SENSUIKAN!

© 2001 Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp

9 May 1942:
Bremen, Germany. The U-181, a 1,616-ton surface displacement Type IXD-2 long-range submarine, is completed at Deschimag AG Weser and commissioned in the Kriegsmarine. Korvettenkapitän (KK=LtCdr) (later Kapitän zur See, KzS=Captain) Wolfgang Lüth (former CO of U-43 and others) is the Commanding Officer.

12 September 1942:
The U-181 departs for the South Atlantic. In two patrols under KK Lüth (Germany's second-ranking U-boat Ace), she sinks 23 ships for 117, 589-tons of Allied shipping.

24 March 1943:
Departs Bordeaux, France.

16 April 1943:
S. Atlantic. A signal is received from the Führer's Headquarters of the award to KK Lüth of the Oak Leaf with Swords to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Lüth is the fourth Kriegsmarine officer to receive the Swords.

9 August 1943:
Indian Ocean. While still on patrol, the U-181 receives another signal from the Führer's Headquarters. This time, Hitler awards Lüth the Oak Leaf with Swords and Diamonds to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Lüth is the first of only two* Kriegsmarine officers to receive the Diamonds, Germany's highest combat award at that time.**

In the summer of 1943, it is decided to send U-boats to operate in the Indian Ocean. The first group of U-boats arrives in the Far East at the end of September 1943, after the tropical monsoon rains period. Thereafter, the group is named "Monsun".

2 September 1943:
S. Africa. The U-181 rounds the Cape of Good Hope and heads towards France. 14 October 1943:
Arrives at Bordeaux. During his 211-day patrol, Lüth sinks eight ships for 39,155-tons. It is his last patrol.

After his arrival, Lüth, an ardent Nazi, travels to the Führer's Headquarters where, on 25 October, Hitler personally awards him the Diamonds.***

1 November 1943:
Fregattenkapitän (FK=Cdr)(later, Vizeadmiral, Bundesmarine) Kurt Freiwald (former CO of U-33 and Adjutant to Grossadmirals Räder and Dönitz) assumes command of the U-181.

February 1944:
Bordeaux. Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz, Oberbefehlshaber (CINC) der Kriegsmarine (OKM), visits the 12th U-flotille and meets with the U-181's officers.

16 March 1944:
The U-181, under FK Freiwald, departs La Pallice with KK Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat's U-196. Both boats are bound for Penang Island, Malaya. The U-181 carries mercury, lead, steel, uncut optical glass and aluminum in her keel and a cargo of drawings, models and blueprints of German weaponry and equipment for Japan. She also carries spare torpedoes and a spare propeller for the U-boat base at Penang. Enroute, she sinks four ships for 24,800-tons.

22 April 1944:
S. Atlantic. The U-181 meets Kapitänleutnant (KL=Lt) Siegfried Lüdden's in-bound U-188 near the St. Paul Rocks and provides lubricating oil to her. The U-181 also transfers a sick engineer for the U-188 to return to Bordeaux.

May-July 1944:
FK Freiwald's U-181, enroute to the Far East, sinks four ships in the S. Atlantic and Indian Ocean for 24,869-tons. In the Indian Ocean, the U-181 carries large swastikas painted on both sides of her conning tower, white paint on the front of the bridge and white cross stripes on her foredeck to aid Japanese airmen in identifying the submarine as a German U-boat.

16 July 1944:
The U-181 is surprised on the surface by a British patrol bomber despite her NAXOS radar detector. She crash dives, but is bombed. One of her fuel tanks is cracked and the gyrocompass damaged. Later that day, while submerged, she is depth charged by the Indian sloop SUTLEJ.

20 July 1944:
A signal is received from BdU (Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote=HQ, U-boats) placing the Kriegsmarine on general alert following an attempt on the life of Adolf Hitler.

