U-110
Type | IXB | |||
| Ordered | 24 May 1938 | |||
| Laid down | 1 Feb 1940 | AG Weser, Bremen (werk 973) | ||
| Launched | 25 Aug 1940 | |||
| Commissioned | 21 Nov 1940 | Kptlt. Fritz-Julius Lemp | ||
| Commanders |
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| Career | 2 patrols | 21 Nov 1940 - 28 Feb 1941 2. Flottille (training) 1 Mar 1941 - 9 May 1941 2. Flottille (front boat) | ||
| Successes | 3 ships sunk for a total of 10,149 GRT 2 ships damaged for a total of 8,675 GRT | |||
| Fate | Captured on 9 May, 1941 in the North Atlantic south of Iceland by the destroyers HMS Bulldog, HMS Broadway and the British corvette HMS Aubretia. The boat was allowed to sink the day after to preserve the secret capture. 15 dead and 32 survivors. | |||
See the 5 ships hit by U-110 - View the 2 war patrols
Attacks on this boat
16 Mar 1941
Convoy escorts from HX 112 attacked the boat with 24 depth charges without results. (Sources: Blair, vol 1, page 255)
1 recorded attack on this boat.
General notes on this boat
"The Secret Capture"
U-110 met its end on May 9, 1941 when it was captured . This is what most people view as the most important capture of the entire war and it was so secret that even the crew of U-110 did not know of it! U-110, under the command of Kptlt. Fritz Julius Lemp, had been attacking a convoy along with U-201 (Oblt. Adalbert Schnee) when Lemp left his periscope up too long (probably to confirm a kill, he sank two ships on that day amounting to 7500 GRT) and the escort HMS Aubretia spotted it and rushed to the scene dropping depth charges.
U-110 survived the first attacks but then HMS Bulldog and HMS Broadway came and joined in the hunt. U-110 was forced to surface and HMS Bulldog immediately went onto ramming course (its commander realized at the very last moment that a capture might come off and tried to avoid hitting U-110 which he almost did) which Lemp noticed and ordered "Abandon Ship". Lemp figured that since the boat was going to be rammed (and presumably sunk) its secrets were safe within it. Only when he was in the water did he realize that the boat was not sinking and attempted to swim back and prevent capture and that was the last seen of him. Many say he was shot in the water by a British sailor but that may not be at all true.
The British made several journeys between U-110 and HMS Bulldog to collect whatever they could get their hands on inside the boat. This must have been a real treat as U-110 was abandoned in a hurry and being a IXB class she did not sink as rapidly as VIIC would likely have done. It is very likely that numerous U-boats were sunk using the material found inside U-110.
The day after the boat was captured someone realized that the allies already had the most important part of U-110, namely the secret documents and Enigma machine and that the Germans might find out that the British had the boat soon and, assuming the worst, change all codes and cipher system. The boat thus "accidentally" sank when being towed to Britain. 15 men were killed in the action and 32 captured. Lemp himself did not survive as noted above.
23 Mar 1941. While attacking a freighter with the deck gun the water-tight plug was not removed from the gun by accident and the gun then blew up causing damages to the boat and forcing the boat to port.
Men lost from the boat
23 Mar 1941
U-110´s 105mm deck gun exploded during firing wounding 3 men.
Related: For more info on such losses see - Men lost from U-boats -
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There was another U-110 in World War One
That boat was launched from its shipyard on 28 Jul 1917 and commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 25 Sep 1917. The Naval war in WWI was brought to an end with the Armistice signed on 11 Nov, 1918. Read about the U 110 during WWI.