German submarine U-77 (1940)

German submarine U-77 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Kriegsmarine built by the Bremer Vulkan-Vegesacker Werft, Bremen-Vegesack. Her keel was laid down on 28 March 1940, by Bremer Vulkan of Bremen-Vegesack, Germany as 'werk' 5. She was launched on 23 November 1940 and commissioned on 18 January 1941, with Oberleutnant Heinrich Schonder in command until September 1942, when he was succeeded by Oberleutnant Otto Hartmann, who remained in charge until the U-boat's loss.

The boat was sunk on 28 March 1943 off Calpe, Spain, by two British aircraft.

Operational history
U-77 conducted 11 patrols, sinking 15 ships totalling and damaging two others, totalling 5,384 GRT. She also damaged two warships totalling 2,880 tons and caused one ship of 5,222 GRT to be declared a total loss. She was a member of six wolfpacks.

1st patrol
U-77 departed Kiel on 29 May 1941. Her route took in the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

She sank the Tresillian on 13 June southeast of Cape Race ( Newfoundland ). Using her deck gun, she fired 87 rounds, scoring 60-65 hits; but it needed a torpedo to administer the coup de grâce. She then sank the Arakaka, a weather ship, on the 22nd, 450 mi east of St. Johns. There were no survivors. It was a similar story with the Anna Bulgaris south of Cape Farewell, (Greenland).

U-77 docked in St. Nazaire in occupied France on 7 July.

2nd and 3rd patrols
The boat's second foray began with her departure from St. Nazaire on 2 August 1941, but despite covering large tracts of the Atlantic, she returned to the French base on 10 September empty-handed.

For her third sortie, U-77 once more found the cupboard bare west of Ireland and the Bay of Biscay. Nothing.

4th patrol
U-77's next patrol was divided into two. Part one was into the Mediterranean. Leaving St. Nazaire on 10 December 1941, she slipped past the heavily defended Strait of Gibraltar and entered Messina in northeast Sicily on the 19th.

On the way, she sank the Empire Barracuda 34 mi from Cape Trafalgar [before the Gibraltar experience], on the 15th.

Part two involved the boat's attack on the British destroyer HMS Kimberley off Tobruk on 12 January 1942. The warship's stern was blown off, but she was towed to Alexandria for temporary repairs before more permanent restoration was carried out in Bombay. The ship returned to service in January 1944.

The submarine docked at Salamis in Greece on 14 January.

5th patrol
U-77 was attacked by a Fairey Swordfish north northeast of Sidi Barrani on 1 April 1942. The damage inflicted meant the boat was unable to dive. She returned to Salamis on the 3rd.

6th patrol
Having moved to La Spezia in northwest Italy in April, U-77 departed the port for the initial portion of a two-part patrol on 6 June 1942. She sank the destroyer HMS Grove north of Sollum on the 12th. This was during Operation Vigorous, [a supply convoy to Malta].

The U-boat was unsuccessfully attacked by HMS Thrasher, a British T-class submarine, off what today is the Israeli coast on 4 July. (Note: there is some confusion over this incident as the U-boat's own page on 'uboat.net' also puts her further west on that day and does not mention an attack).

U-77 finished the patrol in Salamis on 9 July.

7th and 8th patrols
Departing Salamis on 16 July 1942, her only victory was the Greek sailing ship Vassilliki, which she sank with 10 rounds from the deck gun east of Cyprus on the 22nd.

In late August, the boat briefly moved to Pola (or Pula) in Croatia at the 'top' of the Adriatic, from where she sortied on 12 October 1942 before steaming to La Spezia once more on 1 November.

9th patrol
U-77 torpedoed the sloop HMS HMS Stork on 12 November 1942 but was attacked by the corvettes HMS Lotus and Poppy the following day northeast of Algiers. The slightly damaged U-boat returned to La Spezia on 5 December.

10th patrol
U-77 sank two more ships - the Empire Banner and the Empire Webster, both on 7 February 1943 west of Algiers. She had departed La Spezia on 26 January and returned there on 10 February.

11th patrol and loss
The boat departed La Spezia for the last time on 3 March 1943. On the 28th, she was sunk south of Cape Nao in Spain (off Calpe, in the province of Alicante) by depth charges from two British Lockheed Hudsons of 48 and 233 Squadrons, RAF, based on Gibraltar.

38 men died; there were nine survivors. They were rescued by a Spanish fishing vessel. The bodies of the dead sailors were recovered during the following days and buried in the cemetery of Alicante.

Summary of raiding history
* Sailing vessel