U-404 under Otto von Bülow spent 6 days in New England w/o sinking any Allied ships in March 1942

Patrol 13, U-404 Otto von Bülow, 6 days March 6tdh to 11^th 1942.

Otto von Bülow, who skippered U-404 on a 6-day patrol through New England waters in March 1942. Photo courtesy of http://www.uboat.net/men/buelow.htm

Kapitänleutnant(later Korvettenkapitän) Otto von Bülow in U-404 entered New England waters heading westwards from south of Cape Sable Nova Scotia on the 6^thof March, 1942. The boat motored west and southwest for six days, passing southeast of Nantucket on the 10^th before exiting the area south of Montauk New York on the 11^th. The sub didn’t sink any Allied ships whilst there.

The patrol began in Lorient on the 14^th of February and ended in Brest 50 days later on the 4^thof April 1942. While off Halifax von Bülow managed to sink the American freighter Collamer of Convoy HX 178 on 5^th March. Then after leaving New England they sank the Tolten on the 13^th, Lemuel Burrows a day later, and on the 17^th the San Demetrio, for a total of 22,653 tons sunk.

Otto von Bülow was born in Wilhelmshaven on the 16^th of October 1911 and lived until 2006 at the age of 94. In April 1943 he was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and a year later the War Merit Cross 2^nd Class with Swords. A member of the Crew of 1930 he served aboard the Deutschland and the Schleswig-Holstein as well as in naval anti-aircraft detachments. He joined U-boats in 1940, commanding the training boat U-3.

In August 1941 von Bülowcommissioned U-404 on which he was to stake his reputation until he handed over command to his erstwhile 1st Watch Officer Oberleutnant zur See Adolf Schönberg, who was born in Babylon, New York in 1918. The boat was then lost on its first patrol under the new commander, on the 28^th of July, 1943.

Overall von Bülow sank or damaged 17 Allied merchant and naval ships of roughly 89,000 tons. After some months in British captivity following command of the Electro-U-boat U-2545 von Bülow joined the new German navy in 1956 and retired from it in 1970.

Busch, Rainer and Röll, Hans-Joachim, “German U-Boat Commanders of World War II, A Biographical Dictionary,” Greenhill Books, London and Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1999

Högel, Georg, “U-Boat Emblems of World War II 1939 – 1945,” Schiffer Military History, Atglen, PA, US, 1999

Mason, Jerry, www.uboatarchive.net – for the KTB or war diary of this patrol, 2015

Niestlé,Axel, “German U-Boat Losses During World War II – Details of Destruction,” Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD