U-336

U-336 was a type VIIC uboat, built at the Nordseewerke shipyard of Emden between March and December 1941, and commissioned on 14 February 1942, under the command of Oberleutnant zur see Hans Hunger. 

The boat left Kiel on 12 November 1942 for her first war patrol, but collided with the escort minesweeper M 1906 and had to return to base. Hunger and his men sailed again at the end of the month, crossing the North Atlantic south of the Far Oer islands and patrolling the waters north of the Azores. 

They met the Belgian vessel President Francqui: the 4,919-ton tanker was a straggler, damaged by U-225 during the attack on convoy ONS-154. U-336 administered the coup de grace to ship, and took her master prisoner. No further enemy targets were encountered, and the uboat safely reached Brest on 8 January 1943.

Source: uboat.net

From March to July, U-336 sailed for two more patrols, 41 and 71 days respectevely, but didn't sink any Allied ship. 

Her fifth patrol though, was to be her last: she left Brest on 14 September 1943 and took up a patrolling position south of the Denmark Strait. On 5 October 1942, the uboat was caught on the surface by a Lockheed Hudson of No. 269 Sqn, operating out of Iceland bases. The Hudson attacked and sank U-336 with its rockets. The uboat was lost with no survivors.

President Francqui remained the only ship sunk by U-336. The fate of this uboat clearly shows how life expectancy for the German sailors had shrunk by the end of 1943, and how Allied air superiority had turned the tide in the Battle of the Atlantic.

This series of photographs were shot onboard a Hudson of No.269 Sqn during routine combat patrols in the North Atlantic

Conditions in Iceland were very harsh: these aircraft belonged to No. 241 Sqn

The sinking of U-243 - CLICK HERE

U-243

The Type VIIC uboat U-243 was built from 28 October 1942 at the Krupp yards in Kiel. She was launched on 2 September 1943 and pressed into service exactly one month later, under command of Oberleutnant zur See Hans Martens.

Her first voyage was a small trip from Kiel to Flekkefjiord, from where she sailed on her first war patrol on 8 June 1944. U-243 was ordered to reach the waters off Normandy, her target being the invasion fleet supporting the Overlord operation. 

Three days after, the Uboat claimed its first victim in a very unfortunate accident. At 02.50 hrs, the boat opened fire with its AA guns on an aircraft flying over her at low altitude. The unidentified aircraft answered the recognition signals, but crashed in the sea seconds later. It was, in fact, a Ju 88 returning from a weather reconnaissance mission, and sadly only one crew member survived.

Sources online differ, identifying the aircraft as belonging to Wekusta 3 or Wekusta 5.

The following day, U-243 returned to Bergen due to engine troubles, where the Ju 88 survivor was landed ashore. The boat left again three days later, on the 15th, safely crossed the North Atlantic and positioned herself in the bay of Biscay, ready to hunt enemy vessels. 

Instead of Allied ships, U-243 met her fate on 8 July: at 14.35 hrs the uboat was spotted by a Sunderland flying boat. The German sailors opened fire with their Flak guns, but the Sunderland manage to strafe the aircraft wounding all men on deck and silencing their guns. Six depth charges were dropped which they disabled all engines and crippled to German vessel, causing her to take  a heavy list to port. 

Other sailors came on deck to operate the Flak guns and keep the Sunderland away, but at 15:00 the Germans launched their dinghies and abandoned the boat.

This photo was taken by the Sunderland crew after dropping the six depth charges which sank the uboat

A second Sunderland and a Liberator reached the scene, initially dropping more depth charges: the commander of the first Sunderland, F/O Tilley, dropped a food pack and a dinghy before returning to base. Thirty-eight Germans managed to evacuate the sinking Uboat, leaving eleven of them behind. They were picked up during the night by HMS Restigouche, but commander Martens succumbed to the wounds caused by the strafing Sunderland.

The flying boat was W4030 and belonded to RAAF no.10 Sqn. Its commander, F/O Tilley was awarded the DFC and the gunner, Flt. Sgt Cook the DFM.

Sunderland vs. U-625