The Allied Bombing Offensive
U-boat facilities first became a bombing priority in March 1941 and again during the Combined Bomber Offensive. The bunkers did not suffer as much as their surroundings until August 1944 when a new type of bomb was used against them, the "Tallboy".
U-boat yards and pens were the primary objectives for the US Eighth Air Force from late 1942 to early 1943. In the course of the war, the Allies used Operation Aphrodite radio-controlled aircraft, "Bat" guided bombs, "Disney" rocket-assisted bombs, Tallboy and Grand Slam deep penetration bombs to attack the U-boat pens.
A U boat pen concrete target had been built in the at Ashley Walk bombing range in the New Forest, Hampshire, to assist in preparation for these raids. It consisted of a concrete roof covering three shallow "pens". After the war it was buried in an earth mound, although its edges are once again visible in places due to weathering.
| Target | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| St-Nazaire | February 15/16 1942 | 10 Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys and six Handley Page Halifaxes; only nine aircraft bombed St Nazaire, in cloudy conditions. No aircraft were lost but three crashed in England |
| St-Nazaire | March 7/8 1942 | 17 aircraft bombed St Nazaire |
| St-Nazaire | March 25/26 1942 | Minor Operations: 27 aircraft to St Nazaire—one Vickers Wellington lost |
| St-Nazaire | March 27/28 1942 | 35 Whitleys and 27 Wellingtons bombed German positions around St Nazaire in support of the naval and Commando raid to destroy the Normandie dock gates in the port. The submarine pens were incidental to the raid which was aimed at preventing use of the dry-dock by capital ships. The aircraft were ordered to bomb only if the target had clear visibility. Conditions were bad, however, with 10/10ths cloud and icing, only four aircraft bombed at St Nazaire. Six aircraft bombed elsewhere. One Whitley was lost at sea |
| St-Nazaire | January 3, 1943 | The first use of Lieutenant Colonel Curtis LeMay's modification of formation bombing to stagger three-plane elements within a squadron and stagger squadrons within a group was the "sixth raid on Saint Nazaire". With LeMay in command of the 305th Bomb Wing, 76 of 101 dispatched aircraft found the target and used a straight and level bomb run. Seven machines were shot down and 47 were damaged. The majority of bombs hit the submarine pens |
| Lorient | January 15, 1943 | The 317th air raid on Lorient dropped 20,000 incendiary bombs |
| St-Nazaire | January 16, 1943 | Two waves of B-17 Flying Fortresses inflicted major damage and killed 27 people |
| Wilhelmshaven | January 27, 1943 | The US VIII Bomber Command dispatched ninety-one B-17s and B-24 Liberators to attack the U-Boat construction yards at Wilhelmshaven, the very first 8th Air Force heavy bomber attack directed at Germany itself. Three bombers (one B-17 and two B-24s) were shot down, only 53 aircraft actually dropped their bombs on the target due to bad weather conditions |
| Lorient | January 23 and 26 Feb 3, 4, 7, 13 and 16 Mar 6 Apr 16 May 17, 1943 |
Lorient was bombed and the city was evacuated |
| Bremen | June 3/4 1943 | 170 aircraft attacked in the first large raid on Bremen since October 1941. 11 aircraft - four Wellingtons, two Halifaxes, two Avro Lancasters, two Short Stirlings and one Avro Manchester were lost. Bremen recorded this as a heavy attack, the results of which exceeded all previous raids. Housing areas were badly hit with six streets affected by serious fires. Damage to the U-boat construction yards and the Focke-Wulf factory was described as "of no importance" but there were hits in the harbour area which damaged a pier, some warehouses and the destroyer Z-25. 83 people were killed, 29 were seriously injured and 229 slightly injured (Bremen's third heaviest casualty toll in the war) |
| Wilhelmshaven | June 11, 1943 | VIII Bomber Command, Mission Number 62: 252 B-17s were dispatched against the "U-boat yard at Wilhelmshaven" and the port area at Cuxhaven; 218 hit the targets; VIII Bomber Command claimed 85-20-24 Luftwaffe aircraft, with the loss of eight aircraft and 62 damaged. American casualties were 3 KIA, 20 WIA and 80 MIA. The raid on Wilhelmshaven demonstrated the difficulty of operating beyond the range of escort fighters as enemy fighter attacks prevented accurate bombing of the target |
