#frederick markworth

[deutschland-im-krieg]

The U-66 was a Type IXC submarine operated by the Kriegsmarine (German navy).  It was laid down on 20 March 1940 at the AG Wesser yard in Bremen, and launched on 10 October and commissioned on 2 January 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Richard Zapp as part of the 2nd U-boat Flotilla.

U-66 was the seventh most successful U-boat in WW2, and over nine patrols she sank 33 merchant ships, for a total of 200,021 gross registered tons (GRT) and damaged two British motor torpedo boats (MTBs). On 6 May 1944, during her ninth patrol, she was sunk west of the Cape Verde Islands by depth charges, ramming and gunfire from Grumman TBF Avenger and Grumman F4F Wildcat aircraft from the USS Block Island (CVE-21) and the destoyer escort USS Buckley (DE-51).

The U-66 is pictured here after returning from her 6th combat patrol, under the command of the young 27 year old Kapitänleutnant Frederick Markworth. This was his first combat patrol with U-66 and it was conducted in the Caribbean Sea. Lorient, France, September 1942