Events on this day

24 October

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This is a run-down from several databases on our site. It's meant to give a clear picture of events on this date, all year round.

U-boat Shipyard report

Ordered (12)	Laid down (3)	Launched (2)	Commissioned (4)
1939: U-563, U-564, U-565, U-566, U-567, U-568, U-569, U-570, U-571, U-572, U-573, U-574	1942: U-244 1944: U-2538, U-3029	1942: U-276 1944: U-2344	1938: U-38 1942: U-230 U-732 1944: U-2516
These are commissioned boats. For more see our Shipyard pages.

Allied Ships hit on this date

	U-boat	Commander	Name of ship	Tons	Country	Convoy
1939
	U-19 [Mine]	Meckel	Konstantinos Hadjipateras	5,962	gr
	U-37	Hartmann	Ledbury	3,528	br
	U-37	Hartmann	Menin Ridge	2,474	br
	U-37	Hartmann	Tafna	4,413	br
1941
	U-563	Bargsten	HMS Cossack (G 03)	1,870	br	HG-75
	U-564	Suhren	Alhama	1,352	br	HG-75
	U-564	Suhren	Ariosto	2,176	br	HG-75
	U-564	Suhren	Carsbreck	3,670	br	HG-75
1942
	U-383	Kremser	Jon Olafsson	423	is
	U-516	Wiebe	Holmpark	5,780	br
1943
	U-155	Piening	Siranger	5,393	nw
1944
	U-958	Groth	Linnea	40	fi
	U-958	Groth	Piikkiö (d)	40	fi
				37,121
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk. (d) = damaged See all Allied ships hit by U-boats during WWII.

Attacks on this day

1939

U-37.

Between 11.47 and 12.12 hrs, the boat was depth charged by several aircraft after attacking Tafna about 100 miles (161km) WSW of Gibraltar. U-37 dived to 105m (345ft) and was not damaged by the depth charges, which exploded far above. Hartmann wisely decided to run silent at a depth of 80m (263ft) and ordered most of the crew to lie down and rest, because shortly afterwards HMS Keppel, HMS Vidette and HMS Watchman arrived from Gibraltar and began an anti-submarine sweep of the area. At 16.45 hrs HMS Keppel dropped a full pattern of five depth charges set for 250ft (76m) after obtaining a good Asdic contact in position 36°03N/07°33,5W, and observed an air bubble and possibly oil rise to the surface afterwards, but failed to regain contact. The Germans had switched off the hydrophones and were caught off guard by the accurate detonations, which were felt as severe blows in the boat, which then dived to 95m (312ft). At 18.20 hrs HMS Watchman dropped a single depth charge set for 150ft (46m) from the port thrower on an Asdic contact in position 36°02N/07°18W, and lost contact after dropping the remaining four depth charges of the pattern in a follow up attack. Hartmann heard these detonate at some distance, but knew that they could not stay submerged all night as the crew had already begun to breathe through potash cartridges, so ordered the boat to be prepared for scuttling before surfacing with all guns manned at 21.45 hrs. However, the destroyers were no longer nearby and the boat was able to leave the area undetected, heading SW with a deck gun out of action due to the breech plug being jammed in place by extreme pressure at depth.

(KTB U-37, ADM 199/145)

1941

U-564. After mounting successful attacks on convoy HG 75 on the morning of this day, U-564 was attacked twice in the evening: an unidentified aircraft dropped one bomb, then three hours later the boat was depth charged by an escort. No damage.

1942

U-620. An unidentified land-based aircraft attacked and seriously damaged the boat while she was hunting convoy ON-139. The boat abandoned the attack and moved to a new area. (Blair, vol 2, page 43.)

1943

U-505. The commander of U-505, Kptlt. Peter Zschech, committed suicide during heavy depth charging on 24 Oct. This was the only such case of the war. The IWO, Oblt. Meyer took over and brought the boat back to port.

