U-Boat 562 – War Patrols
[tabs labels=” From: 19-06-1941 to 25-07-1942, From: 25-07-1942 to 19-02-1943,”] [t] 1st Patrol North AtlanticFrom 19-06-1941 until 30-07-1941 42 days
Sailed from Kiel to cover a wide area of the central north Atlantic along with other U-Boats to seek out Allied convoys for attack. Although involved with attacks on several convoys (HX133, OB346 and OG69) U-562 had no individual successes on this patrol and returned to Lorient.
2nd Patrol Atlantic
From 25-08-1941 until 03-09-1941 10 days Sailed from Kiel and joined other U-Boats to form the Bosemuller Group on 01-09-1940 in an area WSW of Ireland. However, the boat developed mechanical problems and had to put in to Brest to have these attended to. Consequently, there was to be no success for U-562 on this patrol (Other U-Boats involved in this patrol: U-71, U-83, U-95, U-98, U-557, U-558, U-561,U-751)
3rd Patrol North Atlantic
From 11-09-1941 until 15-10-1941 35 days Under the new command of KL Horst Hamm, sailed from Brest to join up with Brandenburg Group to patrol an area SE of Greenland. During this patrol, U-562 had the following successes before returning to her base in Brest: 22-09-J940: Torpedoed and sank British cargo ship ERNA III in a position ENE of Cape Farewell. 1,590 GRT. Owned by MOWT under Managers I. Constantine S.S. Line. Bound for Milford Haven from Montreal. 02-10-1940: Torpedoed and sank British CAM type cargo ship EMPIRE WAVE in a position East of Cape Farewell. Part on Convoy ON19, the 7,463 GRT British freighter, owned by MOWT under Managers Barr Crombie & Company, had been on a westbound passage from UK to Halifax. Other U-Boats involved in this patrol: U-69, U-74, U-94, U-372, U-373, U-431, U-552, U-564,U-572, U-575)
4th Patrol Mediterranean
From 17-11-1941 until 06-12-1941 20 days Sailed from Brest for the Mediterranean, passing through the Straits of Gibraltar during the night of 27th/28th November. Took up a position off the coast of Morocco and had the following single success of this patrol before returning to abase at Messina, Sicily.02-12-1941: In a position just off Punta Negri, Morocco, torpedoed and sank the British cargo ship GRELHEAD, 4,274 GRT, Cardigan Shipping Company, which had been on a passage from Melilla to UK.
5th Patrol Mediterranean
From 06-12-1941 until 29-12-1941 24 days Sailed from Messina for the Eastern Mediterranean and patrolled in an area off the coasts of Egypt and Cyrenaica. On the 23rd, U-562 carried out an attack on a convoy near Tobruk, missing an escort vessel, and on the 24th she unsuccessfully attacked a steamer of about 8,000 GRT. The U-Boat returned to a base at Pola in the Adriatic Sea.
6th Patrol Mediterranean
From 04-04-1942 until 11-05-1942 38 days Sailed from Pola to lay mines off Famagusta, Cyprus. The minefield sown resulted in the loss of the small British sailing vessel TERPS1THEA (157 GRT) and the steam tug ALLIANCE (81 GRT), which had been towing her. U-562 returned to her base at Pola.
7th Patrol Mediterranean
From 22-06-1942 until 25-07-1942 34 days Sailed from Pola to patrol in the Eastern Mediterranean and had the following single success before returning to a base at La Spezia:14-07-1942: Torpedoed and damaged the 3,359 GRT Dutch oil tanker ADINDA in a position off Sidon.
[/t]
[t]
8th Patrol Mediterranean
From 05-09-1942 until 18-10-1942 44 days Sailed from La Spezia to patrol the Eastern Mediterranean area. However, U-562 had no success throughout this patrol and duly returned to her base at La Spezia.
9th Patrol Mediterranean
From 22-11-1942 until 24-12-1942 33 days Sailed from La Spezia to patrol the Western Mediterranean area. On 09-12-1942 the U-Boat made an unsuccessful attack on a Destroyer. On 21-12-1942 the U-Boat encountered the Allied Convoy KMF5 and torpedoed the British troop transport vessel STRATHALLAN, 23,722 GRT, in a position North of Cap Ferrat, Algeria. [highlight]Following the successful attack[/highlight] the U-Boat set course to return to her La Spezia base. However, on 23-12-1942 she unwittingly entered into an area East of the Spanish and South of the French coasts that was prohibited to U-Boats, being allocated to the German Luftwaffe for anti-submarine activities. Thus, during the morning of 23-12-1942 the U-562 came under depth charge and machine gun attack from German aircraft patrolling the area. The extent of any damage sustained is not known and the U-Boat was successful in reaching her base at La Spezia on 24-12-1942.
10th & Final Patrol Mediterranean
From 07-02-1943 until 19-02-1943 13 days Following a considerable lay-up time at the La Spezia base, over six weeks, which would suggest that the U-Boat might have been undergoing damage repairs, U-562 sailed from La Spezia for the Eastern Mediterranean, on what was to be her final war patrol. On the 19th of February 1942, in a position NNE of Benghazi, Libya, U-562 was sighted by a Wellington aircraft (38 Squadron) under the command of Flying Officer I. B. Butler, forming part of an escort of an Allied convoy (XT 3) on passage from Alexandria to Tripoli. The U-Boat was subjected to attack by the Wellington bomber and the British Destroyers HMS HURSLEY and HMS ISIS under the commands of Lt. W.J.C. Church and Cdr. B. Jones. Depth charge attacks by the British destroyers were successful and U-562 was destroyed in this action. There were no survivors from the U-Boat’s complement of 49 officers and ratings.
[/t]
[/tabs]