German submarine U-94 (1940)

	Chief of the German U-boat arm Karl Dönitz observing the arrival of U-94 at St. Nazaire in June 1941
History
Nazi Germany
Name	U-94
Ordered	30 May 1938
Builder	F Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel
Yard number	599
Laid down	9 September 1939
Launched	12 June 1940
Commissioned	28 August 1940
Fate	Sunk 28 August 1942 by a US aircraft and a Canadian warship
General characteristics
Type	Type VIIC submarine
Displacement	list error: <br /> list (help); 769 tonnes (757 long tons) ↑; 871 t (857 long tons) ↓
Length	list error: <br /> list (help); 67.1 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a; 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull
Beam	list error: <br /> list (help); 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a; 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Draft	4.74 m (15 ft 7 in)
Propulsion	list error: <br /> list (help); 2 × supercharged Germaniawerft 6-cylinder 4-stroke F46 diesel engines, totalling 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490; 2 × AEG electric motors, totalling 750 shp (560 kW) and max rpm: 296
Speed	list error: <br /> list (help); 17.7 knots (20.4 mph; 32.8 km/h) ↑; 7.6 knots (8.7 mph; 14.1 km/h) ↓
Range	list error: <br /> list (help); 8,500 nmi (15,700 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) ↑; 80 nmi (150 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) ↓
Test depth	list error: <br /> list (help); 230 m (750 ft); Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft)
Complement	44–52 officers and ratings
Armament	list error: <br /> list (help); • 5 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern); • 14 × G7e torpedoes or 26 TMA mines; • 1 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun (220 rounds); • Various AA guns
Service record
Commanders:	list error: <br /> list (help); Kptlt. Herbert Kuppisch; (10 August 1940–29 August 1941); Oblt. Otto Ites; (29 August 1941–28 August 1942)
Operations:	list error: <br /> list (help); Ten; 1st patrol:; 20 November–31 December 1940; 2nd patrol:; 9 January–19 February 1941; 3rd patrol:; 29 March–18 April 1941; 4th patrol:; 29 April–4 June 1941; 5th patrol:; 12 July–16 August 1941; 6th patrol:; 2 September–15 October 1941; 7th patrol:; 12–30 January 1942; 8th patrol:; 12 February–2 April 1942; 9th patrol:; 4 May–23 June 1942; 10th patrol:; 3–28 August 1942
Victories:	list error: <br /> list (help); 26 ships sunk; 141,852 GRT GRT uses unsupported parameter (help);; one ship damaged - 8,022 GRT

German submarine U-94 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down on 9 September 1939 at the F. Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel as 'werk' 599, launched on 12 June 1940 and commissioned on 10 August 1940 under Kapitänleutnant Herbert Kuppisch.

She sank 26 ships of 141,852 GRT in ten patrols and was a member of six wolfpacks but was herself sunk by a US aircraft and a Canadian warship in August 1942.

Operational career

1st patrol

The boat left Kiel on 20 November 1940, heading for Lorient in France which she reached, via the North Sea on 31 December.

On the way, she sank the Stirlingshire on 2 December, 280 mi (450 km) northwest of the Bloody Foreland, (a northwesterly point of the Irish mainland).^[1]

She also sent the Wilhelmina and the Empire Statesman to the bottom on the 2nd and the 11th respectively.

After that, the boat headed for mid-ocean before docking at her French Atlantic base.

2nd and 3rd patrols

U-94 returned to the Atlantic west of Ireland and Scotland for her second patrol. She sank three more ships; the Florian on 20 January 1941, the West Wales on the 29th and the Rushpool on the 30th.

For her third sortie, the boat moved into the waters west of Iceland. She sank the Harbledown on 4 April 1941 and the Lincoln Ellsworth on the 6th. The latter ship was destroyed by a combination of torpedo and fire from the deck gun.

4th and 5th patrols

U-94 was attacked by the escorts of convoy OB-318 on 7 May 1941. Some 98 depth charges over four hours were dropped. The boat persisted with her attack, however, sinking the Eastern Star and the Ixion.

