MY ODYSSEY

Generally, Monsun U-boats lacked schnorkel and advanced radar equipment which made them particularly vulnerable to radar-equipped Allied submarines (apparently U-168 had schnorkel apparatus fitted in the far east).

Below, the list of Monsun U-Boat that arrived in Batavia. The information in parentheses is place/date departured and returned. Here they were:

U-168 Kptlt. Helmuth Pich [Penang 7/02/44 – Batavia 24/03/44]
U-843 Kptlt. Oskar Herwartz [France 19/02/44 – Batavia 11/06/44]
U-537 Kptlt. Peter Schrewe [France 25/03/44 – Batavia 2/08/44]
U-195 Oblt. Friedrich Steinfeldt [France 20/08/44 – Batavia 28/12/44]
U-219 Krvkpt. Walter Burghagen [France 23/08/44 – Batavia 11/12/44]
U-862 Krvkpt. Heinrich Timm [Batavia 18/11/44 – Batavia 15/02/45]
U-168 Kptlt. Helmeut Pich [Batavia 4/10/44 – sunk 6/10/44]
U-181 Frgkpt. Kurt Freiwald [Batavia 19/10/44 – Batavia 5/01/45]
U-537 Kptlt. Peter Schrewe [Batavia 8/11/44 – sunk 9/11/44]
U-196 Oblt. Werner Striegler [Batavia 11/11/44 – sunk 30/11/44]
U-510 Kptlt. Alfred Eick [Batavia 26/11/44 – Batavia 3/12/44]
U-843 Kptlt. Oskar Herwartz [Batavia 10/12/44 – Bergen 3/04/45]
U-510 Kptlt. Alfred Eick [Batavia 11/01/45 – France 24/04/45]
U-532 Frgkpt.Ottoheinrich Junker [Batavia 13/01/45 – surrendered]
U-861 Kptlt. Jürgen Oesten [Batavia 14/01/45 – Norway 18/04/45]
U-195 Oblt. Friedrich Steinfeldt [Batavia 17/01/45 – Batavia 3/03/45]
U-183 Kptlt. Fritz Schneewind [Batavia 22/04/45 – sunk 24/04/45]
Source: uboat.net



THE DESTINY

U-168, U-537, and U-183 sunk by Allied Forces.

U-196 lost and sunk in Sunda Strait.

U-195 and U-219 seized and destroyed by Allied Forces after battle in Sunda Strait.

U-510 had the honor of sinking the last ship to be sunk by U-boats in the Indian Ocean when she torpedoed the 7136-ton Canadian steamer Point Pleasant Park on 23rd February 1945.

U-195 then came back to Batavia since her engines were not fit enough for the long journey home.

U-532 scored hits on the way home but eventually surrendered at sea and was brought to Liverpool, England where her cargo was unloaded. The cargo consisted of 110 tons of tin ingots, 8 tons of wolfram, 4 tons of molybdenum and smaller amounts of selenium, quinine and crystals plus 8 tons of rubber in tube-like containers. She was refueled by U-195 around 20th February 1945.

U-862 operated in the Pacific off Australia and came close to Sydney. She was the only U-boat to operate in the Pacific.

The Fortunate U-boat: U-510 returned to Port in France, U-843 returned to Bergen, and U-861 returned to Norway.




THE GERMAN U-BOAT 195
U-195 sailed from Bordeaux for Asian waters on 21 August 1944 under the command of Oberleutnant Steinfeld. Amongst her cargo were parts of 12 dismantled V-2 rockets for the Japanese military

U-195 was the only type boats with unreliable experimental fast-running diesel engines. They were completely converted to transports with new diesels. Together with U-219, a minelayer also adapted as a transport, they sailed as a part of the evacuation from French ports.

These two U-boats are also thought to have carried Uranium oxide requested for Japan's atomic bomb project by General Toranouke Kawashima in July 1943.

Laid down:
15 May, 1941 [AG Weser, Bremen]

Commissioned:
5 September 1942 [Kptlt. Heinz Buchholz]

Commanders:
5 September 1942 - 17 October 1943: KrvKpt. Heinz Buchholz
16 April 1944 - 8 May, 1945: Oblt. Friedrich Steinfeldt

Career: 3 patrols
5 Sep, 1942 - 31 Mar, 1943 4. Flottille (training)
1 Apr, 1943 - 1 Sep, 1943 12. Flottille (front boat)
1 May, 1944 - 30 Sep, 1944 12. Flottille (front boat)
1 Oct, 1944 - 8 May, 1945 33. Flottille (front boat)

Successes:
2 ships sunk for a total of 14.391 GRT
1 ship damaged for a total of 6.797 GRT

Fate:
Taken over by Japan at Surabaja, Indonesia in May 1945 and became the Japanese submarine I 506 on 15 Jul 1945. Surrendered at Batavia in August 1945. Broken up in 1947.





THE GERMAN U-BOAT 196
Unterseeboot 196 was a German U-boat who under Captain Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat completed from 13th of March 1943 to 23rd of October 1943 had the longest patrol a submarine in World War II ever did (225 days at sea).

