U-309 (1945): Shipwreck Map, Location & Facts

Name	U-309	Wikidata label
Year lost	1945	Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier
Era	Second World War	derived from year
Ship type	U-boat	Wikidata P31 instance of
Nationality / flag	Nazi Germany	Wikidata P8047 country of registry
Operator	Kriegsmarine	Wikidata P137 operator
Conflict	Battle of the Atlantic	Wikidata P607 conflict
Sea / ocean	North Sea	Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon
Nearest coast	Scotland	Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 52 km from land
Position	58.1500, -2.3800	Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0)

About the wreck

German submarine U-309 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 24 January 1942 at the Flender Werke yard at Lübeck, launched on 5 December 1942, and commissioned on 27 January 1943 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Gert Mahrholz. She sailed on nine combat patrols, but damaged only one ship, before being sunk off Scotland on 16 February 1945.

Diving & visiting

The wreck of what is believed to be U-309 was located on 17 May 2001, 25 miles off Wick in 62 metres (203 ft) of water. There are no identifying features, but the Type VIIC U-boat is close to the reported position of U-309's sinking, and the damage sustained is consistent with that caused by depth charges. However, there is a possibility that the wreck may be the U-1020, which went missing in the North Sea in November 1944 and has never been found.

Location

Recorded position: 58.1500, -2.3800 (Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0); may be approximate)
Sea / ocean: North Sea
Nearest coast: Scotland

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-309 (revision 1367317383), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Discovery”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.