Wolfpack Leuthen

Leuthen was the given name to a wolfpack of German U-boats that operated during the World War II Battle of the Atlantic in 1943 from 15 to 24 September 1943^[1]

Wolf pack Leuthen
Active	15 Sep 1943 - 24 Sep 1943
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Kriegsmarine
Size	20 submarines
Commanders
Notable commanders	Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner

Service history

Leuthen was formed in September 1943 and was established to renew the attack on the North Atlantic route. Following the defeats of May 1943, and the devastating losses incurred by the U-boat Arm (U-Bootwaffe, UBW) then, Admiral Dönitz had withdrawn from attacks on the North Atlantic route while awaiting tactical and technical improvements. By September 1943 these were ready.

Leuthen operated against convoys ONS 18 and ON 202, which were travelling together; U-boats from Leuthen sank 6 ships of 36,442 GRT and 3 escorts in this battle, but lost 3 boats ( U-229, U-338, and U-341) destroyed, and 3 forced to return with damage, in attacks by aircraft and surface vessels.

Leuthen was disbanded after this assault, at the end of September; of the remaining 15 boats, 3 returned to base and 12 formed the core of a new patrol line, code-named Rossbach.

Raiding History

Date	U-boat	Commander	Name of ship	Nationality	Tons	Convoy	Fate
20 September 1943	U-238	Horst Hepp	Frederick Douglass	United States	7,176	ON-202	Damaged
20 September 1943	U-645	Otto Ferro	Frederick Douglass	United States	7,176	ON-202	Sunk
20 September 1943	U-305	Rudolf Bahr	HMCS St. Croix	Royal Canadian Navy	1,190	ON-202	Sunk
20 September 1943	U-270	Paul-Friedrich Otto	HMS Lagan	Royal Navy	1,370	ON-202	Total loss
20 September 1943	U-238	Horst Hepp	Theodore Dwight Weld	United States	7,176	ON-202	Sunk
21 September 1943	U-952	Oskar Curio	HMS Polyanthus	Royal Navy	925	ON-202	Sunk
23 September 1943	U-238	Horst Hepp	Fort Jemseg	United Kingdom	7,134	ON-202	Sunk
23 September 1943	U-666	Herbert Engel	HMS Itchen	Royal Navy	1,370	ON-202	Sunk
23 September 1943	U-952	Oskar Curio	James Gordon Bennett	United States	7,176	ON-202	Damaged
23 September 1943	U-238	Horst Hepp	Oregon Express	Norway	3,642	ON-202	Sunk
23 September 1943	U-238	Horst Hepp	Skjelbred	Norway	5,096	ON-202	Sunk
23 September 1943	U-952	Oskar Curio	Steel Voyager	United States	6,198	ON-202	Sunk

U-boats

U-boat	Commander	From	To	Notes
U-229	Robert Schetelig	15 September 1943	23 September 1943	Destroyed; depth-charge, gunfire and ramming by HMS Keppel
U-238	Horst Hepp[2]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	Returned to base
U-260	Hubertus Purkhold[3]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	to group Rossbach
U-270	Paul-Friedrich Otto[4]	15 September 1943	23 September 1943	Returned to base
U-275	Helmut Bork[5]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	to group Rossbach
U-305	Rudolf Bahr[6]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	to group Rossbach
U-338	Manfred Kinzel[7]	15 September 1943	20 September 1943	Destroyed; Liberator F/120Sqdn, HMCS Drumheller
U-341	Dietrich Epp[8]	15 September 1943	19 September 1943	Destroyed; depth-charge by Liberator A/10Sqdn RCAF
U-377	Gerhard Kluth[9]	15 September 1943	22 September 1943	Returned to base
U-378	Erich Mäder[10]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	to group Rossbach
U-386	Fritz Albrecht[11]	15 September 1943	21 September 1943	Returned to base
U-402	Siegfried von Forstner[12]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	to group Rossbach
U-422	Wolfgang Poeschel[13]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	Returned to base; destroyed en route 4 October 1943
U-584	Joachim Deecke[14]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	to group Rossbach
U-603	Rudolf Baltz[15]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	to group Rossbach
U-641	Horst Rendtel[16]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	to group Rossbach
U-645	Otto Ferro[17]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	to group Rossbach
U-666	Herbert Engel[18]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	to group Rossbach
U-731	Werner Techand[19]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	to group Rossbach
U-758	Helmut Manseck[20]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	to group Rossbach
U-952	Oskar Curio[21]	15 September 1943	24 September 1943	to group Rossbach

The name

The name "Leuthen" was a reference to the battle of Leuthen fought by Frederick the Great during the Seven Years' War.

References

1. "Wolfpack Leuthen". uboat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
2. "Horst Hepp". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
3. "Hubertus Purkhold". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
4. "Paul-Friedrich Otto". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
5. "Helmut Bork". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
6. "Rudolf Bahr". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
7. "Manfred Kinzel". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
8. "Dietrich Epp". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
9. "Gerhard Kluth". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
10. "Erich Mäder". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
11. "Fritz Albrecht". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
12. "Siegfried von Forstner (Knight's Cross)". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
13. "Wolfgang Poeschel". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
14. "Joachim Deecke". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
15. "Rudolf Baltz". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
16. "Horst Rendtel". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
17. "Otto Ferro". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
18. "Herbert Engel". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
19. "Werner Techand". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
20. "Helmut Manseck". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
21. "Oskar Curio". u-boat.net. Retrieved 31 May 2015.

Bibliography

• Showell, Jak P M (2002). U-Boat Warfare: The Evolution of the Wolf-Pack. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-2887-7.