U 219
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U 219 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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| Type : | X |
| Field Post Number : | M 49 090 |
| Shipyard: | Germania shipyard , Kiel |
| Construction contract: | August 6, 1940 |
| Keel laying: | May 31, 1941 |
| Launch: | October 6, 1942 |
| Commissioning: | December 12, 1942 |
| Commanders: | |
| Calls: | 2 activities |
| Sinkings: |
no |
| Whereabouts: | handed over to the Japanese on May 8, 1945, then handed over to the Allies by the Japanese |
U 219 was a German submarine from the type X ( minelayer ), which in the Second World War by the German navy was used.
The armament of these submarines consisted of mine shafts (two groups of six shafts each on port and starboard, and one group with six shafts in the forecastle). 66 mines could be included in it. In addition to two torpedo tubes with max. 15 torpedoes, a 10.5 cm anti -tank gun, a 2 cm and a 3.7 cm anti-aircraft gun were installed. The former two were later exchanged for a 2 cm Flakvierling .
U 219 was laid on May 31, 1941 at the Germania shipyard and went into active service on December 12, 1942 under Lieutenant Walter Burghagen.
The boat drove with the monsoon group through the South Atlantic to the Indian Ocean at the end of 1943 . This group of submarines (except for U 219 there were also U 848 , U 849 , U 850 , U 177 and U 510 ) was on the way to the Malay island of Penang . Originally, U 219 was supposed to lay mines off Cape Town and Colombo , but was repurposed after the group's supply tanker was sunk and was now responsible for refueling the other submarines at sea so that they could return safely to Germany . From the group, only U 510 continued to Penang, U 219 returned to France to be prepared for a transport mission in Bordeaux .
On September 28, 1944 U 219 was able to shoot down a US- American aircraft of the type Avenger from the VC-6 squadron . It was the last carrier aircraft that fell victim to a submarine in the Atlantic.
During the war, of 42 German submarines and Italian transport submarines sent to the Far East, 19 reached their destination. Many of these boats stayed there after Germany surrendered . On August 23, 1944, the U 219 left the port in Bordeaux with the task of bringing a delivery of twelve dismantled V2 rockets to Japan together with the U 195 and U 180 . U 180 ran into a mine in the Bay of Biscay and sank with its cargo and all 56 crew members. On December 11th, the boats reached Batavia (today's Jakarta ) in the Dutch East Indies, which was then occupied by Japan .
After the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht in May 1945, the U 219 was confiscated by the Japanese and taken over into the Japanese Navy as I 505 . After the Japanese surrendered, the boat was handed over to the Allies and scrapped in 1948.