U 215

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U 215
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Type : VII D
Field Post Number : 41 815
Shipyard: F. Krupp Germania shipyard , Kiel
Construction contract: February 16, 1940
Build number: 647
Keel laying: November 15, 1940
Launch: October 9, 1941
Commissioning: November 22, 1941
Commanders:
  • November 22, 1941 - July 3, 1942
    KptLt. Fritz Hoeckner
Calls: an enterprise
Sinkings:

1 ship (7,192 GRT)

Whereabouts: Sunk east of Boston on July 3, 1942 .

U 215 was a German type VII D submarine that was used by the German Navy during World War II in the western Atlantic and off the US east coast. The Type VII D was designed as a mine- layer.

Construction and commissioning

The Germania shipyard in Kiel has been building submarines for the then Reichsmarine and for export since 1934 - initially under confidentiality . After the beginning of the war, the production of capital ships was almost stopped and the capacity of the shipyard was fully utilized with the construction of submarines. The Germania shipyard was commissioned in particular with the production of special developments and manufactured a large number of unusual submarine types. By the end of the war, six VII D-Boats had been delivered to the Navy. This submarine class represented a further development of the "Atlantic boat" called Type VII C, but was designed as a mine-layer. Behind the tower these boats had a section for ejecting mines. A VII D-boat was 76.9 m long and displaced 1,080 m³ under water. Two 1,400 hp diesel engines each achieved a speed of 16 knots when sailing above water , which corresponds to 29.6 km / h. The keel-laying of U 215 took place on November 15, 1940, the launch took place on October 9, 1941 and commissioning by Commander Hoecker on November 22, 1941. The crew chose a raging, rat-like rodent as the boat sign.

commander

Kapitänleutnant Fritz Hoeckner was born on December 22, 1912 in Berlin-Schöneberg and joined the Reichsmarine on September 23, 1933. At the beginning of the war he served as 1st officer on watch on the F-7 fleet companion and with various minesweeping flotillas. In the spring of 1941 he reported to the submarine weapon. After submarine training and a commanding course, he joined the 1st U-Flotilla in September . On November 22nd of the same year he was given command of U 215 , which he held until the boat was sunk. After his death, Fritz Hoeckner was promoted to corvette captain on November 1st . The promotion was backdated to July 1st for seniority .

history

Until June 30, 1942 U 215 belonged to the 5th U-Flotilla and was stationed in Kiel . During this time, the boat undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to train the crew.

commitment

On June 9, 1942, U 215 left Kiel for its first and only venture. Commander Hoeckner had been ordered to cross the North Atlantic in order to patrol the sea area near Nova Scotia in front of Cape Sable. The boat reached the target area on July 1st. At that time, two heavily secured convoy trains with troop carriers under the protection of a battleship, a cruiser and 14 destroyers ran from Halifax in the direction of Great Britain. However, U 215 encountered a considerably smaller and less well-secured convoy. Commander Hoeckner decided to attack and sank the American Liberty freighter Alexander Macomb , which was part of the BX-2 convoy.

Whereabouts

U 215 was sunk by depth charges by the small British submarine hunter Le Tigre, who was part of the escort of convoy BX-2 .

Discovery of the wreck

On July 13, 2004, a group of divers discovered the wreck of U 215 . It was the first German submarine to be found in Canadian waters. Little could be seen of the boat itself, as the tower cladding and the cladding of the five mine shafts were completely missing. Only the periscopes and the sealed mine shafts remained.

literature

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ in addition to the U 215 , the U 213 , U 214 , U 216 , U 217 and U 218
  2. ↑ Bodo Herzog: German U-Boats 1906–1966. Karl Müller, Erlangen 1996, ISBN 3-86070-036-7 , pp. 197-198.
  3. ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Maling's German U-Boats 1939-1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 , p. 75.
  4. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 1: The German submarine commanders. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg a. a. 1996, ISBN 3-8132-0490-1 , p. 103.
  5. ↑ see Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 , p. 725. Le Tigre is also identified as “French” in the literature (Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian U-Boat Losses in Both World Wars. Urbes-Verlag , Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 , p. 85) or called Le Tiger (Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939-1945. Volume 3: Deutsche U-Boot - Successes from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 2001, ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 , p. 215).
  6. ↑ Report on finding the wreck

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