Two more merchantmen met their end on the 20th: the Norman Monarch and the John P. Pedersen.

Patrol number five was carried out west of the Canary Islands; it was relatively uneventful.

6th patrol

Having left St. Nazaire on 2 September 1941, U-94 operated southeast of Cape Farewell (Greenland). She sank the Newbury, the Pegasus and the Empire Eland, all on the 15th. On 1 October, she fired five torpedoes at the San Florentino. Three of them struck home; the ship broke in two after the third impact. The bow section remained afloat and was engaged by the U-boat's deck gun, it was eventually finished off by HMCS Alberini.

The boat returned to Kiel on 15 October.

7th patrol

U-94 departed Kiel on 12 January 1942; she negotiated the 'gap' between the Faroe and Shetland Islands, docking once more at St. Nazaire on the 30th.

8th patrol

The U-boat continued her successes on the western side of the Atlantic. She sank the Empire Hail east of St. Johns, Newfoundland on 24 February 1942. Following the coast-line to the south, her next victim was the Cayrú, about 130 mi (210 km) from New York on 9 March. She also sank the Hvoslef two miles east of Fenwick Island, off Delaware Bay on the 11th..^[2]

9th patrol

U-94 left St. Nazaire on 4 May 1942 for what would be her top-scoring patrol, (it was to be carried out once more south of Greenland). Moving into this area, a steady stream of sinkings resulted; the Cocle on 12 May, the Batna and the Tolken, both on the 13th - a sailing ship, the Maria da Glória on 5 June; the Ramsay and the Empire Cloud on the 10th. Her last kill was the Pontypridd, on the following day.

10th patrol and loss

The boat left St. Nazaire for the last time for the Caribbean on 3 August 1942. Off Haiti on the 28th, she was sunk by depth charges dropped by a US PBY Catalina and ramming by the Canadian corvette HMCS Oakville.

Nineteen men died with the U-boat; there were twenty-six survivors.

Summary of raiding history

Date	Ship	Nationality	Tonnage	Fate^[3]
2 December 1940	Stirlingshire	Great Britain	6,022	Sunk
2 December 1940	Wilhemina	Great Britain	6,725	Sunk
11 December 1940	Empire Statesman	Great Britain	5,306	Sunk
20 January 1941	Florian	Great Britain	3,174	Sunk
29 January 1941	West Wales	Great Britain	4,353	Sunk
30 January 1941	Rushpool	Great Britain	5,125	Sunk
4 April 1941	Harbledown	Great Britain	5,414	Sunk
6 April 1941	Lincoln Ellsworth	Norway	5,580	Sunk
7 May 1941	Ixon	Great Britain	10,263	Sunk
7 May 1941	Eastern Star	Norway	5,658	Sunk
20 May 1941	John P. Pedersen	Norway	6,128	Sunk
20 May 1941	Norman Monarch	Great Britain	4,718	Sunk
15 September 1941	Newbury	Great Britain	5,102	Sunk
15 September 1941	Pegasus	Greece	5,762	Sunk
15 September 1941	Empire Eland	Great Britain	5,613	Sunk
1 October 1941	San Florentino	Great Britain	12,842	Sunk
24 February 1942	Empire Hail	Great Britain	7,005	Sunk
9 March 1942	Cayrǘ	Brazil	5,152	Sunk
11 March 1942	Hvoslef	Norway	1,630	Sunk
25 March 1942	Imperial Transport	Great Britain	8,022	Damaged
12 May 1942	Cocle	Panama	5,630	Sunk
13 May 1942	Tolken	Sweden	4,471	Sunk
13 May 1942	Batna	Great Britain	4,399	Sunk
5 June 1942	Maria da Glória *	Portugal	320	Sunk
10 June 1942	Ramsay	Great Britain	4,855	Sunk
10 June 1942	Empire Clough	Great Britain	6,147	Sunk
11 June 1942	Pontypridd	Great Britain	4,458	Sunk

* Sailing vessel

In popular culture

The Sabaton song "Wolfpack" from the album Primo Victoria mentions U-94 during The Battle of the Atlantic.

