Type: IX-D1
Built by: AG Weser (Bremen)
Launched: 8 April 1942
Commissioned: 5 September 1942
Feldpost Nr.: M49317
Sunk:
Sunk by:
Location sunk:
Position sunk: (No men lost)

The first Skipper of U-195 was Kapitänleutnant Heinz Buchholz who had previously commanded U-15 and later U-177 where he was killed in action. The second and last Skipper was Oberleutnant Steinfeld from October 1943 until the end of the war.

U-195 was attached to the 12th U-Bootflottille based at Bordeaux, as were most of the larger cargo carrying German U-Boats and almost all Italian submarines.

The conning tower emblem when the boat was under command of Buchholz was the emblem of Mercedes as this rare boat (only two of this type made) had six fast-running Mercedes engines, the same as those in the S-Boats and E-Boats. These proved unreliable, and so were replaced with the two standard MAN diesels.

After completing her working up operations in the Baltic, U-195 undertook one patrol off Capetown, South Africa and in the Indian Ocean over May and June of 1943. She then made a one-way patrol from 20 August 1944 to Djakarta, ending on 28 December 1944 when she arrived that port.

With the capitulation of Germany in early May 1945, U-195 was taken over by the I.J.N. and was renumbered I-506. She was surrendered with the capitulation of the Japanese and in 1947, she was broken up for scrap.

SHIPS SUNK BY U-195 UNDER BUCHHOLZ

5.12.43 JAMES W. DENVER Amer stmr 7,200 GRT

This was a new ship, built in 1943, owned by WSA and operated by Calmas SS Co. She drew 26 feet under her cargo of 6,000 tons of sugar, acid, flour as well as planes, vehicles and bulldozers. Her armament consisted of one 4-inch deck gun and nine 20mm automatic guns. Under command of Master Everett William Staley, she was making 11 knots when attacked.

As part of Convoy UGS.7, this ship was on her maiden voyage bound for Casablanca but on the very first day, her engine bearings began to overheat and she dropped out of the convoy, becoming a straggler.

Too late, the coxswain sighted a torpedo bearing down on the ship, but it was only 40 yards away and there was no time for an alarm. The torpedo hit between the number 2 and number 3 holds, starboard side and below the waterline.

Seeing there was no hope, Staley ordered abandon ship about twenty minutes after the attack. By this time, the ship was listing heavily and was going down by the head to the point that the propeller was out of the water.

Most of the eight officers, thirty-four men, twenty-five Armed Guards and one passenger got off the ship, using five of her lifeboats. The #6 portside motor launch capsized and dumped eighteen men into the sea, but they all managed to make it safely to other boats and climbed aboard them.

The boat containing the Master remained at the scene of the sinking while the other four set sail for the African coast but after sailing together for the 1st day, they got separated.

The Spanish ship SS CABO HUERTAS rescued eleven men one week after the attack. SS CAMPANA rescued 11 more men some 13 days after the attack.

23 days after their ship went down, the Portuguese trawler ALBUFEIRA rescued eleven more men.

The Skipper and thirteen men made landfall 70 miles north of Port Etienne twenty five days afterward.

The last boat with eighteen men aboard was located by the Spanish sailing vessel JUAN thirty five days after the sinking.

The second engineer died of exposure and was buried at sea; an oiler later died in a hospital at Gibraltar.

5.12.43 SAMUEL JORDAN KIRKWOOD Amer stmr 7,191 GRT

Another new ship, built in 1943, owned by WSA and operated by A. H. Bull & Co., Inc. She drew 15 feet in water ballast for her return voyage. Her armament consisted of one 5-inch and one 3-inch deck gun, and eight 20mm automatic guns. Under command of Master Samuel Olson, she was making 12 knots when attacked.

After departing Capetown bound for Bahia, Brazil they spotted a torpedo that passed close astern, exploding two minutes later. The ship kept on her zigzag course & twenty minutes later, another torpedo crossed her bow and it too, exploded two minutes later.

Knowing they were being stalked, the lookouts maintained a sharp watch but twenty hours later, they spotted a third torpedo coming in from portside. The helmsman slammed the rudder hard aport, but the ship was in light ballast with part of the propeller above the waterline, and so she was sluggish in her maneuvers. The torpedo struck on the port quarter, blowing a huge twenty foot hole below the waterline and taking out the shaft alley and the steering gear. The blast blew one of the Armed Guards overboard.

The engines were secured right away and the ship was abandoned by the six officers, thirty-six men, twenty-five Armed Guards and four passengers in four lifeboats. It took this ship almost two hours to sink.

Ten days after the attack, a U.S. Army crash boat found the lifeboats and took them in tow. All hands survived.

DAMAGED BY U-195 UNDER BUCHHOLZ

5.12.43 CAPE NEDDICK Amer stmr 6,797 GRT

This ship was built in 1941, owned and operated by the United Fruit Company. She drew 28 feet under her cargo of 7,100 tons of ammunition, tanks, airplane parts, locomotives, jeeps & other war materiel. Her armament consisted of one 4-inch and one 3-inch deck gun and eight 20mm automatic guns. Under Master Harry Edward Stark, she was making 13 ½ knots when attacked.

She departed New York bound for Suez by way of Durban, South Africa, sailing independently. She was on a zigzag course when two torpedoes hit. The first hit just aft of the #3 hatch, but was a dud and failed to detonate. The second hit almost the same time at the #2 hatch and exploded violently, sending a sheet of flame higher than the bridge along with a water geyser. The ship rolled violently to port, then to starboard, eventually making even keel but there was a huge hole in the ship about 750 square feet.

The Armed Guards began firing all guns that could be brought to bear as the ship headed for the U-Boat. Too late, as the ship rapidly settled by the head and the water was over the foredeck. The Master ordered most of the eight officers, forty-three men and twenty-five Armed Guards into two boats and three rafts.

With the engines secured, the ship lost headway and the deck came above the water. The Master then realized that he could save his ship and he brought the engineroom crew back aboard and got back underway, zigzagging again.

Just as the ship began making headway, they spotted yet another torpedo pass ahead of the ship. The gun crews fired three salvoes in the direction they calculated the torpedo came, but with no U-Boat in sight, this was more of a random act to either scare the U-Boat away or to ease their nerves.

Fifteen hours later, the ship picked up the balance of the crew in the boats and rafts, and after shifting the cargo to bring the ship to an even keel, got underway once again. They soon arrived at Walvis Bay, South Africa. All hands survived, and there were no serious injuries.