Kriegstagebücher (KTB) & Stehender Kriegsbefehl

Des Führers/Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote (F.d.U./B.d.U.)

War Diary and War Standing Orders of Commander in Chief, Submarines

        The KTBs presented here were made available by the kind assistance of Mr. Bernard Cavalcante and the staff of the Naval Historical Center.  They are an Office of Naval Intelligence translation of the German original. The original translated BdU KTBs are in the custody of the Operational Archives Branch of the Naval Historical Center located at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.
        War standing orders were made available through the generous assistance of Tony Cooper and Roger Griffiths.  Tony Cooper is a maritime researcher in England for over 30 years and is a member of The Norwich Group which performs historical research and assists researchers worldwide.  Roger Griffiths is a well known U.K. naval researcher who has helped many historians and authors.
      Daily reports of OKM - 1. Skl which cover the period 14 Dec 1944 to 7 April 1945 were made available by Aaron Hamilton.

Cover of the 1-15 June 1940 KTB

 

Kriegstagebücher (KTB) - War Diary

Click the icons to view the associated records
BdU KTB Formats

Excerpt from "Guides to the Microfilmed Records of the German Navy, 1850-1945: No. 2  -  Records Relating to U-boat Warfare, 1939-1945"

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington: 1985

Key
 
 
Months outside the period covered by KTBs
Months for which records are available - click on hypertext to view the record
 
Typical entry consists of:
Month
Days of the month covered
PG Number
T1022 Roll Number
October
1-15
30249
3979
1939
July
August
September
October
November
December
a
a
a
XXXXX
XXXXX
XXXXX
     
3979
3979
3979
3979
3979
3979
3979
3979
1940
January
February
March
April
May
June
3979
3979
3979
3979
3979
3979
4063
3979
3979
3979
3979
3979
.
Annex I to B.d.U War Log (Invasion of Denmark and Norway)
July
August
September
October
November
December
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
3979
4063
1941
January
February
March
April
May
June
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
July
August
September
October
November
December
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
4063
1942
January
February
March
April
May
June
3979
3979
3979
3979
3979
3979
3979
3979
3979
3979
3980
3980
July
August
September
October
November
December
3980
3980
3980
3980
3980
3981
3980
3980
3980
3980
3980
3980
1943
January
February
March
April
May
June
4063
4064
4064
4064
4064
4064
4064
4064
4064
4064
4064
4067
July
August
September
October
November
December
Note *
4064
4064
4064
4064/4065
4065
4065
3980
N/A
3980
3980
4067
3980
* Not registered or filmed - original is in the custody of the Bundesarchiv-Abt. Militararchiv as item RM 87/32
1944
January
February
March
April
May
June
3981
3981
4065
4065
4065
4065
4065
4065
4065
4065
4065
4065
July
August
September
October
November
December
4065
4066
4066
4066
4066
4066
4066
4066
4066
4066
3981
4066
1945
January
February
March
April
May
June
16-30
1-15
16-29
1-15
16-31
1-15
16-30
1-15
16-31
1-15
16-30
No KTB entries have been identified after 15 January 1945
4066

 

O.K.M. - 1. Skl Daily Situation Reports

These records were made available by Aaron S. Hamilton and Håvard Hovdet

Click the icons to view the associated records
 
Key
 
 
Months outside the period covered by Daily Situation reports
Months for which records are available - click on hypertext to view the record
 
Typical entry consists of:
Month
Days of the month covered
PG Number
T1022 Roll Number
January
1-15
31752
3900
1944
July
August
September
October
November
December
1-31
1-31
1-30
1-31
1-30
1-15
This period is covered by the BdU KTB
3900
1945
January
February
March
April
May
1-8
 
1725
3900
3900
3900
3900
3900
No Daily Summaries have been identified after 29 April 1945

 

Stehender Kriegsbefehl - Standing War Orders

        The two partial sets of Standing War Orders below are from different periods of the war.
        The first set, from early 1941, was taken from U-110 when that U-boat was captured on May 9, 1941 in the North Atlantic south of Iceland by the destroyers HMS Bulldog, HMS Broadway and the British corvette HMS Aubretia. 
        The second set, from early 1945, was taken from U-249 after that U-boat surrendered at Portland, England on 9 May 1945.     
        Both translated records are in the custody of the U.K. National Archives at Kew, Richmond Surrey, England.

