U-Boat Operations

U-40	Type IX
Feldpost Number	M 19 297
Construction Yard	Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG, (AG Weser) Bremen
Yard Number	945
Ordered	29th Jul 1936
Keel laid	1st Jul 1937
Launched	9th Nov 1938
Commissioned	11th Feb 1939
Baubelehrung	Lehrwerkstatt, Wilhelmshaven / Marinelehrwerkstatt, Wilhelmshaven
Training, Flotillas and Duties
02.39 - 10.39	U-Flottille Hundius, Wilhelmshaven Frontboot (operational)
Commanders
11.02.39 - 20.09.39	KL Werner von Schmidt see also: U-9 U-12 U-15 U-25 U-116
21.09.39 - 13.10.39	KL Wolfgang Barten see also: U-52

Operations information for U-40
19.08.1939 - 18.09.1939 First Sailing - active patrol U-40 left Wilhelmshaven under the command of Werner von Schmidt on 19th Aug 1939 for operations off of Gibraltar and arrived back at Wilhelmshaven over four weeks later on 18th Sep 1939.
10.10.1939 - 13.10.1939 Second Sailing - active patrol On the 10th Oct 1939, U-40 left Wilhelmshaven under the command of Wolfgang Barten for operations around Portugal and Spain. The boat was sunk on 13th Oct 1939.U-40 was to operate as part of the first controlled pack on this patrol.

Notes for U-40

On her final patrol U-40 was to operate with 5 other boats as part of the first controlled pack operation of the war. With departure delayed, Barten sought a shortcut to the group's meeting point (SW of Ireland) via the English Channel. Unfortunately he chose to make the passage three and a half hours after the high water mark, meaning that British sea mines anchored there would not be at their lowest dip. At approximately 0300 on the 13th of October U-40 struck a mine in the Straights of Dover, South of Beachy Head. The boat immediately sank to the floor at 115 feet.

Amid the confusion and terror 9 crew managed to escape via the aft hatch using their Dräger equipment. One man didn't survive the journey to the surface. 5 of the remainders perished from exposure, it taking 10 hours before rescue arrived in the form of HMS Boreas. 45 men had died, the 3 survivors taken PoW.

A report from the RMI at Deal, to the Vice Admiral, Dover, dated 13th October 1939 reads:

Three German prisoners of war were admitted to the R.M. Infirmary, Deal, suffering from immersion and shock. They gave the following names:
Weber, Karl Heinz aged 24; Vogt, Philip aged 35; Winkler, Otto, aged 21.
They have no personal effects and no clothing.

Special thanks to Roger Griffiths and Hubertus Weggelaar.

We have 53 crew names for this boat. click here for crew names of U 40
You can perform other crew searches here. Note that the number of names we give possibly includes prior crew members.

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We have a position of 50°41'36"N 00°15'06"E for where this boat went down, mapped below. The cross represents where U 40 went down.

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