Germany:
Type VIIC U-boat
U-441as Flak U-boat
U-flak 1 , June 1943. Designed to be surface escorts for attack U-boats operating from the French Atlantic bases and intended to lure unsuspecting aircraft into a deadly trap
U-flak 1 sailed from Brest on 22 May 1943 under the command of
Kptlt. Götz von Hartmann, formerly of
U-563. It was not long before the new configuration was put to the test. At 20:50 on the 24th, the flak boat was attacked by a Sunderland of
228 squadron RAF in the
Bay of Biscay. Despite being hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire, the aircraft managed to drop five
depth charges before it crashed into the sea; the attack wounded one crewman and extensively damaged
U-Flak 1 which returned to base the next day.
Her second patrol as a U-flak boat began on 8 July 1943. On the 12th the boat was strafed by three
Beaufighter aircraft from
No. 248 Squadron RAF. Ten men were killed and thirteen others wounded, including all of the officers.
Marine-Stabsarzt Dr. Paul Pfaffinger, an experienced U-boat doctor took command, and brought the boat safely back to Brest, subsequently being awarded the
German Cross in Gold. By this time the U-flak boats were considered a failure and
U-flak 1 was converted back to her original configuration and reverted to
U-441.
Lead ship of the class, heavy cruiser
Admiral Hipper in the Baltic near Gdynia in December 1944