21 July 1944:
At 0400, the U-181 is approaching Pulu Penang, when her lookouts spot the conning tower of a surfaced submarine. Suddenly, the other submarine dives. There is no further contact between the submarines.****

8 August 1944:
Off the coast of Malaya, a two-seat Arado Ar-196A floatplane (formerly of the raider MICHEL, Hilfskreuzer IX/Schiff 28) with Japanese Hinomaru markings, but flown by a Oberleutnant Ulrich Horn (former air officer of the MICHEL), circles the U-181 a few times and dips its wings in recognition. Soon, a small Japanese pilot boat arrives and guides the U-boat into Penang, home of the Monsun U-boat Group under Chef im Südraum (Chief, Southern Area) FK Wilhelm Dommes (former CO of U-178). The Monsun Group has satellite facilities at Singapore, Batavia (Djakarta) and Surabaja in Java (Indonesia) and at Kobe, Japan.

The U-181 is met by ComSubRon 8 Rear Admiral Uozumi Jisaku (former CO of HAGURO), FK Dommes, KK Wolfgang Erhardt, the Kriegsmarine's first base commander at Penang, their staffs and a band that plays the German and Japanese national anthems.

10 August 1944:
KK Kentrat's U-196 arrives at Penang.

September 1944:
FK Freiwald is ordered to fly to Tokyo to confer with the German naval attaché and Deutscher Admiral Ostasien (German Admiral, East Asia) Vizeadmiral Paul Wennecker (former CO of Panzerschiff DEUTSCHLAND/LÜTZOW).

9 September 1944:
Departs Penang, under the temporary command of KK (later Kapitän zur See, Bundesmarine) Oskar Herwartz, CO of the U-843, in the absence of Freiwald. The U-181 runs aground enroute, but refloats with the next tide.

10 September 1944:
The U-181 arrives at Singapore. Drydocked at the No. 101 Navy Repair Unit at Seletar Naval Base. Hundreds of flasks of mercury are removed from her keel. A new FUMB26 TUNIS radar detector is fitted.

September 1944:
FK Freiwald returns from Japan and resumes command of the U-181.

23 September 1944:
Departs Singapore.

25 September 1944:
Arrives at Batavia, Java.

September 1944:
Grossadmiral Dönitz orders all U-boats not equipped with snorkels to return to the Atlantic after the summer monsoon is over.

19 October 1944:
In compliance with Dönitz' order, the U-181 departs Batavia for Norway loaded with 120-tons of tin in ingots, 100-tons of raw rubber in bales in her tanks, 20-tons of molybdenum and a ton of quinine. Medicinal opium is carried in her torpedo tubes. She has only two torpedoes available.

2 November 1944:
Indian Ocean. At 2000 local, the U-181 uses both of her torpedoes to sink the 10,198-ton American tanker FORT LEE at 27-55S, 83-11E. She was alone en route from Abadan, Iran, to Brisbane, Australia carrying 93,000 barrels of Navy Bunker C fuel.

The U-181 misses a refueling rendezvous with the U-219. Later, S of the Cape of Good Hope in the "Roaring Forties" latitude, a main bearing failure causes Freiwald to abort the mission.

November 1944:
Incessant Allied air and submarine attacks render Penang untenable as an operational base for submarines. The German U-boats withdraw to Batavia (Jakarta) and the Japanese I-boats relocate to Surabaya, Java (Indonesia).

17 December 1944:
Near the Cocos Islands. The U-181 refuels KK Herwartz' Norway-bound U-843.*****

6 January 1945:
Returns to Tanjong Priok, Batavia's harbor. Four U-boats are already anchored there. A week earlier, the 1,135-ton ammunition ship TAICHO MARU exploded and wrecked the harbor's facilities.

14 January 1945:
The I-181 departs Batavia.

16 January 1945:
Arrives at Singapore for a major overhaul. The Germans construct a snorkel from plans sent from Germany and otherwise prepare the U-181 to return to Europe.

1 April 1945:
The U-181's skipper FK Freiwald is promoted to KzS.

7 April 1945:
Seletar Naval Base, Singapore. The Singapore Base Commandant, FK Dommes and KzS Freiwald present the German Cross in Gold to Stabsobermaschinist Franz Persch, Obermaschinistenmaat Karl Kaiser and Maschinist Wilhelm Linka, all of the U-181, for completing two dangerous patrols from Europe to Singapore.

