U 179

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U 179
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Type : IX D2
Field Post Number : 43 832
Shipyard: Deschimag AG Weser , Bremen
Construction contract: August 28, 1940
Build number: 1019
Keel laying: January 15, 1941
Launch: November 18, 1941
Commissioning: March 7, 1942
Commanders:

Ernst Sobe

Flotilla:
  • March 1942 - August 1942 4th U-Flotilla training boat
  • September 1942 10th U-Flotilla front boat
  • October 1942 12th U-Flotilla front boat
Calls: 1 company
Sinkings:

1 ship with 6,558 GRT sunk

Whereabouts: Sunk by depth charges on October 8, 1942 west of Cape Town

U 179 was a German submarine of the type IX D2 , a so-called "ocean boat", which was used in the Second World War by the German navy during the submarine war in the South Atlantic .

Construction and technical data

By circumventing the provisions of the Versailles Treaty , the Bremen shipyard of Deschimag AG Weser has been building submarines for the German Imperial Navy since 1934 . With the beginning of the war, the shipyard's production was converted to submarine construction, mainly the construction of the large boats of submarine class IX. Deschimag AG Weser in Bremen built all boats of the type IX D2. Such a submarine displaced 1,616 t above water  and 1,804 t when submerged, was 87.58  m long, 7.5 m wide and had a draft of 5.35 m. For surface running the 5,400 guaranteed  PS strong diesel engines a top speed of 19  knots , which 35.7  km / h equivalent. When underwater, the total of 1,100 hp of the two electric motors propelled the boat to a top speed of 6.9 knots - that's 12.8 km / h. At an average cruising speed of 4 knots, an IX D2 boat had a range of 57 nm when underwater, that is 105.6 km. IX D2 boats were armed with 24 torpedoes that could be ejected from 4 bow and 2 stern torpedo tubes . In addition, these boats were armed with artillery. The U 179 was part of the thirteenth construction contract that the German navy placed with Deschimag AG Weser.

Commitment and history

On March 7, U 179 came to the 4th U-Flotilla as a training boat , which was stationed in Stettin . During this time, Commander Sobe undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to train the crew and to retract the boat. On September 1, 1942, the boat was subordinated to the 10th U-Flotilla stationed in the northern French Atlantic port of Lorient , to which only Type IX boats belonged. On October 1, 1942, he switched to the 12th U-Flotilla .

Company in the South Atlantic

U 179 left Kiel for its first venture on August 15, 1942 . The South Atlantic was intended as the operational area. On the evening of the following day, Commander Sobe Kristiansand called in to replenish fuel. Then U 179 crossed the Arctic Ocean until it was south-east of Iceland on August 22 , from where Commander Sobe steered a southerly course. The boat passed Ireland on August 26th and Spain towards the end of the month . On August 30th, Commander Sobe received the order from BdU Karl Dönitz to pass the African coast at a great distance and to head for the marine grid square GR: the waters off Cape Town . In mid-September, U 179 crossed the equator and reached its operational area on October 3, 1942. On October 8, the British steamer City of Athens ( Lage ) sank in the sea area off Cape Town by a torpedo hit. The crew of U 504 could observe the sinking . It is believed that Commander Sobe was responsible for sinking the City of Athens .

Sinking

U 179 was sunk with depth charges on October 8, 1942 west of Cape Town by the British destroyer HMS Active . ( Location ) All 61 crew members were killed.

Notes and individual references

  1. ^ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll, The U-Boat War 1939 to 1945. Volume Two: The U-Boat Construction in German Shipyards. Verlag ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg 1997, pp. 210-211
  2. ↑ Bodo Herzog: German U-Boats 1906-1966 . Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1996, p. 199
  3. ↑ The construction contract of August 28, 1940 included three more boats of the type IX D2: U 178 , U 177 and U 180 .
  4. ↑ R. Busch, H.-J. Röll, The U-Boat War 1939 to 1945. Volume Two: U-Boat Construction in German Shipyards. Mittler, Hamburg 1997, p. 456
  5. ↑ R. Busch, H.-J. Röll, The U-Boat War 1939 to 1945. Volume Three: German U-Boat Successes. Verlag ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 , p. 135
  6. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 4: German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1999, p. 60

literature

  • Bodo Herzog : German U-Boats 1906-1966 . Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1996, ISBN 3-86070-036-7
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll, The U-Boat War 1939 to 1945. Volume Two: The U-Boat Construction in German Shipyards. Verlag ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6

Web links

  • U 179 CV of the boat on: uboat.net , a detailed site about German submarines, their commanders and their allied opponents (in English).