 

Click the titles to view the standing war orders taken from U-110 in May 1941
Title and Number Date Issued Subject
     
Standing War Order No. 101 Early 1941 Directions for the Conduct of the War Against Commerce
   
Standing War Order No. 102 Early 1941 Resume of the Current Regulations Regarding the Limitation of Warlike Action
     
Standing War Order No. 103 Early 1941 Declared Areas, Mined Areas, Danger Zones
     
Standing War Order No. 104 Early 1941 Special Neutrality Regulations
     
Standing War Order No. 105 Early 1941
Distinguishing Marks of Neutrals
   
Standing War Order No. 121 Early 1941 Vessels Not to be Sunk
 
Standing War Order No. 123 Early 1941 Supplementary Orders regarding Warfare under the Prize Law
 
Standing War Order No. 124 Early 1941 Neutral Vessels in Neutral Escort
 
Standing War Order No. 127 Early 1941 Procedure to be Followed in Neutral Territorial Waters
 
Standing War Order No. 128 Early 1941 Incidents and Activity Contrary to International Law
Standing War Order No. 131 JAN 1941 Behaviour Towards French Warships and Merchant Ships
Standing War Order No. 155 Early 1941 English Instructions for Convoys
Standing War Order No. 171 Early 1941
Experiences and Observations
Standing War Order No. 172 Early 1941 Collation of Iintelligence and Observations Regarding Enemy Position-finding Appliances
Standing War Order No. 173 Early 1941 Extracts from British Admiralty Notices
Standing War Order No. 174 Early 1941
The Corvette
Standing War Order No. 301 Early 1941
Draught of Merchant Vessels
Standing War Order No. 302 MAR 1941
Depth-setting of Torpedoes
Standing War Order No. 472 Early 1941 Norwegian Coast (MagneticVariation)
Standing War Order No. 501 Early 1941
Keeping of War Diaries (U-boat KTBs)
Standing War Order No. 502 Early 1941 Instructions to Crews (On Security)

 

Click the titles to view the standing war orders taken from U-249 in May 1945
Title and Number Date Issued Subject
     
Current Order No. 1 NOV 1944 Procedure when underway and in operational areas
     
Current Order No. 2 NOV 1944 Procedure when Schnorkelling
     
Current Order No. 3 DEC 1944 Switching to night routine to save current, air and potash cartridges
     
Current Order No. 4 DEC 1944 Commander's freedom to shift operational area
     
Current Order No. 5 MAY 1944 Supply procedures at rendezvous
     
Current Order No. 6 SEP 1944 Attacks on enemy submarines
     
Current Order No. 20 OCT 1944 Defence situation South Norway Area
     
Current Order No. 20 APR 1945 Defence situation South Norway Area (update)
     
Current Order No. 21 MAR 1944 Defence situation in the Atlantic
     
Permanent Order No. 22 & Prob. JAN 1943 Use of heavy ballast to submerge
Permanent Order No. 29 JAN 1943 Running Diesel engines at full speed
     
Current Order No. 23 AUG 1944 Density layers of water and listening conditions
     
Current Order No. 24 MAR 1944 Prowling at greater depth (to control cavitation of screw)
     
Current Order No. 25 JAN 1945 Situation of enemy mines in the operational areas of England
     
Current Order No. 40 FEB 1944 Tactics for night attack by aircraft
     
Current Order No. 41 OCT 1943 Air patrolling of American waters by blimps
     
Current Order No. 42 JUN 1944 Use of the FUMO for warning of aircraft
     
Current Order No. 43 JUN 1944 Use of Tunis Installation (Fliege and Miicke)
     
Current Order No. 44 MAR 1944 Use of Wanze 2
     
Current Order No. 45 FEB 1945 Procedure against enemy contact buoys
     
Current Order No. 60 NOV 1944 Torpedo equipment
     
Current Order No. 61 Not dated Procedure in case of damage to torpedo tubes
     
Current Order No. 62 JUL 1944 Use of double torpedo conduit while schnorkelling
     
Current Order No. 63 NOV 1943 Procedure for T V torpedoes
     
Current Order No. 64 OCT 1944 Procedure for firing Lut torpedoes in unexpected combat
     
Current Order No. 65 OCT 1944 Use of torpedoes when Anti-T V Defence is suspected
     
Permanent Order No. 66 JAN 1943 Note for all "FAT" and "Lut" boats
     
Current Order No. 67 NOV 1944 Firing torpedoes on he basis of firing data obtained by sound-detector
     
Current Order No. 68 NOV 1944 Maintenance of Firing Rod and Lut angle adjustors in Torpedo Tubes on U-boats Type VII and IX
     
Current Order No. 69 NOV 1944 Firing of torpedoes by Radar - O.T. torpedo
     
Current Order No. 75 FEB 1944 Treatment of the 3.7 cm
     
Current Order No. 80 NOV 1944 Causes of bad wireless communication
     
Current Order No. 81 MAR 1944 Distress Transmitting Gear for Rubber Dinghies and Rafts
     
Current Order No. 82 & JAN 1945 Emergency transmissions in case of attack
Current Order No. 83 JAN 1944 Amendment to War Order 211a the procedure for a/c sending signals for D/F purposes
     
Current Order No. 84 AUG 1944 Danger of D/F when using W/T
     
Current Order No. 24 JAN 1944 Amendment to Current Order No. 24 - Supply
     
Current Order No. 85 AUG 1944 Possibility of the enemy D/Fing receiver radiation
     
Current Order No. 120 NOV 1943 Procedures for entering Spanish ports
     
Current Order No. 121 MAY 1944 Signals for parachuting German air crews
     
Current Order No. 122 JUL 1944 Capture of Secret Documents