Operation Details

Panther (iii)

'Panther' (iii) was a U-boat wolfpack operation in the Atlantic against the ONS.136 and ONS.137 convoys (6/20 October 1942).

,

The wolfpack comprised U-71, U-84, U-89, U-132, U-183, U-254, U-260, U-301, U-353, U-381, U-382, U-402, U-437, U-438, U-441, U-442, U-443, U-454, U-518, U-563, U-571, U-575, U-597, U-602, U-609, U-610, U-620, U-621, U-658, U-662, U-704, U-706, U-753 and U-757, and for the loss of Korvettenkapitän Eberhard Bopst’s U-597, which was sunk on 12 October to the south-west of Iceland by a depth-charge attack of a Consolidated Liberator long-range patrol aeroplane of the British No. 120 Squadron, sank three ships (16,081 tons).

,

On 11 October U-620 sighted the ONS.136 convoy of 36 ships supported by the British Escort Group B3, and the boat’s report elicited the detachment of U-254, U-353, U-382, U-437, U-442, U-597, U-620 and U-662 to attack it as the 'Leopard' (i) wolfpack. On 16 October, in the southern half of the 'Panther' (iii) wolfpack’s patrol line, U-704 spotted the ON.137 convoy of 40 ships supported by Lieutenant Commander D. W. Piers’s Canadian Escort Group C4 (HF/DF-equipped destroyers Restigouche and St Croix, corvettes Amherst, Arvida, Orillia and British Celandine, and HF/DF-equipped rescue ship Bury). U-71, U-84, U-89, U-132, U-381, U-402, U-438, U-454, U-571, U-609 and U-658 of the 'Panther' (iii) wolfpack and U-216, U-258, U-356, U-410, U-437, U-442, U-599, U-615, U-618 and U-662 of the 'Wotan' (ii) wolfpack, earlier in pursuit of the SC.104 convoy, were instructed to group and attack. In conditions of bad visibility, U-609 encountered Celandine while trying to attack, dived and was then depth-charged, but managed to escape.

,

In a westerly wind the U-boats were unable to reach the convoy on 17/18 October. The 'Wotan' (ii) wolfpack’s boats had to return to base from 18 October, and next day the operation was terminated.

,

The 'Panther' (iii) wolfpack’s boats now moved either to refuel from U-463 or to reach the new 'Veilchen' (i) wolfpack patrol line to the north of Newfoundland. On their way the boats encountered some independent sailers: Kapitänleutnant Walter Freiherr von Freyberg-Eisenberg-Allmendingen’s U-610 sank the 5,718-ton US Steel Navigator, Kapitänleutnant Ralph Kapitzky’s U-615 the 12,656-ton British Empire Star, and Kapitänleutnant Kurt Baberg’s U-618 the 4,772-ton US Angelina.

Basic Overview

Theater

Nations Involved

Protagonists Antagonists