German submarine U-111 (1940)

German submarine U-111 was a Type IXB U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She had a short career, sinking four enemy vessels and damaging one other. These victories took place over a period of two war patrols. During her first sortie, the boat sank two enemy vessels and damaged a further one. On her second patrol, U-111 sank two more enemy ships before she herself was sunk on 4 October 1941 southwest of Tenerife, by depth charges from a British warship. Out of a crew of 52 officers and men, eight died in the attack; 44 survived.

Construction
U-111 was ordered to be built by the Kriegsmarine on 8 August 1939 (as part of Plan Z and in violation of the Treaty of Versailles). Her keel was laid down on 20 February 1940 by AG Weser in Bremen as 'werk' 976. Following about seven months of construction, she was launched on 15 September and commissioned on 19 December under the command of Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Kleinschmidt.

Design
Like all Type IXB submarines, U-111 had a total output of 4400 hp when surfaced and 1000 hp while submerged. As a result, she could travel at 18.3 kn while surfaced and 7.3 kn submerged. She had a range of 22200 nmi at 10 kn while on the surface and 118 nmi at 4 kn while submerged. She was equipped with six torpedo tubes (four in the bow, two in the stern) and carried a total of 22 x 533 mm torpedoes. The submarine was also equipped with 44 TMA mines. U-111's main deck gun was a Utof 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun with 110 rounds. She was also equipped with the standard 2 cm FlaK 30 anti-aircraft guns. She had a crew of 52 men, but could carry up to 56 at any given time. After being commissioned and deployed, the boat was stationed in the German port city of Wilhelmshaven.

First patrol
U-111 went to sea on a war patrol for the first time on 5 May 1941. For a period of 64 days, she roamed the North Sea and eventually the North Atlantic as far west as Nova Scotia in search of any Allied convoys heading to Great Britain. During that time she encountered three enemy vessels. The first confrontation took place on the 13th, just eight days after leaving port, when she came across the British merchant vessel Somersby and sank her just south of Iceland. On 20 May, the submarine came across the tanker San Felix and fired a torpedo at her, causing damage to her hull but failing to sink her. Two days later, U-111 sank the second and last enemy vessel of her patrol, the Barnby, south of Greenland. After these victories, the boat returned to port. However, instead of returning to Wilhelmshaven, she entered the port of Lorient in occupied France on 7 July.

Second patrol and loss
U-111 left Lorient on 14 August 1941 and traveled south off the west coast of Africa and into the South Atlantic. She then turned west towards the eastern coast of Brazil. It was in these waters that the boat sank her last two enemy merchant ships. The first was the Dutch Motor merchant vessel Marken. She was torpedoed on 10 September just north of Ceará in Brazil. All of her crew survived the attack and boarded life boats. They were questioned by the crew of the U-boat, given food and released. Marken's crew were later safely picked up by a Spanish merchant vessel. Ten days later, U-111 sank her fourth and last enemy vessel, the British motor merchant ship Cingalese Prince also off Brazil. On 28 September she was involved in an action in Tarafal Bay, in the Cape Verde islands; having been ordered to rendezvous there with two other U-boats, U-67 and U-68. U-111 then headed for home. On 4 October 1941, U-111 was hunted down and sunk by depth charges from the British anti-submarine trawler HMS Lady Shirley southwest of Tenerife. Of a crew of 52 men, eight died; 44 survived. They were subsequently interrogated; it was the first time prisoners of war were captured from a U-boat operating in the South Atlantic.