 On 15 October 1942, the 12th U-boat Flotilla was formed at Bordeaux by the "Kriegsmarine" under the command of "Korvettenkapitän" Klaus Scholtz.The first U-boat to use the bunker was on 17 January 1943.The base was bombed by the British on several occasions, especially in 1940 and 1941, but no significant damage was suffered, except for the sinking of the barracks ship "Usaramo".