Qualla: German submarine U-1060

German submarine U-1060: Introduction

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Of all the ways a submarine can die, running aground on a rocky island while enemy aircraft circle overhead is among the most desperate. On October 27, 1944, German submarine U-1060 -- one of only four Type VIIF torpedo transports ever built -- was driven onto the Norwegian island of Fleina, south of Brønnøysund, after an attack by Fleet Air Arm aircraft. Over the next two days, she was systematically destroyed by rockets and depth charges dropped by Czechoslovak and British bomber crews. Twelve of her men died. Forty-three survived. The wreck still lies where it came to rest.

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German submarine U-1060: Built to Carry, Not to Fight

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

U-1060 was not a hunter. The Type VIIF was designed as a torpedo transport -- a submarine whose primary mission was to resupply other U-boats at sea, carrying up to 40 torpedoes in addition to her own armament of fourteen. Commissioned on May 15, 1943, at the Germaniawerft shipya...

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German submarine U-1060: Six Runs to Norway

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

U-1060 never conducted an offensive patrol. Her entire operational career, from December 1943 to October 1944, consisted of six torpedo transport voyages between the naval base at Kiel and ports in German-occupied Norway. These were not glamorous missions, but they were essential...

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German submarine U-1060: The End at Fleina

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On October 27, 1944, Fleet Air Arm Fireflies and Barracudas from a British aircraft carrier found U-1060 and attacked with rockets and depth charges. The damage was severe enough to force the submarine aground on Fleina, a small island in the Nordland coast archipelago. She was s...

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German submarine U-1060: The Czechoslovak Connection

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The men who delivered the killing blows were fighting far from home. No. 311 Squadron RAF was manned by Czechoslovak airmen who had fled their occupied homeland to continue the war from British bases. For crews like Pavelka's and Sedivy's, every mission over the Norwegian Sea was...

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