U-171 submarine wreck

Unterseeboot 171
Commissioned on October 25, 1941, Unterseeboot 171 received her basic training at Stettin in Prussia (Pomerania province) in the 4. Unterseebootsflottille until June 30, 1942, when she joined her combat flotilla at the Lorient submarine base in France in the 10. Unterseebootsflottille.
She leaves the port of Kiel for her first patrol on June 17, 1942 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Günther Pfeffer.
On August 1, 1942, in the Gulf of Mexico, U-171 suffers an attack by a single depth charge dropped from an American Grumman F4F Wildcat J4F-1 aircraft (USCG V-212 / Y) which was mistakenly credited with the attack on U-166 at the geographical position of 28° 37′ N, 90° 45′ W.

After 115 days at sea and a record of 3 merchant ships for a total of 17,641 tons, the U-171 struck a mine between Lorient and the isle of Groix on October 9, 1942. She sank at 1pm, with 22 dead and 30 survivors. Of these survivors, 13 remained in the wreck for 1 hour before being able to free themselves and return to the surface.
On July 1, 1982, the French Navy minehunter Eridan, during validation tests prior to its admission to active service, and the validation of a hull sonar system, discovered a dislocated wreck, possibly a submarine, to the northwest of the island of Groix, at a depth of 39 meters. This wreck, upon careful investigation, turned out to be that of the U-171.
It rests at the geographical coordinates of 47° 39′ N, 3° 34′ W. The wreck of the submarine was classified in 1999, by the French military authorities, as a "military cemetery", following the request of the German submariners' amicale: divers are thus warned of the formal prohibition to enter it

Unterseeboot 171Commissioned on October 25, 1941, Unterseeboot 171 received her basic training at Stettin in Prussia (Pomerania province) in the 4. Unterseebootsflottille until June 30, 1942, when she joined her combat flotilla at the Lorient submarine base in France in the 10. Unterseebootsflottille.She leaves the port of Kiel for her first patrol on June 17, 1942 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Günther Pfeffer.On August 1, 1942, in the Gulf of Mexico, U-171 suffers an attack by a single depth charge dropped from an American Grumman F4F Wildcat J4F-1 aircraft (USCG V-212 Y) which was mistakenly credited with the attack on U-166 at the geographical position of 28° 37′ N, 90° 45′ W.After 115 days at sea and a record of 3 merchant ships for a total of 17,641 tons, the U-171 struck a mine between Lorient and the isle of Groix on October 9, 1942. She sank at 1pm, with 22 dead and 30 survivors. Of these survivors, 13 remained in the wreck for 1 hour before being able to free themselves and return to the surface.On July 1, 1982, the French Navy minehunter Eridan, during validation tests prior to its admission to active service, and the validation of a hull sonar system, discovered a dislocated wreck, possibly a submarine, to the northwest of the island of Groix, at a depth of 39 meters. This wreck, upon careful investigation, turned out to be that of the U-171.It rests at the geographical coordinates of 47° 39′ N, 3° 34′ W. The wreck of the submarine was classified in 1999, by the French military authorities, as a military cemetery, following the request of the German submariners' amicale: divers are thus warned of the formal prohibition to enter it