U-70

The Type VIIC boat U-70 left Heligoland on 20 February 1941 under the command of the highly experienced Kapitanleutnant Joachim Matz, bound fo the North Atlantic. Six days later it sank a Swedish merchant vessel. Then, on 7 March, it danaged two more vessels, one British, one Dutch, which were part of a convoy south-west of the Faroes. However, it was rammed by the damaged Dutch tanker, damaging its conning tower. It then tried to escape at high speed on the surface but was pursued by the corvettes HMS Arbutus and Camellia. It submerged once more but was eventually blown to the surface by depth charges, as shown here, and came under fire. The crew scuttled their U-boat, twenty of them being lost when it sank. Twenty-six were rescued to become prisoners, including Matz. Ref: ADM 199/2058