| Bremen and Kiel | June 13, 1943 | VIII Bomber Command, Mission Number 63: 151 B-17s were dispatched against the Bremen U-boat yards; 122 hit the target, claiming 2-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft, with four lost and 31 damaged; casualties were eight WIA and 32 MIA. A smaller force of 76 B-17s was dispatched to the Kiel U-boat yards; 60 hit the target and claimed 39-5-14 Luftwaffe aircraft; Bomber Command lost 22 aircraft, one was damaged beyond repair and 23 were damaged. The heaviest fighter attacks to date against the Eighth Air Force accounted for 26 B-17s, mostly of the force attacking Kiel |
| St-Nazaire | June 28, 1943 | VIII Bomber Command, Mission Number 69: 191 B-17s were dispatched against the "locks and submarine pens at Saint-Nazaire"; 158 hit the target. Bomber Command claimed 28-6-8 Luftwaffe aircraft, for the loss of eight B-17s and 57 damaged |
| Deutsche Werke, Kiel | December 1943 | B-17 and B-24 bombing destroyed one workshop (100%), another workshop and storage building (80%), a factory workship and boat building (67%); a number of other buildings were damaged; a submarine under construction and workshops for engines and engineering were hit |
| Deutsche Werke, Kiel | July 23/24 1944 | In the first major raid on a German city for two months, 629 aircraft - including 10 de Havilland Mosquitos - were dispatched in this first RAF (since April 1943) and heaviest RAF raid of the war on the target. In less than half an hour, all parts of Kiel were hit but the bombing was particularly heavy in the port areas and all of the important "U-boat yards" and naval facilities were hit. The presence of around 500 delayed-action or unexploded bombs caused severe problems for the rescue and repair services. There was no water for three days; trains and buses did not run for eight days and there was no gas for cooking for three weeks |
| Brest | August 5, 1944 | 15 Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron RAF, with two supporting Mosquitos, attacked the U-boat pens and scored six direct hits with Tallboys penetrating the concrete roofs. One Lancaster was shot down by flak. Subsequent attempts to reinforce other sites with even thicker concrete diverted resources from other projects. |
| Lorient | August 6, 1944 | 617 Squadron attacked Lorient again, with two hits. |
| Lorient | August 7, 1944 | The Tallboy bombing mission to Lorient was scrubbed |
| La Pallice | August 8, 1944 | Iveson dropped one Tallboy |
| La Pallice and Bordeaux | August 11, 1944 | 53 Lancasters and three Mosquitos of No 5 Group RAF attacked U-boat pens at "Bordeaux and La Pallice" with 2,000 lb armour-piercing bombs, but the bombs did not penetrate the roofs. No aircraft were lost |
| Brest, La Pallice, and Bordeaux | August 12, 1944 | 68 Lancasters of No 1 Group and two Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked "pens at Brest, La Pallice and Bordeaux" without loss. A U-boat was believed to have been hit at La Pallice |
| Brest | August 13, 1944 | 28 Lancasters and one Mosquito of No 5 Group attacked the "U-boat pens and shipping at Brest". Hits were claimed on the pens, on the hulk of an old French battleship, the Clémenceau and on a medium-sized tanker. The object of the attacks on ships was to prevent the Germans using any of the vessels in Brest to block the harbour just before its capture by American troops |
| La Pallice and Bordeaux | August 16, 1944 | 25 Lancasters and one Mosquito of No 5 Group to attack the U-boat pens at La Pallice found the target was cloud-covered and only three aircraft bombed. No aircraft were lost |
| La Pallice | August 17, 1944 | Mission 559: A B-17 dropped "Bat" guided bombs on La Pallice. One impacted 1 mile (1.6 km) short and the second about 1 mile to the right of the target |
| IJmuiden | August 28, 1944 | Iveson dropped one Tallboy |
| Heligoland | September 3, 1944 | The US Navy controller flew the Operation Aphrodite SAU-1 drone (B-24D 42-63954) into Duene Island by mistake |
| Heligoland | September 11, 1944 | During the first Castor mission of Operation Aphrodite, the pilot of B-17 42-30180 (Guzzlers) was killed when his parachute failed to open on bailout |