U-566. The sinking of U-566

01.27 hrs, west of Leixoes, Portugal: Wellington bomber HF132 (RAF sqdn 179/A, pilot Sgt Donald Mervin Conrish, RCAF) made a Leigh Light approach after locating U-566 on radar. Despite some flak damage to the tail, the aircraft (misidentified as a Catalina) dropped six depth charges which detonated either side of the stern, destroying the rudder and bending a drive shaft, leaving U-566 disabled and unable to dive. The aircraft circled the area for three hours until it was low on fuel and had to leave. Hornkohl then ordered the crew to abandon ship in rubber dinghies and scuttled the boat at 04.30 hrs. The entire crew of 49 were rescued within five hours by the Spanish trawler Fina about 30 nautical miles (56 km) from the Spanish coast, and landed in Corunna later that day. They were allowed to leave Spain by train in civilian clothes on 28 October and arrived in Brest three days later. U-556s crew subsequently took over U-1007. Most of them survived the war, and in 1970 they met the crew of the aircraft that sank U-566. The pilot had received an immediate award of a DFM for the action.

(Franks, Ritschel)

U-boats lost

1942: U-599 +
1943: U-566
1944: U-673

44 men died when those 3 U-boats were lost on this date. 49 men survived.

Survivors from U-boats almost always landed in allied captivity.
U-boats marked with + were lost with all hands.

- For more information on U-boat losses check out our Fates section.

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

1941

U-97
The IIWO of U-97 was badly injured in an accident on board, forcing the boat to return to base.

- For more information on Men lost from U-boats check out this page.

Personnel Information

The following men were born on this day:
Friedrich Bürgel (1916), Edmund Grochowiak (1917), Eberhard Hoffmann (1912), Gottfried König (1921), Jürgen Oesten (1913).

The following men died on this day:
Wolfgang Breithaupt (1942), Peter Zschech (1943).

See the entire U-boat commander listing showing all U-boat commanders.
We might include more officers (Allied and Axis) at a later date.

U-boat departures and arrivals on 24 October

This section shows the U-boat departures and arrivals from bases on this day of the year. Current country names shown with harbour names. Boats entering port display days at sea during that patrol.

1939

Sailed:
From Kiel, Germany: U-61

1940

Sailed:
From Lorient, France: U-32 (lost 7 days later)

U-boats entering base:
To Lorient, France: U-38 (30 days), U-101 (20 days)

1941

U-boats entering base:
To Salamis, Greece: U-371 (39 days)

1942

Sailed:
From Brest, France: U-92
From La Spezia, Italy: U-660 (lost 20 days later)
From Lorient, France: U-511

U-boats entering base:
To Marviken U-413 (3 days)
To Narvik, Norway: U-377 (18 days)
To St. Nazaire, France: U-757 (29 days)

1943

Sailed:
From Bergen, Norway: U-538 (lost 29 days later), U-636
From Feodosia, Ukraine: U-9
From Harstad: U-737

U-boats entering base:
To Bergen, Norway: U-538 (6 days)
To Lorient, France: U-758 (54 days)
To St. Nazaire, France: U-260 (61 days)

1944

Sailed:
From Hammerfest, Norway: U-425, U-965

U-boats entering base:
To Flensburg, Germany: U-398 (6 days)
To Hammerfest, Norway: U-425 (10 days), U-737 (13 days)
To Horten, Norway: U-1202 (4 days)
To Kristiansand U-518 (102 days), U-534 (61 days)
To Libau U-1165 (32 days)

U-boats at sea on 24 October

Boats entering port on this day are not counted, but boats departing for patrol are. (+) indicates the boat was lost during this patrol.

1939

U-16 (+), U-21, U-24, U-25, U-26, U-31, U-34, U-37, U-46, U-48, U-53, U-56, U-58, U-59, U-61.
15 boats at sea.

1940

U-28, U-31 (+), U-32 (+), U-46, U-48, U-65, U-93, U-124.
8 boats at sea.

General Events on 24 October

1943

After sinking the Norwegian merchant Siranger, U-155 took her third mate aboard so the U-boat's doctor could operate on his injured forearm. He was later landed at Lorient as a PoW.

Reichsminister Albert Speer was aboard U-860 during her dive tests.

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uboat.net

Commander file

U-boat of the day

U-boat Finder

Events on this day

24 October

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U-boat Shipyard report

Allied Ships hit on this date

Attacks on this day

1939

1941

1942

1943

U-boats lost

U-boat Men Lost or Wounded

1941

Personnel Information

U-boat departures and arrivals on 24 October

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

U-boats at sea on 24 October

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

General Events on 24 October

1943

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