The U Boat Society

WWII

Formed during March 2008, the U-Boat Society has been in existence now for just over a year and currently has approximately 40 members. It was recognised that there was a desire to portray the Kriegsmarine arm in general and the U-Boatwaffe in particular, therefore to this end a number of like-minded individuals got together in order to form this neglected WW2 portrayal. 

The U-Boat Society itself portrays in essence the 9th Unterseebootsflotille based at Brest on the Bay of Biscay peninsula, southwestern France. The 9th occupied Brest between 1941 and 1944 and was at the forefront of the conflict against allied shipping throughout that time. The 9th flotille finally vacated Brest once it became obvious that American forces would capture the base in September 1944. The remaining U-Boats sailed to Bergen, Norway, whereupon they were absorbed into the 11th flotille based at that location.

The first commander of the 9th flotille was Kapitänleutnant Jürgen Oesten between October 1941 and February 1942. However, the most notable and longest serving commander was Korvettenkapitän Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, of U-96 fame, between May 1942 and September 1944. It was at that point that the flotille then adopted Lehmann-Willenbrock’s famous ‘laughing swordfish’ conning tower emblem as its very own. Altogether, 84 U-Boats operated with the 9th flotille, comprising of three different types, the most common being the famous type V11C medium sized ‘front boat.

Living History