German submarine U-201

German submarine U-201 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Kriegsmarine during World War II.

The submarine was laid down on 20 January 1940 by Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft yard at Kielv as 'werk' 630, launched on 7 December 1940, and commissioned on 25 January 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Adalbert Schnee. Attached to the 1st U-boat Flotilla, she made nine successful patrols in the North Atlantic, the last two under the command of Kptlt. Günther Rosenberg. She was a member of eight wolfpacks.

She was sunk on 17 February 1943 in the North Atlantic, by depth charges from a British warship. All 49 hands were lost.

1st patrol
U-201 departed Kiel for her first patrol on 22 April 1941. Her route took her across the North Sea, through the 'gap' separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands and into the Atlantic Ocean. Her first 'kill' was the Capulet which she sank on 2 May south of Iceland. The ship had already been torpedoed by U-552 ; her back was broken, she had caught fire and been abandoned.

Moving east of Greenland, she sank the Gregliaon 9 May and damaged the Empire Cloud on the same day.

She was attacked over five hours by three escorts from Convoy OB-318. A total of 99 depth charges were dropped, severely damaging the boat, but she escaped. She docked at Lorient in occupied France on 18 May.

2nd patrol
The submarine's second foray passed without major incident: starting on 8 June 1942, finishing on 19 July but in Brest. (For the rest of her career she would be based in this French Atlantic port).

3rd patrol
U-201's third sortie began from Brest on 14 August 1941. On the 19th she sank the Ciscar west southwest of Fastnet Rock.

In addition on the 19th, she sank the Aguila; this ship went down in 90 seconds. Of the 168 people aboard, 22 of the dead were members of the Women's Royal Navy Service also known as 'Wrens'. As a memorial, a new RNLI lifeboat was christened the Aguila Wren in 1952.

The boat also sank the Aldergrove and the Stork northwest of Lisbon on 23 August, before returning to Brest on the 25th.

4th patrol
Success continued to accompany U-201. Having departed Brest on 14 September 1941 she sank the Runa, the Lissa and the Rhineland, all on 21 September.

She then sank the Cervantes on 27 September. This ship had four survivors from the Ciscar on board. She also accounted for HMS Springbank, a Fighter catapult ship about 430 mi west southwest of Cape Clear, southern Ireland on the same date. One torpedo was seen to pass between Springbank and Leadgate, but two others sealed the British vessel's fate.

The submarine's final victim on this patrol was the Margareta, which went down southwest of Cape Clear.

U-201 returned to Brest on 30 September.

5th patrol
The gods of fate showed how fickle they could be on U-201's fifth sortie; she failed to find any targets.

6th patrol
U-201 commenced her sixth and longest patrol on 24 March 1942. Having departed Brest and crossed the Atlantic, she damaged the Argentinian and neutral Victoria about 300 mi east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on 18 April. The crew, realizing that the ship, despite the torpedo strike, was not settling, decided to stay on board. The U-boat men only saw the neutrality markings after a second torpedo was fired and the submarine had surfaced. Victoria's complement then abandoned their vessel; U-201 reported their mistake to the BdU (U-boat headquarters) who ordered them to clear the area, which they did. USS Owl, an American minesweeper towing the barge YOG-38, picked-up Victoria's distress signals and sent a boarding party across to the tanker to effect repairs. The ship reached New York on 21 April and after much legal wrangling, was repaired and requisitioned by the US government and returned to service in July. She survived the war.

Three more ships went to the bottom on this patrol - the Bris on 21 April, the San Jacinto and the Derryheen, both on 22 April.

The boat returned to Brest on 21 May.

7th patrol
Patrol number seven was in tonnage terms, the boat's most successful. Departing Brest on 27 June 1942, she operated in the eastern north Atlantic, sinking the Avita Star 90 mi east of San Miguel in the Azores on 6 July. The death toll was increased when a torpedo exploded under a lifeboat as it was being lowered from the stricken ship.

Another victim, the Cortuna, was sunk about 383 mi west of Madeira on 12 July after U-116 had already hit her. The Siris went down on the same day after a torpedo and 100 rounds from the deck gun.

Three more ships met watery ends before the submarine returned to Brest on 26 October.

8th patrol
So it went on; this time in the waters off South America. Another three ships met their end. One, the John Carter Rose was sunk about 620 mi east of Trinidad only after a chase lasting 32 hours, 290 mi and seven torpedoes on 8 October 1942. Also involved was U-202.

Another, the Flensburg, went down the following day about 500 mi from Suriname. The 48 survivors were spotted by a Yugoslavian merchant ship, but when they learned of the prospect of an unescorted Atlantic crossing to Durban, opted to remain in their lifeboats until they reached the mouth of the River Marowijine.

9th patrol and loss
The boat left Brest for the last time on 3 January 1943 and headed for the eastern coast of Canada. She was sunk in position 50.83333°N, -40.83333°W by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Viscount east of Newfoundland.

49 men died; there were no survivors.

Previously recorded fate
U-201 was sunk by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Fame east of Newfoundland on 17 February 1942. This attack sank U-69.

Summary of raiding Career
* Damaged. Later sunk by U-564 ** Damaged