Qualla: German Submarine U-159

German Submarine U-159: Introduction

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

When the cargo ship La Salle exploded on 7 November 1942, the blast was heard at Cape Point lighthouse -- more than 300 nautical miles away. The ammunition she carried detonated in a single catastrophic moment, and the submarine responsible slipped back beneath the surface of the South Atlantic. That submarine was U-159, a Type IXC U-boat that would spend fifteen months terrorizing Allied shipping from the Azores to South Africa before meeting her own violent end in the Caribbean Sea.

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German Submarine U-159: Built for the Atlantic War

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

U-159's keel was laid down on 11 November 1940 at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, one of dozens of long-range Type IXC boats designed to carry the war far from European waters. At 76.76 meters long with a surface displacement of 1,120 tons, she was larger than the more...

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German Submarine U-159: The Hunting Begins

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Her first patrol was a transit run -- Kiel to Lorient through the gap between the Faroe and Shetland Islands, arriving at the French Atlantic port on 3 May 1942. Lorient would be her home for the rest of her career. The second sortie drew blood immediately. On 21 May, U-159 sank ...

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German Submarine U-159: 135 Days in the South Atlantic

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

U-159's third patrol was her longest and most destructive -- 135 days prowling the South Atlantic from the Azores to the waters off South Africa. She sank the Boringia, the Empire Nomad, and the Ross among others. A South African Air Force Lockheed Ventura attacked her on 10 Octo...

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German Submarine U-159: Wolfpacks and Waning Fortunes

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

By early 1943, the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic was turning against the U-boats. Allied air cover expanded, radar improved, and convoy escorts grew more effective. U-159's fourth patrol reflected this shift. She sank the Silverbeech on 28 March 1943 south of the Canary Isla...

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German Submarine U-159: Final Patrol

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

U-159 departed Lorient for the last time on 12 June 1943. By then, the Kriegsmarine was losing U-boats faster than it could replace them -- May 1943 alone had seen 43 boats destroyed, a catastrophe the Germans called Black May. On 28 July 1943, a U.S. Navy Martin PBM Mariner flyi...

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