Wolfpack Eisbär

Gruppe Eisbär (Group Polar Bear) was a force of German U-boats that operated from 23 August 1942 in the South Atlantic during the Second World War. The group was to operate off Cape Town, which was considered to be vulnerable. Some of the most experienced U-boat commanders including Harald Gelhaus, Werner Hartenstein and Carl Emmermann participated in the operation.

During the voyage south, the group temporarily was diverted to attack Convoy SL 119 that had been attacked by gruppe Iltis. U-156 sank SS Clan Macwhirter (5,941 GRT) on 27 August and sank the liner SS Laconia on 12 September, which began the Laconia Incident. U-156 was replaced in gruppe Eisbär by U-159 and the group was redirected to the waters around South Africa.

The Allies were preoccupied with Operation Torch and the campaign in north-west Africa, giving priority to the protection of troop convoys that left the Allied navies with few escort vessels to reinforce the South Atlantic Station. Merchant ships were sent to Durban instead of Cape Town and routed far to the south, across the South Atlantic to South America, thence to sail up the east coast, crossing the Atlantic from the US to Britain.

Gruppe Eisbär sank 23 ships (155,335 GRT) off Cape Town and Durban along and eleven ships (60,829 GRT) in transit, for the loss of U-179. The 34 ships sunk (216,164 GRT) averaged 8.5 ships (54,041 GRT) per boat, one of the most successful U-boat operations of the war. The U-cruisers sank 27 ships of 161,407 GRT, an average of 6.75 ships per U-boat (40,350 GRT). Ammiraglio Cagni sank one ship making 28 ships and 163,400 GRT. About 2,690 crew, passengers, Italian internees and military personnel on the ships were killed.