COMMANDER Photographs
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Oliver Lodwick Wolfard U.S. Naval Academy class of 1911. (108) Photograph ( right ) credit is number (108). Again, cm 11 February there wu another re1cue. The story or 1hia 11 more ocaplete. CD 26 January the s. s. SAN ARCADIO, a aeven thousand tcm. Briti1h tanker with t.t.tty ottioera a.d men, put out trm Houatcm., Texaa, loaded with oil and bound for Halif'u, BoYa Sootia. FiTe day1 out, in po1iti<11 SS-lOI and 6S-flCIJ, at about 2200 LZT, they were torpedoed tir1t att md th• forward cm the 1tarboard aide. Arter tirtem minute• or ettort to am rlldio ocmtact the ahip wu in auoh c diticm. that it had to be abandcm.ed. 14-P-7, Lieut- enant J. A. JAAP O·Clllll.ailding tound nine survivor a in poaiticn M-281 and 62-5af. Th• plan• l•nded at , took the peraQDNtl aboard and returned th• to Ber C.'t) muda. 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I· • l' rrwia0Pdrlol~ 1un "' rill.: U-107 u 107 Type IX B Built by AG Weser, Bremen Keel laid 6.12.39 Launched 2. 7.40 Commissioned 8.10.40 Feldpost Nr M 39 808 Sunk 18.8.44 SSW of Belle ile (46°46'N 03°39W) Served with 2 U-Flottille, Wilhelmshaven/Lorient October 1940 - 18.8.44 (ab/lb) Commanded by KK Gunter Hessler October 1940 - November 1941 KL Harald Gelhaus December 1941 - May 1943 KL Volker Simmermacher May 1943 - 18.8.44 Patrols: 13 Ships sunk: 38 (217,751grt)+ 4 damaged 1. 24.1.41 Left Kiel to operate in the North Atlantic. U 107 was S of Iceland early on 3.2.41, when she sighted southwest-bound convoy OB 279. Several other boats, ordered to intercept, did not close the convoy. In the early hours of the 3rd U 107 sank the SS Empire Citizen (br 4683t) S of Reykjavik and in the late evening the ocean board ing vessel SS Crispin (br 505lt) NNW ofRockall. This vessel had left the convoy and was escorted by a destroyer. On the 6th U 107 sank the SS Maplecourl (br 3388t), a straggler from convoy SC 20, SSW ofRockall. On the 19th U 107 and other boats then S of Iceland were ordered southeast to form a patrol line ahead of westbound convoy OB 287, sighted by a German aircraft NW of Cape Wrath. Inaccurate information from the aircraft caused the patrol line to be formed in the wrong place and the operation was called off late on the 21st. On the 23rd U 107 sank another ocean boarding vessel, the SS Manistee (br 5360t), S of Iceland. This vessel sank after several attacks by U 107 and may also have been hit by a torpedo from the Italian submarine Bianchi. U l 07 operated against convoy OB 288 from the 23rd but had no success. She put in to her new base at Lorient 1.3.41 2. 29.3.41 Left for the Central Atlantic, heading south to operate in the Freetown area. In the morning of 8.4.41 U 107 attacked southbound convoy OG 57 SE of the Azores and sank the SS Eskdene (br 3829t) by torpedo and gunfire. Following the convoy, she sank the SS Helena Margareta (br 33 l 6t) in the evening of the 8th and the SS Harpathian (br 46711) soon after midnight, both by torpedo W of Madeira. In the evening of the 9th U 107 sank the tanker MY Duffield (br 8516t), WSW of Madeira. U 107 was WSW of the Canaries on the 21st when she sank the SS Calchas (br 10305t) and on the 30th she was SW of the Cape Verde Islands, sinking the MY lasself (br 74l7t) there in the late U 107 torpedoed and sanlc the lanlcer MY San Arradio (br 74191) N eYening. The boat moved south to the replenishment area NW of of Bennuda. On 6.2.42 she sanlc a ship E or Cape Hatteras, which Sl Paul Rocks. where she was refuelled by the Nordmarlr. on 3.5.41 was probably the SS Major Whuler (am 343 It), due in Philadel aad replenished with torpedoes by the Eger/and on the 10th. phia on the 9th but failed to arrive. Once havin& reached the Fredown area, U 107 began a run of Fwthcr north, U I 07 torpedoed and damaged the MY Egda mcccsses. She sank the tanker MY Marisa (nl 80291) soon after (nw 10068t) on the 21st ESE of Sable Island imdnight on the 16th SW of Freetown, the SS Pialw (br 82861) on U I 07 returned to Lorient 7.3.42 !be 18th, the SS Colonial (br 5 !081) on the 27th, the SS Papalemos (gr 3748t) on the 28th, the SS Sire (br 5664t) on the 31st, the 6. 