German submarine U-161 was a Type IXCU-boat of Nazi Germany'sKriegsmarine built for service during World War II. The keel for this boat was laid down on 23 March 1940 at the Deutsche Schiff und maschinenbau AG, Bremen yard as yard number 700. She was launched on 1 March 1941 and commissioned on 8 July under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans-Ludwig Witt. The U-boat's service began with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla. She then moved to the 10th flotilla on 1 January 1942 for operations. She sank 12 ships, totalling ; one warship of 1,130 tons and damaged five others, for 35,672 tons. She also damaged one warship and caused one merchant vessel to be declared a total loss. She was sunk by an American aircraft in September 1943.
Design
were slightly larger than the original Type IXBs. U-161 had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. The U-boat had a total length of, a pressure hull length of, a beam of, a height of, and a draught of. The submarine was powered by two MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to. The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of. When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at. U-161 was fitted with six torpedo tubes, 22 torpedoes, one SK C/32 naval gun, 180 rounds, and a SK C/30 as well as a C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.
Service history
1st and 2nd patrols
The submarine's first patrol took her from Kiel on 3 January 1942, across the North Sea and into the Atlantic Ocean through the gap between the Faroe and Shetland Islands. She arrived at Lorient, in occupied France, on 3 May. She would be based at this Atlantic port for the rest of her career. U-161s second sortie proved to be successful, damaging British Consul and Mokihana on 19 February 1942 while the ships rode at anchor in the Gulf of Paria off Port of Spain, Trinidad. She went on to sink ships such as Circe Shell, Lihue the petrol tanker Uniwaleco off St Vincent. Then, daringly, she made her way at night through the narrow passage into Castries Harbour, St Lucia where she damaged the and Umtata. One ship sunk by U-161, Sarniadoc, sank in 30 seconds after her boiler exploded. There were no survivors. On 15 March 1942, while en route alone from Curaçao, Netherlands West Indies to Antigua, British West Indies, the Speedwell-class, was sunk by gunfire from U-161 approximately 150 miles south of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The entire crew of Acacia abandoned ship before she sank and all were rescued unscathed. She was the only U.S. tender sunk by enemy action during the war in the Caribbean.
3rd patrol
The boat's third patrol took her past the Azores and Cape Verde Islands, to the Brazilian coast north of Fortaleza. She then followed that coastline north until she reached the Caribbean. On 16 June 1942 she stopped the sailing ship Neuva Altagracia with gunfire and sank the vessel with scuttling charges. She also attacked San Pablo while the ship was being unloaded in Puerto Limón, Costa Rica on 3 July. Although the ship sank, she was raised with the intention of repair; but she was declared a total loss and sunk as a target on 25 September. She crossed the Atlantic in an easterly direction, but turned about and returned to the Caribbean. Having commenced the return leg to France, she encountered Fairport north of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands on 16 July and sank her. The boat returned to Lorient on 7 August.
4th patrol
Her fourth foray was to west Africa. This patrol was her longest-113 days. She damaged the light cruiser six miles and 282° from Pointe Noire, French Equatorial Africa on 23 October 1942 and sank the West Humhaw southwest of Takoradi in Ghana on 8 November.
5th patrol
The boat's fifth patrol involved another Atlantic crossing and sinking a second sailing ship, Angelus, north of Bermuda, again with gunfire. Ten survivors abandoned the vessel; only two were still alive when their lifeboat was discovered.
6th patrol and loss
The U-boat departed Lorient for the last time on 8 August 1943. Returning to the Brazilian coast, she sank St. Usk on 20 September and Itapagé on the 26th. She was sunk with all hands, on 27 September 1943 by an American PBM Mariner aircraft of VP-74 in the South Atlantic.