References

Notes

^ The Times Atlas of the World - Third edition, revised 1995, ISBN 0 7230 0809 4, p. 9
^ The Times Atlas of the World, p. 65
^ http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u.94html

Bibliography

Bishop, C. Kriegsmarine U-Boats, 1939–45. Amber Books, 2006.
U-94 at ubootwaffe.net (Accessed 18 April 2007.)
Miller, David. U-Boats: the Illustrated History of the Raiders of the Deep. Washington: Brassey’s Inc, 2000.
U-94 at uboat.net (Accessed 18 April 2007.)

v t e Type VII submarines
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Type VIIC	U-69 U-70 U-71 U-72 U-77 U-78 U-79 U-80 U-81 U-82 U-88 U-89 U-90 U-91 U-92 U-93 U-94 U-95 U-96 U-97 U-98 U-132 U-133 U-134 U-135 U-136 U-201 U-202 U-203 U-204 U-205 U-206 U-207 U-208 U-209 U-210 U-211 U-212 U-221 U-222 U-223 U-224 U-225 U-226 U-227 U-228 U-229 U-230 U-231 U-232 U-235 U-236 U-237 U-238 U-239 U-240 U-241 U-242 U-243 U-244 U-245 U-246 U-247 U-248 U-249 U-250 U-251 U-252 U-253 U-254 U-255 U-256 U-257 U-258 U-259 U-260 U-261 U-262 U-263 U-264 U-265 U-266 U-267 U-268 U-269 U-270 U-271 U-272 U-273 U-274 U-275 U-276 U-277 U-278 U-279 U-280 U-281 U-282 U-283 U-284 U-285 U-286 U-287 U-288 U-289 U-290 U-291 U-301 U-302 U-303 U-304 U-305 U-306 U-307 U-308 U-309 U-310 U-311 U-312 U-313 U-314 U-315 U-316 U-331 U-332 U-333 U-334 U-335 U-336 U-337 U-338 U-339 U-340 U-341 U-342 U-343 U-344 U-345 U-346 U-347 U-348 U-349 U-350 U-351 U-352 U-353 U-354 U-355 U-356 U-357 U-358 U-359 U-360 U-361 U-362 U-363 U-364 U-365 U-366 U-367 U-368 U-369 U-370 U-371 U-372 U-373 U-374 U-375 U-376 U-377 U-378 U-379 U-380 U-381 U-382 U-383 U-384 U-385 U-386 U-387 U-388 U-389 U-390 U-391 U-392 U-393 U-394 U-396 U-397 U-398 U-399 U-400 U-401 U-402 U-403 U-404 U-405 U-406 U-407 U-408 U-409 U-410 U-411 U-412 U-413 U-414 U-415 U-416 U-417 U-418 U-419 U-420 U-421 U-422 U-423 U-424 U-425 U-426 U-427 U-428 U-429 U-430 U-431 U-432 U-433 U-434 U-435 U-436 U-437 U-438 U-439 U-440 U-441 U-442 U-443 U-444 U-445 U-446 U-447 U-448 U-449 U-450 U-451 U-452 U-453 U-454 U-455 U-456 U-457 U-458 U-465 U-466 U-467 U-468 U-469 U-470 U-471 U-472 U-473 U-475 U-476 U-477 U-478 U-479 U-480 U-481 U-482 U-483 U-484 U-485 U-486 U-551 U-552 U-553 U-554 U-555 U-556 U-557 U-558 U-559 U-560 U-561 U-562 U-563 U-564 U-565 U-566 U-567 U-568 U-569 U-570 U-571 U-572 U-573 U-574 U-575 U-576 U-577 U-578 U-579 U-580 U-581 U-582 U-583 U-584 U-585 