U 1163
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U 1163 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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|---|---|
| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | 52 936 |
| Shipyard: | Danzig Werft AG, Danzig |
| Construction contract: | October 14, 1941 |
| Build number: | 135 |
| Keel laying: | December 5, 1942 |
| Launch: | June 12, 1943 |
| Commissioning: | October 6, 1943 |
| Commanders: |
Ernst-Ludwig Balduhn |
| Calls: | four ventures |
| Sinkings: |
a ship with 903 GRT sunk |
| Whereabouts: | capitulated on May 8th in southern Norway |
U 1163 was a German submarine of the type VII C , a so-called "Atlanticboat", which was used by the German Navy in the European Arctic Ocean. The boat was involved in attacks on northern convoys during this time. In addition, the crew was commissioned to set up the manned weather station Taaget and to set up an automatic weather radio station .
Technical specifications
After the occupation of Poland, Danziger Werft AG was included in the Kriegsmarine 's submarine construction program . The shipyard produced a total of 42 submarines between 1941 and 1945. 32 of them of the type VII C. This model reached a speed of 17 knots with two diesel engines when driving above water and 7.6 kn when driving underwater with two electric motors. The storage capacity of the batteries was only sufficient for an hour at maximum underwater speed. At a lower speed, the boat could theoretically travel underwater for up to three days. A dive of this length was of course not to be expected of the crew, because the air in the Type VII C boats was already exhausted after 24 hours. This was also the usual interval for charging the batteries during a surface voyage.
Commitment and history
After commissioning, U 1163 was assigned to the 8th U-Flotilla, a training flotilla that was stationed in Danzig. During this time, Commander Balduhn undertook training drives in the Baltic Sea to retract the boat and train the crew. In August 1944, the boat was assigned to the 11th U-Flotilla, which was stationed in Bergen , Norway , where the boat arrived on August 17th.
From here, Commander Balduhn completed four operations with U 1163 , on which he sank a Soviet cargo ship. When the cargo steamer Revolijucia was sunk , 22 seafarers were killed.
"Wilhelm" on Magerøya
In early November 1944, Commander Balduhn received the order to bring a Land Weather Radio (WFL) to the North Cape. It was an automatic weather station that consisted of an antenna and several cylinders, which were designed to be transported in the torpedo tubes of a submarine. The WFL should be set up under the supervision of the meteorologist Georg Wilhelm on Magerøya and was given the code name "Wilhelm". U 1163 stayed in Hammerfest at the beginning of November to repair the gyro compass and then took Government Councilor Wilhelm and the WFL on board in Narvik . The boat left the bow bay on November 9th . After the successful installation of the WLF "Wilhelm", U 1163 returned to Norway on November 12, 1944, a few days after the sinking of the Tirpitz , and entered Tromsø .
"Taaget" on Bjørnøya
At the end of 1944, U 1162 brought two weather radio operators collaborating with the German Abwehr to Bäreninsel , where they set up the Taaget weather station together with members of the boat's crew .
End of the boat
Commander Balduhn surrendered on May 8 at the Kristiansand submarine base and then transferred U 1162 to Scapa Flow . From there the boat was brought to the Scottish west coast to Loch Ryan on June 5th .
literature
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 3: German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 2001, ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Uwe Schnall (Ed.): Writings of the Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum Volume 53 Franz Selinger: "From 'Nanok' to 'Eismitte'. Meteorological ventures in the Arctic 1940-1945 " Convent Verlag GmbH, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-934613-12- 8 , page 298
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