German submarine U-161 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine 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 (Knight's Cross).

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 GRT. She also damaged one warship (5,450 tons) and caused one merchant vessel to be declared a total loss (3,305 GRT).

She was sunk by an American aircraft on 27 September 1943.

Design German Type IXC submarines 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 (four fitted at the bow and two at the stern), 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

First and second 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.Kelshall, Gaylord: The U Boat War in the Caribbean. pub by The Naval Institute Press 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 , (formerly the U.S. Army mine planter General John P. Story transferred to the United States Lighthouse Service at no cost in 1922,) 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.

Third 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.

Fourth 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 southwest of Takoradi in Ghana on 8 November.

Fifth 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.

Sixth patrol and loss

The U-boat departed Lorient for the last time on 8 August 1943. She rendezvoused with the Japanese submarine I-8 on 20 August to transfer two radio technicians and a Metox radar detector for installation on the Japanese submarine. Returning to the Brazilian coast, she sank St. Usk on 20 September and Itapagé on the 26th. She was sunk with all hands (53 men), on 27 September 1943 by an American PBM Mariner aircraft of VP-74 in the South Atlantic.

Summary of raiding history Date Name Nationality TonnageMerchant ship tonnages are in gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement. Fate19 February 1942British Consul6,940Damaged19 February 1942Mokihana7,460Damaged21 February 1942Circe Shell8,207Sunk23 February 19427,001Sunk7 March 1942Uniwaleco9,755Sunk10 March 19427,970Damaged10 March 1942Umtata8,141Damaged14 March 1942Sarniadoc1,940Sunk15 March 19421,130Sunk16 June 1942Nueva Altagracia30Sunk3 July 1942San Pablo3,305Total loss16 July 19426,165Sunk23 October 19425,450Damaged8 November 1942Benalder5,161Damaged8 November 19425,527Sunk29 November 1942Tjileboet5,760Sunk12 December 1942Ripley4,997Sunk19 May 1943Angelus255Sunk20 September 1943St. Usk5,472Sunk26 September 1943Itapagé4,998Sunk

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