Wolfpack Ziethen

Wolfpack Ziethen 1
Active	6 January 1942 - 22 January 1942
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Kriegsmarine
Size	12 submarines
Commanders
Notable commanders	Peter-Erich Cremer Rolf Mützelburg Erich Topp Karl Thurmann

Wolfpack Ziethen 2
Active	23–29 March 1942
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Kriegsmarine
Size	4 submarines

Ziethen was the name given to two wolfpacks of German U-boats that operated during the World War II Battle of the Atlantic in 1942, the first, larger and more successful was from 6 January 1942 to 22 January 1942,^[1] the second, smaller from 23 March to 29 March 1942.^[2]

It was named after Hans Joachim von Ziethen (1699 - 1786), a German cavalry officer under Frederick the Great

Ziethen 1

The group was responsible for sinking eleven merchant ships 39,900 gross register tons (GRT) and damaging a further three merchant ships 17,621 GRT.

Raiding History

Date	U-boat	Name of ship	Nationality	GRT	Convoy	Fate
6 January 1942	U-701	Baron Erskine	United Kingdom	3,657	SC-62	Sunk
15 January 1942	U-203	Catalina	Portugal	632		Sunk
15 January 1942	U-552	Dayrose	United Kingdom	4,113		Sunk
15 January 1942	U-553	Diala	United Kingdom	8,106	ON-52	Damaged
16 January 1942	U-86	Toorak	United Kingdom	8,627	ON-52	Damaged
17 January 1942	U-87	Nyholt	Norway	8,087	ON-52	Sunk
17 January 1942	U-203	Octavian	Norway	1,345		Sunk
18 January 1942	U-86	Dimitrios G. Thermiotis	Greece	4,271	SC-63	Sunk
18 January 1942	U-552	Frances Salman	United States	2,609		Sunk
21 January 1942	U-754	Belize	Norway	2,153		Sunk
21 January 1942	U-203	North Gaspe	Canada	888		Damaged
22 January 1942	U-553	Innerøy	Norway	8,260		Sunk
22 January 1942	U-333	Vassilios A. Polemis	Greece	3,429	ON-53	Sunk
22 January 1942	U-754	William Hansen	Norway	1,344		Sunk
Total:				57,521

U-boats

U-boat	Commander	From	To
U-84	Horst Uphoff[3]	13 January 1942	22 January 1942
U-86	Walter Schug[4]	7 January 1942	22 January 1942
U-87	Joachim Berger[5]	6 January 1942	17 January 1942
U-135	Friedrich-Hermann Praetorius[6]	6 January 1942	20 January 1942
U-203	Rolf Mützelburg[7]	7 January 1942	22 January 1942
U-333	Peter-Erich Cremer[8]	17 January 1942	22 January 1942
U-552	Erich Topp [9]	6 January 1942	19 January 1942
U-553	Karl Thurmann[10]	6 January 1942	22 January 1942
U-582	Werner Schulte[11]	15 January 1942	22 January 1942
U-654	Ludwig Forster[12]	6 January 1942	22 January 1942
U-701	Horst Degen[13]	6 January 1942	22 January 1942
U-754	Hans Oestermann[14]	6 January 1942	22 January 1942

Ziethen 2

The group had no success and lost one U-boat.

U-boats

U-boat	Commander	From	To
U-209	Heinrich Brodda[15]	23 March 1942	29 March 1942
U-376	Friedrich-Karl Marks[16]	23 March 1942	29 March 1942
U-378	Alfred Hoschatt[17]	23 March 1942	29 March 1942
U-655	Adolf Dumrese[18]	23 March 1942	24 March 1942

References

Notes

1. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Wolfpack Ziethen 1". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
2. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Wolfpack Ziethen 2". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
3. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Horst Uphoff". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
4. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Walter Schug". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
5. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Joachim Berger". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
6. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Friedrich-Hermann Praetorius". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
7. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Rolf Mützelburg (Knight’s Cross)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
8. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Peter-Erich Cremer (Knight’s Cross)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
9. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Erich Topp (Knight’s Cross)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
10. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Karl Thurmann (Knight’s Cross)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
11. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Werner Schulte". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
12. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ludwig Forster". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
13. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Horst Degen". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
14. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Hans Oestermann". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
15. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Heinrich Brodda". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
16. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Friedrich-Karl Marks". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
17. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Alfred Hoschatt". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
18. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Adolf Dumrese". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2014.

Bibliography

• Hadley, Michael L (1985). U-Boats Against Canada: German Submarines in Canadian Waters. McGill-Queen’s University Press. p. 56. ISBN 0-7735-0584-9.
• Newpower, Anthony (2006). Iron Men and Tin Fish: The Race to Build a Better Torpedo During World War II. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 80. ISBN 0-275-99032-X.
• Edwards, Bernard (1996). Dönitz and the Wolf Packs - The U-boats at War. Cassell Military Classics. pp. 117, 119, 123–125. ISBN 0-304-35203-9.