3 May 1945:
KzS Freiwald assembles the U-boats' crews and base personnel. He announces that their Führer, Adolf Hitler, is dead.

5 May 1945:
Tokyo. The German naval attaché, Vizeadmiral Wennecker sends the code-word signal "Lübeck" to all U-boats in Asia. It signifies that Germany has ceased hostilities.

6 May 1945: The Surrender of Germany:
Seletar. Vice Admiral Fukudome Shigeru (former CO of NAGATO), Commander, 13th Area Fleet, three other admirals and staff officers arrive by automobile alongside Freiwald's U-181 and KK Heinrich Timm's U-862. Fukudome informs Freiwald, Dommes and Timm they are being interned since Germany capitulated. The German officers are invited to a festive dinner, "in European style", where Fukudome thanks them for their war effort.

At about 1600, trucks arrive and disembark armed Japanese troops alongside the U-boats. The DKM's swastika ensigns are lowered from the U-Boats and replaced by the IJN's battle flags. During four patrols, the U-181 sank 27 ships for a total of 138,779-tons. Later, she is overhauled by the No. 101 Navy Repair Unit at Seletar.

June 1945:
The U-boats' crews and base personnel are trucked to an ex-British rubber plantation at Batu Pahat in southern Malaya for internment.

15 July 1945:
Seletar. The U-181 is commissioned in the IJN as the I-501 and assigned to Fukudome's 13th Area Fleet. I-501 is operationally capable of conducting war patrols. The submarine's former German crew is divided into two 30-man strong parties tasked with teaching handling of the U-boat to the Japanese.

The Japanese plan to use the I-501 for training in late August, then for a transportation run to the Andaman Islands and later send her to Japan to have her torpedo tubes remodeled to accommodate IJN torpedoes. The Japanese crew of the I-501 starts a working-up course under German supervision.

16 August 1945: The Surrender of Japan:
Seletar. The Japanese surrender to the Royal Navy. The I-501 and the I-502 are moored next to the damaged cruiser MYOKO in the Johore Strait.

30 November 1945:
Removed from the Navy List. Under British supervision, her former German crew strips the I-501 of all her valuable parts.

14 February 1946:
The I-501 and the I-502 are towed by the tugs GROWLER and ASSIDUOUS to the Straits of Malacca.

16 February 1946:
The I-501 is scuttled by Cdr (later Captain) Stanley Darling's frigate HMS LOCH LOMOND and the frigate HMS LOCH GLENDHU in the Straits of Malacca at 03-05N, 100-41-50E.

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Authors' Notes:
* On 24 November 1944, KK Albrecht Brandi becomes the second Kriegsmarine officer to receive the Diamonds.

** On December 29, 1944 Hitler creates the Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds as the Third Reich's highest combat decoration. He awards only one, to Luftwaffe Stuka ace Oberst (Col) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

***On 13 May 1945, one week after the war ends, KzS Lüth fails to give a German guard the password and is shot dead at the Flensburg-Mürwik Naval College of which he is Commandant. Dönitz, by then Führer of Germany, attends his funeral.

**** Postwar, it is learned the other submarine was LtCdr C. R. Pelly's HMS STRATAGEM based at Trincomalee, Ceylon. In November, 1944 Pelly and the STRATAGEM are depth-charged and lost in the Straits of Malacca.

*****Herwartz' U-843 makes Bergen, Norway on 3 Apr '45, but on 9 Apr. enroute to Kiel, is sunk in the Kattegat by rockets from Mosquitoes of Group Captain, the Hon. Max Aitken's Strike Wing's Squadrons 143, 235 and 248 based at RAF Banff.

Special thanks for help in preparing this TROM go to Dr. Higuchi Tatsuhiro of Japan. Thanks also go to Allan Alsleben of the United States and the guys at the forum on Jan Visser's "Royal Netherlands Navy Warships of World War II" website for help in identifying the TAICHO MARU.

– Bob Hackett and Sander Kingsepp.

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