KIA Soldbuch U-Boot “U-193” (U-Boots-Kriegsabzeichen!)

Original Soldbuch of Killed in Action sailor Alfred Ketschker, who served aboard U-Boot “U-193“. 2.U.A.A. and the 2. U-Flottille. Killed in Action in the Biskaya. In February 1944, he earned the U-Boots-Kriegsabzeichen!  Signatures in the Soldbuch include that of: Kurt Waterstraat (DKIG), Hans Paukstadt (DKIG) and more! Complete with photo!

She was a member of two wolfpacks and carried out four war patrols in which she sank one ship, before being lost herself in the Bay of Biscay in April 1944. Following repairs, U-193 departed on her fourth and final patrol and was never heard from again. Her loss remains a mystery. A post-war assessment states that on 28 April 1944, she was seen and attacked by a British Royal Air Force Vickers Wellington bomber of No. 612 Squadron RAF, whose depth charges sank the boat with all 59 hands not far from Nantes. This attack was actually against U-802, inflicting no damage. The reason for U-193’s loss is unknown; however as the Bay of Biscay was routinely mined by the RAF, it could have been an operational loss.