U 162 (Navy)

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U 162 (Kriegsmarine)
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Type : IX C
Field Post Number : M-01 524
Shipyard: Seebeck shipyard , Geestemünde
Construction contract: September 25, 1939
Build number: 701
Keel laying: April 19, 1940
Launch: March 1, 1941
Commissioning: September 9, 1941
Commanders:

September 9, 1941 - September 3, 1942:
Fkpt. Jürgen Wattenberg

Calls: 3 activities
Sinkings:

14 ships (82,027 GRT, 85 dead)

Whereabouts: abandoned by the crew on September 3, 1942 northeast of Trinidad and sunk by the British destroyer HMS Vimy (2 dead, 49 prisoners of war)

U 162 was a German submarine from the Type IX C , which in World War II by the German navy was used. In just 3 patrols, the submarine sank 14 ships with 82,027 GRT, with 85 people killed. On September 3, 1942 U 162 northeast of Trinidad by the British destroyer HMS Vancouver sunk, and two crew members were killed and 49 in captivity came the British and the Americans, including the 41-year-old commander Jurgen Wattenberg .

technology

U 162 was a submersible for oceanic use. It was a two-hull type submarine and had a displacement of 1,120  t above and 1,232 t under water. It had a length of 76.76  m , a width of 6.76 m and a draft of 4.70 m. With the two 2,200 PS MAN nine-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines M 9 V 40/46 with supercharging, a top speed over water of 18.3  kn could be achieved. At a speed of 10 kn, 12,000 nautical miles could be covered. The two 500 PS SSM double E-machines GU 345/34 had 62 × 62 AFA type 44 MAL 740 W battery cells. A top speed of 7.3 knots was achieved under water. A distance of 64 nautical miles could be covered at a speed of 4 kn. 22 torpedoes or up to 44 TMA or 66 TMB mines could be ejected from 4 bow and 2 stern torpedo tubes . The diving depth was 100 - 200 m. The quick dive time was 35 seconds. It had a 10.5-cm Utof L / 45 gun with 180 rounds and 1 × 3.7-cm anti-aircraft weapons with 2,625 rounds, 1 × 2-cm anti-aircraft weapons with 4,250 rounds. From 1943/44, the 10.5 cm cannon was removed from this type of boat and 4 × 2 cm twin anti-aircraft guns with 8,500 rounds were installed. The crew was four officers (including a marine engineer) and 44 men.

The order for the boat was awarded to the Seebeck shipyard in Geestemünde on September 25, 1939 . The keel was laid on April 19, 1940, the launch on March 1, 1941, the commissioning under Frigate Captain Jürgen Wattenberg finally took place on September 9, 1941. The cost of building was 6,448,000 Reichsmarks .

history

U 162 was part of 9 September 1941 to 31 January 1942 as the training boat of the 4th U-Flotilla in Szczecin and from 1 February 1942 until its sinking on September 3, 1942 as the front of the boat 2nd U-boat Flotilla in Lorient on .

It completed three operations on which 14 ships with 82,027 GRT were sunk. U 162 was sunk in the Caribbean by British naval forces on September 2, 1942; there were two dead and 49 survivors.

First venture

The boat left Kiel on February 7, 1942 at 12 noon . U 162 operated in the North Atlantic , southeast of Newfoundland .

After 40 days at sea and a distance of 6,431.8 nm , U 162 arrived in Lorient on March 18, 1942 at 10.30 a.m. A ship with 4,365 GRT had sunk on this venture.

Second venture

The boat left Lorient on April 7, 1942 at 7:00 p.m. U 162 operated in the Central Atlantic , the West Atlantic , the Caribbean , the eastern Lesser Antilles , off Trinidad , Barbados and Guiana .

  • On April 30, 1942, the British tanker Athelempress ( Lage ) with 8,941 GRT was sunk by three torpedoes (one miss) in the mid-Atlantic 180 nm east of Barbados . He was ballasted and on his way from Southampton and Milford Haven to Trinidad. There were three dead and 57 survivors.
  • On May 4, 1942, two ships were sunk in the mid-Atlantic. Twelve nautical miles from Georgetown Light, the US steamer Eastern Sword ( Lage ) with 3,785 GRT was sunk by two torpedoes (one missed shot). He had loaded 1,550 tons of general cargo and was on the way from Trinidad to Georgetown . There were eleven dead and 18 survivors. A little later, the American sailing ship Florence M. Douglas ( Lage ) with 119 GRT was sunk by 18 rounds from the 10.5 cm cannon. He had groceries loaded and was on his way from Demerara to Trinidad. There were no losses.
  • On May 7, 1942, the Norwegian steamer Frank Seamans ( Lage ) with 4,271 GRT was sunk by three torpedoes (two missed shots) in the mid-Atlantic . He had bauxite loaded and was on his way from Paramaribo to Trinidad. There were no casualties, 27 survivors.
  • On May 9, 1942, the Canadian steamer Mont Louis ( Lage ) with 1,905 GRT was sunk by a torpedo in the mid-Atlantic southwest of Trinidad . He had bauxite loaded and was on his way from Paramaribo to Trinidad. There were 13 dead and eight survivors.
  • On May 13, 1942, the American tanker Esso Houston ( Lage ) with 7,699 GRT was sunk by two torpedoes in the mid-Atlantic 150 nm west of Barbados . He had 81,701 barrels of heating oil loaded and was on his way from Aruba to Montevideo . There were no casualties, 42 survivors.
  • On May 14, 1942, the British tanker British Colony ( Lage ) was sunk by four torpedoes in the mid-Atlantic 90 nm northeast of Bridgetown . He had loaded 9,800 tons of fuel and was on the way from Trinidad to Gibraltar . There were four dead and 39 survivors.
  • On May 18, 1942, the British tanker Beth ( Lage ) with 6,852 GRT was sunk by three torpedoes (one missed shot) in the mid-Atlantic . He drove on behalf of the British Navy and loaded diesel oil for the British Navy. He was on his way from Trinidad to Freetown . There was one dead and 30 survivors.