21.4.42 Left for operations in the western Atlantic. MY Alfred Jones (br 5013t) on 1.6.41 and 1he SS Adda (br 7816l) U I07 met the returning U 123 W of the Bay of Biscay on the on the 8th. all six ships sunk by torpedo in an area WSW of 28th, to pass over a code book and to exchange infonnation. Freetown. U I07 o.rri•ed in the Hatteras area just before mid-May and later Moving westwards towards the rcplcnishmcnl area NW of St moved south down the coast of Florida nod then along the nonhern Paul Rocks, U 107 sank the SS Pandias (gr4981l) NE of the Rocks coast ofCuba On the 29th she sank the SS *~stern Head (br 25991) on the 13th. The boat was due to be refuelled by the supply ship in the Windward Passage. Lothringen on the 18th but that vessel was sunlc in early June. For lhe oext three weeks U I 07 operated in the Carribean, With no refuelling facilities available in the Central Atlantic area, between Cuba and Yucatan. On 1.6.42 she sanlc the SS Bushranger after live supply ships had been sunk in the Adantic in early June, (pa4536t) S ofGrand Cayman, on the 7th theSSCasriUa(bo 39JOI) U !07 made her way back. SSW of Punta Francis, Cuba, on the 9th the SS Suwied (am 32491) This patrol was the most successful by a U·boal in lhe Second S of the western tip of Cuba and on the 10th the SS Merrimack World Wo.r, wilh foun cen ships sunlc, with n lOlal of 86.699 gn. (am 2606t) S of the Yucatan Channel. U 107 reached Lorienl 2.7.41 U I 07 exiled rhe Caribbean around the 20th and on the 26th she sank the SS Jagersfontein (nl 10083t) ESE of Bermuda. She was 3. 6.9.41 Left to operate in the Central A~antic . refuelled by U 459 in late June NE of Bennuda. U 107 joined up with U 67, U 68 and U 103 and from 18.9.41 U I 07 rerumcd ro Lorient 11. 7.4 2 they proceeded south in line abreast. On the 21st U 107 sigbted nonhbound convoy SL 87 W of the 7. 25.7 .42 Left Lorient and returned 29.7.42 Canaries. Attacks were rrulde on the convoy over thru days and seven ships were sunk, duee of them by U 107 in the morning of 8. IS.8.42 Left for operations in the Freetown area. the 24th. the SS John Holt (br 4975t). the SS Lafian (br 48761) and U 107 joined Otis group NE of the Azores from !he 23rd, with the MY Dltcove (br 3790!), all by torpedo WNW of !he Canaries. U 214. U 406 and U 566. to proceed southwards. On lhe 26th north After the operation U 107 continued south in company with bound SL 119 was sighted W of Lisbon by U 214. U 107 closed the U 103 and U 125. This time U 107 bad no success in the Freetown convoy on Lhe 28th but was driven off. The operation ended on the area. On 16.10.41 lhe boats, now joined by U 66, began rhe return 29th, with three ships sunk, two by U 566 and one by U 156 of journey, again in line abreast, searching lhe area between 17° and Eisbilr gro11p, which also operated againsr the convoy. 25°W. They had no success. U 107, U 21 4 and U 406 wiled W of Lisbon. In the morning of U 107, U 66 and U 103 were directed against southbound 3.9.42 U 107 sanlc iwo ships off the Ponugese coast, S of Lisbon, convoy OS I 0, sighted by U 96 on the 31st N of the Azores. Air the SS Hollinside (br 4172t) and the SS Penrrue (br 43931). reconnaissance reponcd the convoy again on 2.11.41 but only brief The three waiting boats were joined by U 87.