Wolfpack Pfadfinder

Wolfpack Pfadfinder
Active	21 May 1942 - 27 May 1942
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Kriegsmarine
Size	8 submarines
Commanders
Notable commanders	Otto von Bülow Heinz-Otto Schultze

Pfadfinder (English: "Pathfinder") was a "wolfpack" of German U-boats that operated from 21 to 27 May 1942, in the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II. Operating off the North American coast between New England and Newfoundland they sank two ships for a total of 10,724 gross register tons (GRT).^[1]

U-boats, commanders and dates

• U-135, Friedrich-Hermann Praetorius,^[2] 21–27 May
• U-213, Amelung von Varendorff,^[3] 21–27 May
• U-432, Heinz-Otto Schultze,^[4] 21–27 May
• U-455, Hans-Heinrich Giessler,^[5] 21–27 May
• U-566, Dietrich Borchert,^[6] 21–27 May
• U-578, Ernst-August Rehwinkel,^[7] 21–27 May
• U-653, Gerhard Feiler,^[8] 21–27 May
• U-404, Otto von Bülow,^[9] 23–27 May

Ships hit by this Wolfpack

Zurichmoor

At 00:24 on 23 May, while en route from Halifax to Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, the unescorted 4,455 GRT British merchant ship Zurichmoor was torpedoed and sunk by U-432 east of Philadelphia. The master, 38 crewmen, and six gunners were lost.^[10]

Polyphemus

At 00:18 hours on 27 May the unescorted 6,269 GRT Dutch merchantman Polyphemus, en route from Halifax to Liverpool, was hit by two torpedoes from U-578 about 340 nautical miles (630 km) north of Bermuda and sank within 45 minutes, with the loss of 15 of the crew. The survivors, including 14 men previously picked up from the Norland, sunk five days before by U-108, abandoned ship in five lifeboats. The U-boat surfaced and questioned the first officer before giving them cigarettes and the heading for New York. Three of the lifeboats landed at Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, while the other two were rescued by a Portuguese ship.^[11]

References