S-Boats in the Kriegsmarine 1935 - 1945

War-Zones of the S-Boats

 Arctic Sea 1941

By order of Hitler the advance on Murmansk started on June 22nd 1941 but falteredand had  in the mean time been stopped and reduced to the defence of the nickel mines at Petsamo/Finnland. At the same time the Kriegsmarine had to interrupt Allied shipping in the Arctic Sea and to ensure the German shipping.  For that purpose also the deployment of S-boats had been requested.

The OKM ordered on October 19th 1941 formation of the 8. SFltl (Kptlt. Stuhr-Christiansen) with the boats "S 42" (Oblt.z.S. Seeger), "S 44" (Oblt.z.S. Merkel), "S 45" (Oblt.z.S. Babbel), "S 46" (Oblt.z.S. Priebe) and the tender "Adolf Lüderitz" and the transit into the Arctic Sea. At the same time the steamer "Larsen" was set in march to Tromsø, to be rebuilt into a workshop-ship. The steamer "Hernøsand" was converted into a torpedo-control-engineering ship and torpedo-stock. 

On November 11th 1941 the 8. SFltl left Kiel for the march to Northern Norway. Because of bad weather the boats arrived at Bergen only on November 26th 1941. From there they were towed, partly by pickets "V 5507" (ex  "S 10") and "V 5508" (ex "S 11"), through the fjords to go easy on the engines. 

The old Maybach-boats "S 10" through "S 16" had been declared as pickets and were subordinated the Coast Protection Unit (Küstenschutzverband [KSV]) Bergen, which was commanded by KKpt. Bartels. He had established his staff at the accommodation ship "Tan" (ex "Polaris") and the layed up sailing vessel "Westwärts" (ex "Stadsraad Lehmkuhl"), laying in Åstveitvågen, a fjord vest of Bergen. 

K.S.V. - S 10, S 11, S 13, S 15, S 16 - in Åstveitvågen bclose to Bergen 1944 - Picture: Archives Förderverein

With changing towing vessels, often delayed by bad weather, Tromsø was arrived at on December 15th 1941.

The first deployment of the flotilla together with "Z 25" and "Z 27" on December 18th 1941 was as escorts of a tanker which led from Harstad to Tromsø outside the skerries.

An operation of the 8. SFltl together with the 8. Z-Fltl, on December 26th 1941 against a British force operation in Vestfjord went into empty space.  On the march back "S 45" had bottomcontact and had to go into dock at Harstad.. 

On December 28th 1941 collided "S 42" and "S 44" during another resultless employment against a Brtitsh force operating in the Vestfjord, so that "S 44" had to be reported aKB (außer Kriegsbereitschaft - not ready for action) and to go to the shipyard at Narvik for repairs. With that the flotilla existed of only two boats.