| Wolfpack Prien | |
|---|---|
| Active | 12–17 June 1940 |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch | Kriegsmarine |
| Size | 7 submarines |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Korvettenkapitän Günther Prien |
Prien's wolfpack is the name given in some sources to a formation of German U-boats that operated during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It existed from 12 June to 17 June 1940.
The group was named for Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien, commander of U-47.
Prior to the Second World War the German Navy's U-boat Arm, under its leader, Karl Donitz, developed its pack attack, a response to the convoy system that had defeated its war on commerce during the First World War. However, following the outbreak of hostilities its first attempts to use the tactic had been unsuccessful. [1] Thereafter the UBW stuck to conventional patrols and solo attacks until diverted from the trade offensive to the invasion of Norway.
With the end of the Norwegian campaign in May 1940, the UBW returned to attacking Britain's commerce. A further attempt to make the pack attack viable was made in June 1940 with the dispatch of Rosing's group of five U-boats, against a high-value convoy, US 3, off Cape Finisterre. [2]
At the beginning of June, a second wave of U-boats was dispatched to operate against Allied shipping. Rohwer, the U-boat historian, lists seven U-boats (U-25, U-28, U-30, U-32, U-38, U-47, and U-51), and states they were set up between 12 and 15 June to operate against convoy HX 47, which had been detected by German Naval Intelligence. He refers to them in this as group "Prien". [3] However Blair (another U-boat historian), describes this second wave, of nine U-boats, as a series of individual patrols; mentioning a group of five set as a U-boat trap for ships evacuating troops from Norway, and describing Rosing's pack in detail, he doesn't refer to a "group Prien" at all. [4] Showell lists the seven U-boats mentioned by Rohwer, but calls them a "wolfpack". [5] The online source U-boat.net follows Showell, but gives the dates of operation as 12 to 17 June. [6] As only two boats made contact with HX 47, and they didn't form a pack to make their assault, the term "wolfpack" is a misnomer (and isn't used by most reliable sources at all).
This group was detailed to attack convoy HX 47 – en route from Halifax to Liverpool. Between 12 and 17 June the U-boats were on passage from the north of Scotland to the Southwest Approaches. [7] On 14 June two boats (U-38 and U-47) made contact with HX 47, south of Ireland in the Atlantic. Attacking separately they sank three ships of the convoy, and another sailing independently. On 13 June U-25 found and sank the armed merchant cruiser Scotstoun in the Northwest Approaches, west of Skye. By 17 June all U-boats were west of the Bay of Biscay. [8]
They sank five ships for a total of 40,494 gross register tons (GRT).
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Nationality | Convoy |
| 13 June 1940 | U-25 | Heinz Beduhn | HMS Scotstoun | 17,046 |  Royal Navy | |
| 14 June 1940 | U-47 | Günther Prien | Balmoralwood | 5,834 |  United Kingdom | HX 47 |
| 14 June 1940 | U-38 | Heinrich Liebe | Mount Myrto | 5,403 |  Greece | |
| 15 June 1940 | U-38 | Heinrich Liebe | Erik Boye | 2,238 |  Canada | HX 47 |
| 15 June 1940 | U-38 | Heinrich Liebe | Italia | 9,973 |  Norway | HX 47 |
| U-boat | Commander | From | To |
| U-25 | Heinz Beduhn | 12 June 1940 | 17 June 1940 |
| U-28 | Günter Kuhnke | 12 June 1940 | 17 June 1940 |
| U-30 | Fritz-Julius Lemp | 15 June 1940 | 17 June 1940 |
| U-32 | Hans Jenisch | 12 June 1940 | 17 June 1940 |
| U-38 | Heinrich Liebe | 12 June 1940 | 17 June 1940 |
| U-47 | Günther Prien | 12 June 1940 | 17 June 1940 |
| U-51 | Dietrich Knorr | 12 June 1940 | 17 June 1940 |
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