Fate of the Far East Boats

A total of 41 German U-boats sailed to Far East to undertake various operations from transport duties to operations against shipping to U-boats to be presented to Japan. These boats paid a high price for their journey, as of the fourty one which had set sail, only six would return to Europe, and only two of those successfully delivered their cargo back to Germany.

The U-843, U-861, U-510 and U-532 reached European waters, only to be sunk, stranded with inssuficient fuel or to surrender with the German capitulation. Only the U-178 and U-188 successfully delivered its cargo. This section lists all U-boats which had set sail on their ill-fated journey to their Far Eastern bases, but does not include the Italian transport boats or boats which sortied to the Indian Ocean but were based from European bases.

U-198, one of the casualties. Sunk off the Seychelles (Indian Ocean) on 12 August 1944 with the entire crew perishing.

Fate of the Far Eastern Boats

Fate of the Far Eastern Boats
Boat	Commander	First Sailed	Role	Success (in Far East)	Fate
U-200	KL Heinrich Schonder	Norway Jun 11 1943	Attack	None	Sunk en route Jun 24 1943
U-188	KL Siegfried Ludden	France Jun 30 1943	Attack	Sunk 11 (49725grt) Damaged 1 (9977grt)	Successful return France Jun 19 1944
U-168	KL Helmuth Pich	France Jul 3 1943	Attack	Sunk 3 (8008grt) Damaged 1 (9804grt)	Sunk in Java Sea Oct 6 1944
U-509	KL Werner Witte	France Jul 3 1943	Attack	None	Sunk en route Jul 15 1943
U-514	KL Hans-Jurgen Auffermann	France Jul 3 1943	Attack	None	Sunk en route Jul 8 1943
U-532	FK Ottoheinrich Junker	France Jul 3 1943	Attack	Sunk 6 (33940grt) Damaged 2 (13128grt)	Returned to Europe Surrendered May 10 1945
U-183	KK Heinrich Schafer	France Jul 3 1943	Attack	Sunk 3 (17671grt)	Sunk in Java Sea Apr 23 1945
U-506	KL Erich Wurdemann	France Jul 6 1943	Attack	None	Sunk en route Jul 12 1943
U-533	KL Helmut Hennig	France Jul 6 1943	Attack	None	Sunk in Indian Ocean Oct 16 1943
U-516	KL Hans-Rutger Tillessen	France Jul 8 1943	Attack	None	Mission aborted Returned to France Aug 23 1943
U-847	KL Herbert Kuppish	Norway Jul 29 1943	Attack	None	Sunk en route Aug 27 1943
U-178	KK Wilhelm Dommes	France Mar 28 1943	Attack	Sunk 12 (66911grt) Damaged 1 (6348)	Successful return France May 24 1944
U-511	KL Fritz Schneewind	France May 5 1943	Present	Sunk 2 (14370grt)	Surrendered Aug 1945
U-1224	Japanese crew	France 1944	Present	None	Sunk en route May 13 1944
U-219	KK Walter Burghagen	Norway Oct 22 1943	Transport	Delivered to Japan	Surrendered August 1945
U-510	KL Alfred Eick	France Oct 3 1943	Attack	Sunk 7 (41130grt)	Returned to Europe Surrendered Apr 24 1945
U-848	KK Wilhelm Rollman	Germany Sep 18 1943	Attack	Sunk 1 (4573grt)	Sunk en route Nov 5 1943
U-849	KL Heinz-Otto Schultze	Germany Oct 2 1943	Attack	None	Sunk en route Nov 25 1943
U-850	KK Klaus Ewerth	Germany Nov 18 1943	Attack	None	Sunk en route Dec 20 1943
U-177	KL Heinz Buchholz	France Jan 2 1944	Attack	None	Sunk en route Feb 6 1944
U-1062	OL Karl Albrecht	Norway Jan 3 1944	Transport	Delivered to Penang	Sunk homeward Sep 30 1944
U-852	KL Heinz Wilhelm Eck	Germany Jan 18 1944	Attack	Sunk 2 (9972grt)	Sunk en route Apr 3 1944
U-1059	OL Gunter Leupold	Norway Feb 12 1944	Transport	None	Sunk en route Mar 19 1944
U-843	KL Oskar Herwartz	France Feb 19 1944	Attack	Sunk 1 (8261grt)	Returned to Europe Sunk in Kattegat Apr 9 1945
U-801	KL Hans-Joachim Brans	France Feb 26 1944	Attack	None	Sunk en route Mar 16 1944
U-851	KK Hannes Weingartner	France Feb 26 1944	Attack	None	Sunk en route Mar 1944
U-181	FK Kurt Freiwald	France Mar 16 1944	Attack	Sunk 5 (35066grt)	Surrendered Aug 1945
U-196	KK Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat	France Mar 16 1944	Attack	Sunk 1 (35066grt)	Sunk in Java Sea Dec 1 1944
U-537	KL Peter Schrewe	France Mar 25 1944	Attack	None	Sunk in Java Sea Nov 9 1944
U-859	KK Johann Jebsen	Germany Apr 4 1944	Attack	Sunk 4 (26523grt)	Sunk off Penang Sep 23 1944
U-860	FK Paul Buchel	Germany Apr 11 1944	Attack	None	Sunk en route Jun 15 1944
U-198	OL Burkhard Heusinger von Waldegg	France Apr 20 1944	Attack	Sunk 4 (22912grt)	Sunk in Indian Ocean Aug 12 1944
U-861	KL Jurgen Oesten	Germany Apr 20 1944	Attack	Sunk 3 (16378grt) Damaged 1 (8139grt)	Returned to Europe Surrendered Apr 18 1945
U-490	OL Wilhelm Gerlach	Norway May 6 1944	Attack	None	Sunk en route Jun 12 1944
U-862	KL Heinrich Timm	Norway Jun 3 1944	Attack	Sunk 7 (35489grt)	Surrendered Aug 1945
U-863	KL Dietrich von der Esch	Norway Jul 26 1944	Attack	None	Sunk en route Sep 29 1944
U-180	OL Rolf Riesen	France Aug 20 1944	Transport	None	Sunk en route Aug 23 1944
U-195	OL Friedrich Steinfeldt	France Aug 20 1944	Transport	Delivered to Japan	Surrendered aug 1945
U-871	KL Erwin Ganzer	Norway Aug 31 1944	Attack	None	Sunk en route Sep 26 1944
U-864	KK Ralf-Reimar Wolfram	Norway Feb 5 1945	Transport	None	Sunk en route Feb 9 1945
U-234	KL Johann-Heinrich Fehler	Norway Apr 16 1945	Transport	None	Surrendered May 16 1945

Note:-
Success column indicates ships attacked as a result of the Far East operation. It does not include successes in the Atlantic or other theaters.
Commander column indicates the CO at time of first departure. Several boats had more than one commander while in the Far East.

German U-Boat

U-Boats in the Far East

Fate of the Far Eastern Boats

Fate of the Far Eastern Boats