| Heligoland | October 15, 1944 | Mission 678A: Two B-17s of Operation Aphrodite attacked the Heligoland U-boat pens |
| Bergen | October 28/29 1944 | 237 Lancasters and seven Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the U-boat pens at Bergen. The area was cloud-covered, therefore the Master Bomber tried to bring the force down below 5,000 ft but cloud was still encountered and he ordered the raid to be abandoned after only 47 Lancasters had bombed. Three Lancasters were lost |
| Heligoland | October 30, 1944 | Mission 693A: One Castor Operation Aphrodite drone lost contact, went out of control and crashed near Trollhättan, Sweden. The other drone was B-17 42-3438 |
| IJmuiden | December 15, 1944 | 17 Lancasters attacked with Tallboy bombs but the target was obscured by a smokescreen |
| IJmuiden | December 30, 1944 | 13 Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron set out to bomb the "U-boat pens at IJmuiden" but the raid was abandoned because of bad weather |
| IJmuiden | January 12, 1945 | No. 617 Squadron attacked the U-boat pens with Tallboys, but smoke obscured the results |
| Bergen | January 12, 1945 | 32 Lancasters and one Mosquito of No 9 and No. 617 Squadrons attacked "U-boat pens and shipping in Bergen harbour". Three Lancasters of No 617 Squadron and one from No. 9 Squadron were lost; the Germans told the local people that 11 bombers had been shot down. A local report says that three Tallboys penetrated the 3½-metre-thick roof of the pens and caused severe damage to workshops, offices and stores |
| IJmuiden and Poortershaven | February 3, 1945 | 36 Lancasters attacked "U-boat pens at IJmuiden" (No. 9 Squadron) and "Poortershaven" (No. 617 Squadron) with Tallboys without loss. Hits were claimed on both targets |
| IJmuiden | February 8, 1945 | 15 Lancasters of 617 Squadron dropped Tallboys on the "U-boat pens at IJmuiden" without loss |
| IJmuiden | February 10, 1945 | Mission 825: nine of 164 B-17s on a 92nd Bombardment Group mission against the U-boat pens at IJmuiden, the Netherlands, first used the Royal Navy Disney rocket-boosted concrete piercing bomb |
| Oslo Fjord | February 23/24 1945 | 73 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos carried out an accurate attack on a "possible U-boat base at Horten on the Oslo Fjord". One Lancaster was lost |
| Bremen (Farge) | March 27, 1945 | 20 Lancasters of 617 Squadron attacked the Valentin submarine pens, two Grand Slam bombs penetrated two metres and detonated which rendered the shelter unusable. No aircraft were lost. |
| Bremen | March 30, 1945 | 303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 348: 38 aircraft were dispatched to bomb Bremen. The "submarine building yards" were the first priority target (PDF) |
| Hamburg/Finkenwerder | April 4, 1945 | |
| Hamburg | April 9, 1945 | 17 aircraft of 617 Squadron, with Grand Slam and Tallboy bombs, successfully attacked the "U-boat shelters". No aircraft were lost |
| Kiel | April 9/10 1945 | 591 Lancasters and eight Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups attacked Kiel. Three Lancasters were lost. This was an accurate raid, made in good visibility on two aiming points in the harbour area. Photographic reconnaissance showed that the Deutsche Werke U-boat yard was severely damaged, the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer was hit and capsized, the cruisers Admiral Hipper and the Emden were badly damaged. The local diary says that "all 3 shipyards" in the port were hit and that nearby residential areas were severely damaged |
| Kiel | April 13/14 1945 | 377 Lancasters and 105 Halifaxes of Nos 3, 6 and 8 Groups attacked Kiel for two Lancasters lost. This raid was directed against the port area, with the "U-boat yards" as the main objective. RAF Bomber Command rated this as "a poor attack" with scattered bombing |
| Heligoland | April 18, 1945 | 969 aircraft - 617 Lancasters, 332 Halifaxes and 20 Mosquitos of all groups - successfully attacked the "Naval base, airfield, & town" "almost crater-pitted moonscape". Three Halifaxes were lost, the islands were evacuated the following night |
| Heligoland | April 19, 1945 | No. 9 and 617 Squadrons used Tallboys against "coastal battery positions" |
Read more about this topic: Submarine Pen, German Submarine Pens in World War II
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