German submarine U-161 (1941)

German submarine U-161 was a Type IXC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II. The keel for this boat was laid down on 23 March 1940 at the Deutsche Schiff und maschinenbau AG, Bremen yard as 'werk' 700. She was launched on 1 March 1941 and commissioned on 8 July under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans-Ludwig Witt (Knight's Cross).

The U-boat's service began with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla. She then moved to the 10th flotilla on 1 January 1942 for operations. She sank 12 ships, totalling 60,107 tons; one warship of 1,130 tons and damaged five others, for 35,672 tons. She also damaged one warship (5,450 tons) and caused one merchant vessel to be declared a total loss (3,305 tons).

She was sunk by an American aircraft in September 1943.

1st and 2nd patrols
The submarine's first patrol took her from Kiel on 3 January 1942, across the North Sea and into the Atlantic Ocean through the gap between the Faroe and Shetland Islands. She arrived at Lorient, in occupied France, on 3 May. She would be based at this Atlantic port for the rest of her career.

U-161's second sortie proved to be successful, damaging the British Consul and the "Mokihana" on 19 February 1942 while the ship rode at anchor in the Gulf of Paria off Port of Spain, Trinidad. She went on to sink ships such as the Circe Shell, the Lihue the petrol tanker Uniwaleco off St Vincent and daringly she made her way at night through the narrow passage into Castries Harbour, St Lucia where she damaged the "Lady Nelson" and the "Umtata"' One victim, the Sarniadoc, was particularly tragic: she sank in 30 seconds after her boiler exploded. There were no survivors.

3rd patrol
The boat's third patrol took her past the Azores and Cape Verde Islands, to the Brazilian coast north of Fortaleza. She then followed that coastline north until she reached the Caribbean. On 16 June 1942 she stopped the sailing ship Neuva Altagracia with gunfire and sank the vessel with scuttling charges. She also attacked the San Pablo while the ship was being unloaded in Puerto Limón, Costa Rica on 3 July. Although the ship sank, she was raised with the intention of repair; but she was declared a total loss and sunk as a target on 25 September.

She crossed the Atlantic in an easterly direction, but turned about and returned to the Caribbean. Having commenced the return leg to France, she encountered the Fairport  500 mi north of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands on 16 July and sank her. The boat returned to Lorient on 7 August.

4th patrol
Her fourth foray was to west Africa. This patrol was her longest&mdash;113 days. She damaged the light cruiser HMS Phoebe six miles and 282° from Pointe Noire, French Equatorial Africa on 23 October 1942 and sank theWest Humhaw 60 mi southwest of Takoradi in Ghana on 8 November.

5th patrol
The boat's fifth patrol involved another Atlantic crossing and sinking a second sailing ship, the Angelus, north of Bermuda, again with gunfire. Ten survivors abandoned the vessel; only two were still alive when their lifeboat was discovered.

6th patrol and loss
The U-boat departed Lorient for the last time on 8 August 1943. Returning to the Brazilian coast, she sank the St. Usk on 20 September and the Itapagé on the 26th. She was sunk with all hands (53 men), on 27 September 1943 by an American PBM Mariner aircraft of VP-74 in the South Atlantic.