U 147
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U 147 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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| Type : | II D |
| Field Post Number : | 19 049 |
| Shipyard: | Deutsche Werke Kiel AG , Kiel |
| Construction contract: | September 25, 1939 |
| Build number: | 276 |
| Keel laying: | April 10, 1940 |
| Launch: | November 16, 1940 |
| Commissioning: | December 11, 1940 |
| Commanders: |
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| Flotilla: |
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| Calls: | 3 activities
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| Sinkings: |
3 ships (8,636 GRT) |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk 2 June 1941 northwest of Ireland in the North Atlantic |
U 147 was a German type II D submarine. It was used by the Kriegsmarine during the U-Boat War in 1941 in the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic .
Technical specifications
The Deutsche Werke Kiel AG was the first German shipyard, which again submarines built after the First World War. Initially, from 1935 onwards, small Type II A models were manufactured under the utmost secrecy, after which Deutsche Werke Kiel AG mainly produced surface warships until the outbreak of war. Only when the war broke out was the shipyard included again on a large scale in the navy's submarine building program. U 147 was one of 15 type II D boats that were commissioned from this shipyard after the start of the war. Type II boats were called "dugouts" in memory of the first vehicles with which people ventured out to sea. A II D boat was 44 m long, had a displacement of 364 t under water and the two 205 hp electric motors enabled a speed of 7.4 knots . A II D boat powered by two diesel engines reached a speed of 12.7 knots over water.
Commanders
- December 11, 1940 to April 4, 1941 Reinhard Hardegen
Reinhard Hardegen had been promoted to lieutenant captain ten days before he took command of U 147 . He undertook a patrol with this boat in the North Atlantic and in April 1941 handed over the command to his First Watch Officer (I. WO) Eberhard Wetjen.
- April 5, 1941 to June 2, 1941 Eberhard Wetjen
Eberhard Wetjen was born on December 18, 1914 in the district of Celle and joined the Navy in 1936 . He was thus a member of Crew 36 . Until the summer of 1940 he served as a watch officer on the torpedo boat Falke and as an adjutant in the 7th torpedo boat flotilla. Towards the end of the same year, Wetjen completed his submarine training and came to U 147 as I. WO in February 1941 . Two months later he took command of this boat.
Commitment and history
U 147 was initially assigned to the 1st U-Flotilla as a training boat, but in the same month transferred to the 22nd U-Flotilla - a newly established school flotilla - as a school boat. From the summer of 1941 it was finally used as a front boat in the 3rd U-Flotilla .
Fighting
In the spring of 1941, Commander Hardegen undertook two patrols with U 147 , during which he operated in the North Atlantic, near the Shetland and Orkney Islands. U 147 succeeded in sinking one of the ships in convoy HX-109 , which had been discovered by Erich Topp .
Due to a lack of fuel, the boat broke off the pursuit of the convoy and set out on the return journey to Kiel, where Lieutenant Hardegen handed over command to his I. WO Eberhard Wetjen. The new commander first undertook a short training voyage from Kiel, during which the boat operated in the North Atlantic, sank a cargo steamer and finally ran into Bergen in mid-May .
- April 27, 1941 Norwegian freighter Rimfakse ( Lage ) with 1,334 GRT sunk
During a second voyage, which should also be used for training, the boat sank a British steamer that belonged to convoy HX-127 . Subsequently, U 147 continued patrolling the north channel and came across convoy OB 320 . Wetjen decided to attack and damaged a merchant ship before the submarine was sunk by enemy action.
- May 31, 1941 British freighter Gravelines ( Lage ) sunk with 2,491 GRT.
- June 2, 1941 Belgian freighter Mokambo with 4,996 GRT damaged.
Whereabouts
U 147 was sunk by the destroyer HMS Wanderer and the corvette HMS Periwinkle on June 2, 1941, northwest of Ireland in the North Atlantic ( location ). All 26 men of the crew were killed.
literature
- Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 1: The Hunters. 1939-1942. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-12345-X .
- 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 .
Web links
- U 147 CV of the boat on: uboat.net , a detailed site about German submarines, their commanders and their allied opponents (in English).
Map with all coordinates: