U 220
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U 220 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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|---|---|
| Type : | XB |
| Field Post Number : | M-50753 |
| Shipyard: | F. Krupp Germania shipyard , Kiel |
| Construction contract: | August 6, 1940 |
| Build number: | 626 |
| Keel laying: | February 16, 1941 |
| Launch: | January 16, 1943 |
| Commissioning: | March 27, 1943 |
| Commanders: |
March 27, 1943 - October 28, 1943 |
| Flotilla: | |
| Calls: | 1 company |
| Sinkings: |
2 ships sunk (7199 GRT) |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk on October 28, 1943 by aircraft belonging to the escort aircraft carrier USS Block Island. |
U 220 was a German submarine of submarine class X (XB) that was used in World War II .
history
U 220 was laid on February 16, 1941 at the F. Krupp Germania shipyard in Kiel, after the construction was ordered on February 16, 1940. The boat was launched on January 16, 1943 and was put into service on March 27, 1943 under Lieutenant Bruno Barber. U 220 undertook a patrol on which there were two ships with a total tonnage of 7,199 GRT . sunk before it was sunk on October 28, 1943.
Tower emblem
Like all other submarines of this type, the boat had a tower emblem. It showed a smiling white eel on a blue background.
commander
First lieutenant to the sea of the reserve Bruno Barber was born on March 6, 1904 in Deichhausen (Delmenhorst). He joined the Reichsmarine in 1922 and became a helmsman in 1935. A year later he became the chief helmsman on board the submarines U 2 , U 3 , U 19 , U 57 and U 93 . He was later the 3rd officer on watch on board U 93 . He received his first real command in November 1941 via U 58 , a Type IIC “dugout” submarine. When the U 220 was under construction, he was declared their commander. Bruno Barber died on October 28, 1943, with the rest of his men, when U 220 was sunk.
Whereabouts
U 220 was attacked with depth charges by an Avenger and a Wildcat of Squadron VC-1 of the US escort aircraft carrier Block Island on October 28, 1943 while the U 256 was being supplied under OblzS Wilhelm Brauel . After the attack, U 220 capsized and sank over the bow. It was a total loss with 55 sailors dead. U 256 responded to the attack with strong flak, but dived away at a favorable moment. A dropped Fido acoustic target search torpedo missed its target and U 256 was able to escape.
One of the main reasons for the discovery of the boat is the successful American deciphering of the "Triton" key network used by the submarines , which was used to encrypt radio communications with the BdU . From April 1943 onwards, more than 120 specially developed Desch bombes were manufactured in the US Naval Computing Machine Laboratory , which were directed against the Enigma-M4 used by the Navy .
literature
- Erich Gröner : The German warships 1815-1945. Volume 3: Submarines, auxiliary cruisers, mine ships, net layers, barrier breakers. Continued by Dieter Jung and Martin Maass. Bernard & Graefe, Munich et al. 1985, ISBN 3-7637-4802-4 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jennifer Wilcox : Solving the Enigma - History of the Cryptanalytic Bombe . Center for Cryptologic History, NSA, Fort Meade (USA) 2001, p. 52. PDF; 0.6 MB ( memento from January 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ John AN Lee, Colin Burke, Deborah Anderson: The US Bombes, NCR, Joseph Desch, and 600 WAVES - The first Reunion of the US Naval Computing Machine Laboratory . IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 2000. p. 35. PDF; 0.5 MB , accessed May 22, 2018.