German U-boat memorial at Möltenort – Heikendorf, Germany

At Möltenort, the U-boat memorial shows 30,000 names engraved in a memorial wall. These are all the lost crew members of each German U-boat lost in battle. It also states the (probable) place and cause of loss. It is strange to read how many U-boats still have not been found. You get a good picture of the progress of the battle at sea throughout World War Two and can clearly notice that the Allies were getting better at locating and destroying German submarines. By the end of the war the cause of the loss of most U-boats with 30 to 50 people on board is often just a single allied airplane.

The plaque above states:

During the World War 1939-1945 30,003 men of the U-boat navy lost their lives. 739 submarines stayed at sea.

In the Atlantic and the English Channel 18,897 men 458 submarines

In the Baltic Sea 2313 men 80 submarines
In the North Sea 3509 men 76 submarines
In the Mediterranean 1344 men 51 submarines
In the West Indian Waters 427 men 11 submarines
In the Indian Ocean 510 men 11 submarines
In Germany and alien territories 491 men 49 submarines

German U-boats of World War Two lost at sea

Very interesting is a map just outside the memorial, which shows where the U-boats sank, were last seen or where they had contact for the last time. There are so many scattered across the world map.

Visit

You can visit U-Boot Ehrenmal Möltenort freely during the daytime along the seafront in Heikendorf.

Location details

U-Boot Ehrenmal, Heikendorf,24226, 24226 Heikendorf, Germany