After 62 days at sea and a distance covered of 9,657.3 nm, U 162 returned to Lorient on June 8, 1942 at 8 a.m. It had sunk nine ships with 47,181 GRT on this enterprise.

Third company

The boat left Lorient on July 7, 1942. U 162 operated in the Central Atlantic, the West Atlantic, the Caribbean, off Trinidad, Grenada , east of the Lesser Antilles and off British Guyana .

On August 5, 1942, U 162 was supplied with 20 m³ of fuel in the Central Atlantic by U 160 .

  • On August 19, 1942, the American steamer West Celina ( Lage ) with 5,722 GRT was sunk by a torpedo in the Caribbean 50 nm off the coast of Venezuela . He had 6,975 tons of general cargo including 4,500 tons of manganese ore , 650 tons of mica , 228 tons of rubber and 250 monkeys on board and was on the way from Trinidad to Guantanamo Bay . There was one dead and 43 survivors. The ship belonged to convoy TWA-15.
  • On August 24, 1942, the Dutch steamer Moena ( Lage ) with 9,286 GRT was sunk by a torpedo in the mid-Atlantic . He had colonial goods loaded and was on its way from Bombay via Trinidad, Hampton Roads and St. John's to the UK. There were four dead and 83 survivors.
  • On August 26, 1942, the Norwegian tanker Thelma ( Lage ) with 8,297 GRT was sunk by a torpedo in the mid-Atlantic . He drove in ballast and was on the way from Mahé via Table Bay to Trinidad. There were two dead and 31 survivors.
  • On August 30, 1942, the American steamer Star of Oregon ( Lage ) with 7,176 GRT was sunk by torpedo and artillery in the mid-Atlantic . He had loaded 9,000 tons of general cargo, 20 tons of military goods and 4,000 tons of manganese ore and was on the way from Durban to Trinidad. There was one dead and 44 survivors.

On September 3, 1942, U 162 was sunk in the Caribbean south of Barbados by British naval forces. Up to this day four ships with 30,481 GRT had been sunk.

Whereabouts

U 162 was found in the Caribbean off Trinidad on the night of September 3, 1942, at the position 12 ° 21 ′ 0 ″  N , 59 ° 29 ′ 0 ″  W Coordinates: 12 ° 21 ′ 0 ″  N , 59 ° 29 ′ 0 ″  W in marine grid square EE 7277, damaged after several hours of depth charges by the British destroyers HMS Pathfinder , HMS Vimy and HMS Quentin (G78) , forced to surface and abandoned by the crew. U 162 sank after HMS Vimy was rammed into it . There were two dead and 49 survivors. The Vimy took 32 survivors, 13 the Pathfinder and 4 the Quentin as prisoners of war . The three destroyers brought the prisoners, including Commander Jürgen Wattenberg , to the port of Port of Spain in Trinidad. There were interrogations by the Royal Navy and the US Navy.

literature

  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 1: The German submarine commanders. Preface by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rohwer, Member of the Presidium of the International Commission on Military History. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 1996, p. 249. ISBN 3-8132-0490-1 .
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: Submarine construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 1997, pp. 58, 217. ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 3: The German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2008, p. 127f. ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 .
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 4: The German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2008, p. 58. ISBN 3-8132-0514-2 .
  • Erich Gröner , Dieter Jung, Martin Maas: The German warships 1815-1945. Volume 3: Submarines, auxiliary cruisers, mine ships, net layers. Bernhard & Graefe Verlag, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-7637-4802-4 .
  • Clay Blair : The Submarine War - The Hunters 1939–1942 . Heyne Verlag, 1998. pp. 596, 598, 679, 783, 791-793, 804. ISBN 3-453-12345-X .
  • Michael L. Hadley: Submarines versus Canada . ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 1990. p. 87. ISBN 3-8132-0333-6 .

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