German submarine U-81 was a Type VIIC U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 of the German

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 Kriegsmarine

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Construction and commissioning

She was ordered on 25 January 1939 and was laid down on 11 May 1940 at Bremer Vulkan

Bremer Vulkan

Bremer Vulkan AG was a great German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement....

, Bremen-Vegesack

Bremen-Vegesack

-Geography:Vegesack is located at the mouth of the river Lesum, beside the Weser River . Abutting the district of Vegesack to the northwest is the district of Blumenthal, in the southeast the district of Burglesum...

, becoming 'werk 9'. She was launched on 22 February 1941 and commissioned under her first commander Oblt. Friedrich Guggenberger

Friedrich Guggenberger

Friedrich Guggenberger was a German U-boat commander of the Second World War, and was highly successful during this period. From November 1940 until his capture in July 1943, he sank 17 ships for a total of and damaged another for . He was also responsible for sinking the British aircraft carrier...

 on 26 April of that year. Guggenberger commanded her for her work ups with the 1st U-boat Flotilla between 26 April until 31 July 1941. She then became a front boat of 1st U-boat Flotilla, and set out on a number of training patrols.

Early patrols

Her first successes came on her second patrol, which took her from Trondheim

Trondheim

Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

 into the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 and the North Atlantic, before putting into the French port of Brest

Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

. During the patrol she came across convoy SC-42

Convoy SC-42

Convoy SC 42 was the 42nd of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. SC 42 was attacked over a three night period in September 1941, losing 16 ships sunk and 4 damaged. This was the worst Allied loss following the attack on...

. She sank the SS Empire Springbuck  on 9 September, followed by the on 10 September, for a combined total of 8,843 tons. She was then one of the U-boats ordered into the Mediterranean. Her first attempt to break into the Mediterranean ended in disaster, when on 30 October she was attacked and severely damaged by a British Catalina

PBY Catalina

The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...

 of No. 209 Squadron RAF

No. 209 Squadron RAF

No. 209 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force was originally formed from a nucleus of "Naval Eight" on 1 February 1917 at Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, France, as No. 9 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service and saw active service in both World Wars, the Korean War and in Malaya...

, as U-81 attempted to cross the Strait of Gibraltar

Strait of Gibraltar

The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. The name comes from Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic Jebel Tariq , albeit the Arab name for the Strait is Bab el-Zakat or...

. The Catalina was joined by a Lockheed Hudson

Lockheed Hudson

The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...

, which dropped depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...

s onto U-81. She was severely damaged and had to return to Brest. There she was repaired in order to return to the Mediterranean.

Sinking the Ark Royal

On 4 November U-81 left Brest bound for La Spezia

La Spezia

La Spezia , at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the Liguria region of northern Italy, is the capital city of the province of La Spezia. Located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea, it is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and hosts one of Italy's biggest military...

. Whilst sailing off Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

 on 13 November, she encountered the inbound ships of Force H

Force H

Force H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in 1940 to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean that had been removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany....

. She fired a single torpedo into the aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

 , and then avoided depth charge attacks from the escorts. Despite efforts to salvage her, the Ark Royal had to be abandoned some 12 hours after the attack and capsized some two hours later and sank. Only one life had been lost due to the torpedo explosion. U-81 reached La Spezia on 1 December, when she joined the 29th U-boat Flotilla.

Patrols in the Mediterranean

Her next patrol was uneventful and resulted in no ships attacked. She sailed again on 4 April 1942 and headed into the eastern Mediterranean. On 16 April she sank the Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

ian sailing ships Bab el Farag and Fatouh el Kher, as well as the British and the Free French anti-submarine

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....

 naval trawler

Naval trawler

A naval trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes. Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work...

 . U-81 sank a further two Egyptian sailing ships, Hefz el Rahman on 19 April and the El Saadiah on 22 April. U-81 put into port at Salamis

Salamis Island

Salamis , is the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, about 1 nautical mile off-coast from Piraeus and about 16 km west of Athens. The chief city, Salamina , lies in the west-facing core of the crescent on Salamis Bay, which opens into the Saronic Gulf...

 on 25 April having spent 22 days at sea and sunk 7,582 tons of shipping. A further patrol out of Salamis was uneventful and she returned to La Spezia on another patrol, which saw the sinking of the British on 10 June. U-81’s next patrol was into the western Mediterranean. She sank the British on 10 November and went on to intercept one of the convoys of Operation Torch

Operation Torch

Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....

, sinking the on 13 November.

U-81’s next patrol was uneventful and saw her briefly shift operations to Pola

Pula

Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...

. On 25 December Oblt. Johann-Otto Krieg

Johann-Otto Krieg

Johann-Otto Krieg was a Kapitänleutnant with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He first served as 2nd watch officer on U-81 then under the command of Friedrich Guggenberger before taking command of the U-boat. He was born in Lommitz in the district of Hirschberg/Silesia. He later served in the...

 took command of U-81 from Guggenberger. She sailed from Pola on 30 January 1943 on her next patrol. On 10 February she damaged the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

  and on 11 February she sank four sailing vessels, the Egyptian Al Kasbanah and Sabah el Kheir, the Lebanese

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 Husni and the Palestinian Dolphin. U-81 put into Salamis on 19 February after 21 days at sea, and 388 tons of shipping sunk and 6,671 tons damaged. Her next patrol sank three more Egyptian sailing vessels, the Bourghieh, the Mawahab Allah and the Rousdi, whilst her next brought more substantial results. The British troop transport  was sunk on 17 June, followed by the Egyptian sailing vessel Nisr on 25 June and the Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

n sailing vessels Nelly and Toufic Allah on 26 June. On 27 June she sank the Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 , but was engaged by shore-based guns off Latakia

Latakia

Latakia, or Latakiyah , is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages...

. Her next patrol saw only the SS Empire Moon hit on 22 July, but she was declared a total loss and spent the rest of the war under repair. Her next three patrols were uneventful but on 18 November she sank the .

Sinking

U-81 was attacked by US bombers whilst in Pola, at 1130hrs on 9 January 1944. She sank with two of her crew dead and an unknown number of survivors. The wreck was raised on 22 April 1944 and broken up. She had conducted 17 patrols, sinking 23 ships totaling 63,289 tons and damaging two others totaling 14,143 tons.

See also

• List of German U-boats