U 213
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U 213 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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 Emblem of U 213 : The bull from Scapa Flow |
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| Type : | VII D |
| Field Post Number : | 01 954 |
| Shipyard: | Germania shipyard , Kiel |
| Construction contract: | February 12, 1940 |
| Build number: | 645 |
| Keel laying: | October 1, 1940 |
| Launch: | January 24, 1941 |
| Commissioning: | August 30, 1941 |
| Commanders: | |
| Flotilla: |
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| Calls: | 4 activities |
| Sinkings: |
no depressions |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk by British frigates west of Ponta Delgada on July 31, 1942 |
U 213 was a submarine that was used by the German Navy during World War II in the submarine war . In May 1942, U 213 dropped an agent on the American east coast.
Technical specifications
Even before the war, the Germania shipyard in Kiel was commissioned to build submarines, initially under secrecy. In addition to submarines for the navy, the shipyard also manufactured boats for export to Turkey and Yugoslavia. After the construction of capital ships was stopped at the beginning of the war, the Germania shipyard was mainly commissioned with the construction of VII C-boats , so-called "Atlantic boats ". In addition, special developments such as the Type VII D were also manufactured. The Kiel Germania shipyard delivered a total of six boats of this type to the Navy. These boats should be used as mine layers. They were based on a basic model of the Type VII C , but had an additional room behind the control center for storing mines and corresponding dropping devices. At 76.9 m, a VII D boat was almost 10 m longer than its predecessor and, thanks to its larger and additional fuel tanks, it had a 2900 km greater radius of action. A VII C boat displaced 965 m³ of water (submerged 1080 m³) and reached a top speed of 16 knots . The two electric motors enabled a speed of 7.3 knots under water. Although U 213 did not belong to the 7th U-Flotilla , the boat had its flotilla sign, the "Bull of Scapa Flow", on the tower.
commander
Amelung von Varendorff was born on December 20, 1913 in Kiel and joined the Navy in 1935. As a second watch officer , he was part of the crew of U 47 under the command of Günther Prien on his mission against the British naval port of Scapa Flow . Until January 1941 he served as the first officer on watch on this boat. In August 1941 Oberleutnant zur See von Varendorff took command of U 213 .
Commitment and history
The type VII D boats were designed as mine layers. Behind the center of the boat was a mine room, which had five shafts through which mines could be ejected with a 350 kg explosive charge. U 213 was not used as a mine boat on any of its four ventures.
Westwall submarine group
U 213 left Kiel at the end of January and, after a brief stop on Heligoland, reached the planned area of operations in the North Atlantic at the beginning of February . The boat was assigned to the Westwall submarine group , which attacked a convoy in the second week of February that had been discovered by U 586 . Commandant von Varendorff achieved no success in this attack, which was broken off by Dönitz . An attack on the convoy HX 175 , about a week later, was also unsuccessful, as the boat was pushed away by air forces. On March 20, U 213 entered the base of the 1st U-Flotilla , Brest .
Company Gretl
The boat's second operation began on April 25, 1942. U 213 took an agent on board in Lorient . Commandant von Varendorff had the order to bring the man to Canada, where he was supposed to find out information about the Allied convoy. This plan was called "Enterprise Gretl '" after the name of the agent Martin Langbein's wife, whose Canadian papers identified him as "Alfred Haskins". Although it was an agent of the Abwehr , the crew of U 213 was led to believe that Langbein was a PK man . The crossing was uneventful except for one small incident. U 213 met a convoy off the Portuguese coast but had to break off the attack because the boat was tracked down by a British destroyer and attacked with depth charges. On May 12, U 213 reached the North American coast and Agent Langbein was brought ashore in a rubber dinghy near New Brunswick two days later . From here he made his way to Ottawa , where he quartered near the parliament building of the Canadian capital. Langbein went undetected, probably because he never attempted espionage, and surrendered to Canadian authorities in the winter of 1944.
In Canadian waters
In mid-May, Kapitänleutnant Karl Thurmann with U 553 penetrated the St. Lawrence River and sank two ships there. Three more boats used in North American waters - including the U 213 - should build on this successful start . While the attacks by the other submarines were successful and a total of eight ships could be sunk off the Canadian east coast by the end of May, U 213 did not sight any enemy ships. A freighter discovered on May 26th could not be sunk despite several hours of chase.
Submarine group scouts
On May 21, Dönitz put together the Boy Scouts submarine group , which in addition to U 213 included seven other submarines that were on the North American coast at the time. Since the boats deployed, although convoys had been expected, could only see lone drivers so far, the U-Bootgruppe scouts were supposed to investigate whether the convoys were possibly using routes that were further out at sea. The Boy Scouts submarine group existed until the end of May, but did not provide any information - the Allied convoys on the North American east coast could not be found. On June 21, U 213 returned to Brest. Since the 60-day undertaking - apart from the agent's landing - had produced no success whatsoever, Commander von Varendorff received a sharp reprimand.
Sinking
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On July 23, 1942, Commander von Varendorff left for his last venture with U 213 . The boat was supposed to operate off the West African coast together with six other boats and be supplied by submarine tankers , so-called "dairy cows". On July 31, Commander von Varendorff discovered the convoy OS 35 and decided to launch a frontal attack. U 213 was tracked down by three British sloops with Huff-Duff , sunk ( location ) and identified on the basis of floating debris and body parts.
Notes and individual references
- ↑ Clay Blair: The Submarine War. Volume 1: The Hunters. 1939-1942. 1998, p. 567.
- ↑ possibly referring to the fact that the commander belonged to the crew of U 47 during the Scapa-Flow operation
- ↑ Thurmann reported another sunk, but this could not be confirmed after the war
- ↑ in addition to U 213 and U 553 , U 432 and U 588 operated in this sea area
- ↑ The U-boat group included scouts, in addition to U 213 , U 751 , U 352 , U 432 , U 566 , U 653 , U 455 and U 135
- ↑ Clay Blair: The Submarine War. Volume 1: The Hunters. 1939-194. 1998, p. 667.
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 1: The German submarine commanders. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1996, ISBN 3-8132-0490-1 .
- 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 .
- Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes-Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .
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