Wolfpack Weddigen

Weddigen was a wolfpack of German U-boats that operated during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II.

Service history

Weddigen was formed in November 1943 off the coast of Portugal, to intercept convoys sailing to and from Gibraltar, Mediterranean and South Atlantic. It was composed of U-boats from the disbanded patrol group Schill, with reinforcements from the North Atlantic and from bases in occupied France.

Weddigen originally numbered seventeen U-boats, though two had been destroyed in recent actions, and two others had to withdraw with damage. On 22 November the thirteen U-boats remaining formed a patrol line west of Portugal to await warning of an Allied convoy.

On 23 November one of the Weddigen boats, U-648, fell in with the frigate HMS Blackwood, of 4th Escort Group accompanying KMS 30 and was destroyed. On 25 November U-600 also fell in with KMS 30, and was attacked by Blackwood and Bazely, and destroyed.

On 27 November the Weddigen boats intercepted Convoy SL 140/MKS 31, and attacked it over the next five days, though without success. On 29 November U-86 was destroyed by aircraft from the carrier USS Bogue, while on 28th U-238 and U-764 had been attacked and damaged, also by aircraft from Bogue.

On 7 December Weddigen was disbanded, a number of U-boats returning to base, while others formed a cadre of a new patrol group, code-named Borkum.

U-boats involved

Wolfpack Weddigen

Name	Flag	Commander	Class	Notes
U-86	Kriegsmarine	Walter Schug	Type VIIC submarine	Sunk 29 November 1943
U-107	Kriegsmarine	Volker Simmermacher	Type IXB submarine
U-228	Kriegsmarine	Herbert Engel	Type VIIC submarine
U-238	Kriegsmarine	Horst Hepp	Type VIIC submarine
U-262	Kriegsmarine	Heinz Franke	Type VIIC submarine
U-358	Kriegsmarine	Rolf Manke	Type VIIC submarine
U-391	Kriegsmarine	Gert Dültgen	Type VIIC submarine
U-424	Kriegsmarine	Günter Lüders	Type VIIC submarine
U-542	Kriegsmarine	Christian-Brandt Coester	Type IXC submarine	sunk 28 November 1943
U-586	Kriegsmarine	Hans Götze	Type VIIC submarine
U-600	Kriegsmarine	Bernhard Zurmühlen	Type VIIC submarine	sunk 25 November 1943
U-618	Kriegsmarine	Erich Faust	Type VIIC submarine
U-648	Kriegsmarine	Peter-Arthur Stahl	Type VIIC submarine	sunk 23 November 1943
U-714	Kriegsmarine	Hans-Joachim Schwebcke	Type VIIC submarine
U-764	Kriegsmarine	Hanskurt von Bremen	Type VIIC submarine
U-843	Kriegsmarine	Oskar Herwartz	Type IXC/40 submarine
U-969	Kriegsmarine	Max Dobbert	Type VIIC submarine

The name

Weddigen was named for Otto Weddigen, German World War I U-boat ace.

References

• Kemp, Paul (1997). U-Boats Destroyed, German submarine losses in the World Wars. Arms and Armour. ISBN 1-85409-515-3.
• Showell, Jak P. M. (2002). U-Boat Warfare: The Evolution of the Wolf-Pack. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-7110-2887-7.

External links

Helgason, Guðmundur. "Weddigen". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net.