⚓ Shipwrecks Map

U-161 1943

U-161: U-505chicago
Image: Jeremy Atherton, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Marker: recorded wreck position (Second World War).

Key facts

NameU-161Wikidata label
Year lost1943Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier
EraSecond World Warderived from year
Ship typeU-boatWikidata P31 instance of
Cause of lossWar actionKeyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence
Nationality / flagNazi GermanyWikidata P8047 country of registry
OperatorKriegsmarineWikidata P137 operator
ConflictBattle of the Atlantic, Battle of the Caribbean, Attack on ArubaWikidata P607 conflict
Sea / oceanSouth Atlantic OceanNatural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon
Position-12.5000, -35.5800Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0)

About the wreck

German submarine U-161 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II. The keel for this boat was laid down on 23 March 1940 at the Deutsche Schiff und maschinenbau AG, Bremen yard as yard number 700. She was launched on 1 March 1941 and commissioned on 8 July under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans-Ludwig Witt (Knight's Cross).

The U-boat's service began with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla. She then moved to the 10th flotilla on 1 January 1942 for operations. She sank 12 ships, totalling 60,107 gross register tons (GRT); one warship of 1,130 tons and damaged five others, for 35,672 GRT. She also damaged one warship (5,450 tons) and caused one merchant vessel to be declared a total loss (3,305 GRT).

She was sunk by an American aircraft on 27 September 1943.

Location

  • Recorded position: -12.5000, -35.5800 (Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0); may be approximate)
  • Sea / ocean: South Atlantic Ocean

Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.

OpenStreetMap

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article German submarine U-161 (1941) (revision 1367315959), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.

Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).

Other wrecks of the Battle of the Atlantic

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Further reading