U-586 U-587 U-588 U-589 U-590 U-591 U-592 U-593 U-594 U-595 U-596 U-597 U-598 U-599 U-600 U-601 U-602 U-603 U-604 U-605 U-606 U-607 U-608 U-609 U-610 U-611 U-612 U-613 U-614 U-615 U-616 U-617 U-618 U-619 U-620 U-621 U-622 U-623 U-624 U-625 U-626 U-627 U-628 U-629 U-630 U-631 U-632 U-633 U-634 U-635 U-636 U-637 U-638 U-639 U-640 U-641 U-642 U-643 U-644 U-645 U-646 U-647 U-648 U-649 U-650 U-651 U-652 U-653 U-654 U-655 U-656 U-657 U-658 U-659 U-660 U-661 U-662 U-663 U-664 U-665 U-666 U-667 U-668 U-669 U-670 U-671 U-672 U-673 U-674 U-675 U-676 U-677 U-678 U-679 U-680 U-681 U-682 U-683 U-701 U-702 U-703 U-704 U-705 U-706 U-707 U-708 U-709 U-710 U-711 U-712 U-713 U-714 U-715 U-716 U-717 U-718 U-719 U-720 U-721 U-722 U-731 U-732 U-733 U-734 U-735 U-736 U-737 U-738 U-739 U-740 U-741 U-742 U-743 U-744 U-745 U-746 U-747 U-748 U-749 U-750 U-751 U-752 U-753 U-754 U-755 U-756 U-757 U-758 U-759 U-760 U-761 U-762 U-763 U-764 U-765 U-766 U-767 U-768 U-771 U-772 U-773 U-774 U-775 U-776 U-777 U-778 U-779 U-821 U-822 U-825 U-826 U-901 U-903 U-904 U-905 U-907 U-921 U-922 U-923 U-924 U-925 U-926 U-927 U-928 U-951 U-952 U-953 U-954 U-955 U-956 U-957 U-958 U-959 U-960 U-961 U-962 U-963 U-964 U-965 U-966 U-967 U-968 U-969 U-970 U-971 U-972 U-973 U-974 U-975 U-976 U-977 U-978 U-979 U-980 U-981 U-982 U-983 U-984 U-985 U-986 U-987 U-988 U-989 U-990 U-991 U-992 U-993 U-994 U-1051 U-1052 U-1053 U-1054 U-1055 U-1056 U-1057 U-1058 U-1101 U-1102 U-1131 U-1132 U-1161 U-1162 U-1191 U-1192 U-1193 U-1194 U-1195 U-1196 U-1197 U-1198 U-1199 U-1200 U-1201 U-1202 U-1203 U-1204 U-1205 U-1206 U-1207 U-1208 U-1209 U-1210
Type VIIC/41	U-292 U-293 U-294 U-295 U-296 U-297 U-298 U-299 U-300 U-317 U-318 U-319 U-320 U-321 U-322 U-323 U-324 U-325 U-326 U-327 U-328 U-691 U-827 U-828 U-929 U-930 U-995 U-997 U-998 U-999 U-1000 U-1001 U-1002 U-1003 U-1004 U-1005 U-1006 U-1007 U-1008 U-1009 U-1010 U-1011 U-1013 U-1014 U-1015 U-1016 U-1017 U-1018 U-1019 U-1020 U-1021 U-1022 U-1023 U-1024 U-1025 U-1063 U-1064 U-1065 U-1103 U-1104 U-1105 U-1106 U-1107 U-1108 U-1109 U-1110 U-1163 U-1164 U-1165 U-1166 U-1167 U-1168 U-1169 U-1170 U-1171 U-1172 U-1271 U-1272 U-1273 U-1274 U-1275 U-1276 U-1277 U-1278 U-1279 U-1301 U-1302 U-1303 U-1304 U-1305 U-1306 U-1307 U-1308
Type VIID	U-213 U-214 U-215 U-216 U-217 U-218
Type VIIF	U-1059 U-1060 U-1061 U-1062
Preceded by: Type II Followed by: Type IX List of U-boats of Germany