Laid down:
10 June 1941 [AG Weser, Bremen]

Commissioned:
11 September, 1942 Kptlt. Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat (Knights Cross)

Commanders:
11 Sep, 1942 - 21 Sep, 1944: KrvKpt. Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat (Knights Cross)
1 Oct, 1944 - 1 Dec, 1944: Werner Striegler

Career: 3 patrols
11 Sep, 1942 - 31 Mar, 1943 4. Flottille (training)
1 Apr, 1943 - 30 Sep, 1944 12. Flottille (front boat)
1 Oct, 1944 - 1 Dec, 1944 33. Flottille (front boat)

Successes:
3 ships sunk for a total of 17.739 GRT

Fate:
Missing since 1 Dec, 1944 near the Sunda Straits south of Java, exact position unknown, possibly because of a diving accident. 65 dead (all hands lost).




THE GERMAN U-BOAT 168
Laid down:
15 March, 1941 [Seebeck, Bremen]

Commissioned:
10 Sep, 1942 Kptlt. Helmut Pich

Commanders
10 Sep, 1942 - 6 Oct, 1944 Kptlt. Helmuth Pich

Career 4 patrols:
10 Sep, 1942 - 28 Feb, 1943 4. Flottille (training)
1 Mar, 1943 - 30 Sep, 1944 2. Flottille (front boat)
1 Oct, 1944 - 6 Oct, 1944 33. Flottille (front boat)

Successes
2 ships sunk for a total of 6.568 GRT
1 auxiliary warship sunk for a total of 1.440 GRT
1 ship damaged for a total of 9.804 GRT

Fate
Sunk on 6 October, 1944 in the Java Sea, in position 06.20S, 111.28E, by a torpedo from the Dutch submarine HrMs Zwaardvisch. 23 dead and 27 survivors.



THE GERMAN U-BOAT 219
Laid down:
31 May, 1941 [Germaniawerft, Kiel]

Commissioned:
12 Dec, 1942 [Korvkpt. Walter Burghagen]

Commanders
12 Dec, 1942 - 8 May, 1945 Walter Burghagen

Career: 2 patrols
12 Dec, 1942 - 30 Jun, 1943 4. Flottille (training)
1 Jul, 1943 - 30 Sep, 1944 12. Flottille (front boat)
1 Oct, 1944 - 8 May, 1945 33. Flottille (front boat)

Successes
No ships sunk or damaged

Fate
Taken over by Japan at Jakarta, Indonesia on 8 May, 1945 in Batavia and became the Japanese submarine I 505 on 15 July, 1945. Surrendered at Jakarta in August 1945, broken up in 1948





THE GERMAN U-BOAT 183
Laid down:
28 May, 1941 [AG Weser, Bremen]
Commissioned:
1 April, 1942 [Korvkpt. Heinrich Schäfer]

Commanders:
1 April, 1942 - 19 Nov, 1943: Heinrich Schäfer
20 November, 1943 - 23 Apr, 1945: Kptlt. Fritz Schneewind

Career: 6 patrols
1 Apr, 1942 - 30 Sep, 1942 4. Flottille (training)
1 Oct, 1942 - 30 Sep, 1944 2. Flottille (front boat)
1 Oct, 1944 - 23 Apr, 1945 33. Flottille (front boat)

Successes:
4 ships sunk for a total of 19.260 GRT
1 ship a total loss for a total of 6.993 GRT

Fate
Sunk at 1300 hrs on 23 April, 1945 in the Java Sea, in position 04.50S, 112.52E, by a torpedo from the US submarine USS Besugo 54 dead and 1 survivor

Fritz Schneewind was born on 10 April, 1917 in Padang, West Sumatra. Thus, his life ended in the same region it began.

U-183 was one of the Monsun boats that patrolled in the Far East.

Men lost from the boat: 13 May, 1944
One man was killed in an accident working in a diving cell while preparing for its next patrol in the Far East. The boat left for the patrol from Penang on 17 May. [Obermaschinenmaat Erich Adelsheimer]




THE GERMAN U-BOAT 859
Laid down:
15 May, 1942 [AG Weser, Bremen]

Commissioned:
8 Jul, 1943 [Kptlt. Johann Jebsen]

Commanders:
8 Jul, 1943 - 23 September, 1944: Kptlt. Johann Jebsen

Career: 1 patrol
8 Jul, 1943 - 31 March, 1944 4. Flottille (training)
1 Apr, 1944 - 23 September, 1944 12. Flottille (front boat)

Successes:
3 ships sunk for a total of 20.853 GRT

Fate
Sunk 23 September 1944 near Penang in the Straits of Malacca, in position 05.46N, 100.04E, by torpedoes from the British submarine HMS Trenchant. 47 dead and 20 survivors.

Men lost from the boat: 5 July 1944
One man was killed and three wounded, when the boat was attacked by a Catalina (RAF 262 Sqd/L) in the Indian Ocean.

See this film below, describe the interior and life inside the u-boat, preparing the torpedo launch, waiting the blasting target...