afrika Korps was successfully advancing on Egypt. The 29th flotilla focused on convoys supplying Malta and British forces on the Eqyptian coast. For sustained operations, U-boats spent approximately one-third of the time on patrol stations, one-third in transit to and from base for routine provisioning and refueling, and one-third undergoing major overhaul or battle repair. 29th flotilla target strength of twenty U-boats enabled a routine patrol strength of three U-boats from Salamis in the eastern Mediterranean, and three from La Spezia in the western Mediterranean. Loss of U-372 and U-568 in twelve-hour sustained attacks demonstrated vulnerability of independent U-boat patrols to a team of destroyers which could hunt a submerged U-boat to exhaustion of air and battery power, rather than moving on after a few attacks.

• U-73 sank HMS Eagle on 11 August 1942.
• U-74 was sunk on 2 May 1942 by aircraft and destroyers.
• U-77 sank HMS Grove on 12 June. U-77 then sank sailing ships Vassiliki on 22 July, Toufic El Rahman on 24 July, Fany on 30 July, and Saint Simon on 1 August. U-77 continued patrolling the coast of Cyprus, Palestine and Lebanon damaging Adnan and sinking Ezzet on 6 August, Kharouf on 10 August and Daniel on 16 August 1942.
• U-81 sank the 6,018-ton Caspia, the French trawler Viking, and sailing ships Bab el Faraq and Farouh el Kher on 16 April 1942. U-81 sank sailing ships Hefz el Rahman on 19 April, Aziza and the El Saadiah on 22 April, and then 2,073-ton Havre of convoy AT 49 on 10 June 1942.
• U-83 damaged the 2,590-ton Crista on 17 March 1942, sank the 100-ton Esther and the 231-ton Said on 8 June, the 175-ton Typhoon on 9 June, the Q-ship HMS Farouk on 13 June, and the 5,875-ton Princess Marguerite on 17 August 1942.
• U-97 sank the 1,755-ton Memas and the 1,433-ton Zealand from convoy Metril on 28 June 1942, and sank the 786-ton Marilyse Moller on 1 July.
• U-133 sank HMS Gurkha on 17 January 1942 and sank after striking a mine off Salamis on 12 March 1942.
• U-205 sank the 2,623-ton Slavol on 26 March 1942, and sank HMS Hermione on 16 June 1942.
• U-331 shelled the Beirut electric power station in April 1942.
• U-371
• U-372 sank HMS Medway on 30 June 1942, and was hunted to exhaustion on 3 August 1942.
• U-375 sank the 1,376-ton Hero on 6 July 1942, sank the 87-ton Amina and the 176-ton Ikbal on 30 July, and damaged the 6,288-ton Empire Kumari of convoy LW 38 on 26 August. She also sank the 558-ton Arnon, the 38-ton Miriam and the 108-ton Salina on 3 September. She then sank the 113-ton Turkian on 6 September 1942.
• U-431 sank the trawler HMS Sotra on 29 January 1942, she then sank the 4,216-ton Eocene of convoy AT 46 on 20 May, and damaged LCT-119 on 20 June 1942.
• U-453 damaged the hospital ship Somersetshire on 7 April 1942.
• U-559 sank the 4,681-ton Athene and damaged the 5,917-ton Brambleleaf of convoy AT 49 on 10 June 1942.
• U-561 planted a minefield at the mouth of the Suez Canal, sinking the 6,692-ton Mount Olympus, and damaging the 5,062-ton Hav and the 4,043-ton Fred.
• U-562 damaged the 3,359-ton Adinda on 24 July 1942.
• U-565 sank HMS Naiad on 11 March 1942 and the 1,361-ton Kirkland of convoy TA 36 on 23 April.
• U-568 was hunted to exhaustion on 28 May 1942.
• U-573 was interned in Spain following bomb damage on 1 May 1942.
• U-652 sank HMS Heythrop on 20 March 1942, sank HMS Jaguar on 26 March and was sunk on 2 June 1942 by 815 Naval Air Squadron.