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U-110
The
U-boat from which the British recovered a vital Enigma encryption device and
accompanying documentation in May 1941, allowing the first critical Allied
breakthrough in reading U-boat radio communications during World War II. (For
more on the breaking of the Enigma, see Decoding Nazi Secrets.)
U-110's captain, KL Fritz-Julius Lemp, had sunk the first Allied
merchant ship of the war, the British liner Athenia, while in command of
U-30.
Type: IX B
Built: AG Weser, Bremen
Keel laid: 1 February 1940
Launched: 25 August 1940
Commissioned: 21 November 1940
Commander: KL Fritz-Julius Lemp
Fate: Badly damaged in a convoy action 9 May 1941 by depth charges from
corvette HMS Aubretia and forced to the surface. The crew abandoned
ship, but before she could sink, a boarding party from destroyer HMS
Bulldog went aboard, recovered the Enigma machine and other materials,
and set up a towline to tow her into captivity. U-110 foundered the next
day while still in tow.
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