Zieten was the name given to two wolfpacks of German U-boats that operated during the Battle of the Atlantic in 1942 during the Second World War, the first, larger and more successful was from 6 to 22 January 1942, the second, smaller from 23 to 29 March 1942.

It was named after Hans Joachim von Zieten (1699–1786), a German cavalry officer at the time of Frederick the Great.

Zieten 1

The group was responsible for sinking eleven merchant ships 39,900gross register tons(GRT) and damaging a further three merchant ships 17,621GRT.

Raiding History

DateU-boatName of shipNationalityGRTConvoyFate
6 January 1942U-701Baron ErskineUnited Kingdom3,657SC-62Sunk
15 January 1942U-203CatalinaPortugal632Sunk
15 January 1942U-552DayroseUnited Kingdom4,113Sunk
15 January 1942U-553DialaUnited Kingdom8,106ON 52Damaged
16 January 1942U-86ToorakUnited Kingdom8,627ON 52Damaged
17 January 1942U-87NyholtNorway8,087ON 52Sunk
17 January 1942U-203OctavianNorway1,345Sunk
18 January 1942U-86Dimitrios G. ThermiotisGreece4,271SC-63Sunk
18 January 1942U-552Frances SalmanUnited States2,609Sunk
21 January 1942U-754BelizeNorway2,153Sunk
21 January 1942U-203North GaspeCanada888Damaged
22 January 1942U-553InnerøyNorway8,260Sunk
22 January 1942U-333Vassilios A. PolemisGreece3,429ON 53Sunk
22 January 1942U-754William HansenNorway1,344Sunk
Total:57,521

U-boats

U-boatCommanderFromTo
U-84Horst Uphoff13 January 194222 January 1942
U-86Walter Schug7 January 194222 January 1942
U-87Joachim Berger6 January 194217 January 1942
U-135Friedrich-Hermann Praetorius6 January 194220 January 1942
U-203Rolf Mützelburg7 January 194222 January 1942
U-333Peter-Erich Cremer17 January 194222 January 1942
U-552Erich Topp6 January 194219 January 1942
U-553Karl Thurmann6 January 194222 January 1942
U-582Werner Schulte15 January 194222 January 1942
U-654Ludwig Forster6 January 194222 January 1942
U-701Horst Degen6 January 194222 January 1942
U-754Hans Oestermann6 January 194222 January 1942

Zieten 2

The group had no success and lost one U-boat.

U-boats

U-boatCommanderFromTo
U-209Heinrich Brodda23 March 194229 March 1942
U-376Friedrich-Karl Marks23 March 194229 March 1942
U-378Alfred Hoschatt23 March 194229 March 1942
U-655Adolf Dumrese23 March 194224 March 1942

Notes

Bibliography

  • Hadley, Michael L (1985). U-Boats Against Canada: German Submarines in Canadian Waters. McGill-Queen’s University Press. p.56. ISBN0-7735-0584-9.
  • Newpower, Anthony (2006). Iron Men and Tin Fish: The Race to Build a Better Torpedo During World War II. Greenwood Publishing Group. p.80. ISBN0-275-99032-X.
  • Edwards, Bernard (1996). Dönitz and the Wolf Packs - The U-boats at War. Cassell Military Classics. pp.117, 119, 123–125. ISBN0-304-35203-9.