U 236
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U 236 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | M-49 652 |
| Shipyard: | F. Krupp Germania shipyard , Kiel |
| Construction contract: | January 20, 1941 |
| Build number: | G 666 |
| Keel laying: | March 22, 1942 |
| Launch: | November 24, 1942 |
| Commissioning: | January 9, 1943 |
| Commanders: | |
| Flotilla: |
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| Calls: | no ventures |
| Sinkings: |
no |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk himself on May 6, 1945 in the Baltic Sea west of Schleimünde after severe air bomb damage. |
U 236 was a German submarine of class VII C , which during the Second World War in the Baltic Sea was used as a training and education for new boat submarine crews. It was also the first submarine of the Kriegsmarine to be equipped with a fully functional snorkel system with a ring float head valve.
history
The construction contract for the U 236 and five other boats ( U 235 to U 240 ) was awarded to the Germania shipyard in Kiel on January 20, 1941. The keel-laying under the name "Neubau G 666" began on March 22nd, 1942, the launch took place on November 24th of the same year. The commissioning of the new boat took place under the command of Oberleutnant zur See and later Kapitänleutnant Reimar Ziesmar on January 9, 1943 at the Germania shipyard. An elephant , which holds its trunk above water and was on a light blue-yellow divided shield, was chosen as the boat coat of arms . This coat of arms should symbolize the snorkeling facility. As the first UAK sign, the boat led an upside down triangle on the star and port side of the tower for 14 days before it was frowned upon. The then chief engineer Harry Krebs, who served on board from the commissioning of the boat to its self-sinking, later reported on the coat of arms of U 236 : »... called" U-Snorkel "by the crew. I was LI of the boat from day one to the last. - The attached coat of arms, a snorkeling elephant, was placed on both sides of the tower shortly after it was put into service in September 1943 to around January 1944. After that, as is well known, the boat emblem had to be removed. The crew from the commander to the last lord continued to wear it on their hats and from January / February 1945 even sewn it onto the jacket of the submarine package in white (outline). The coat of arms of this first snorkel boat of the Kriegsmarine, which had a fully functional snorkel system on board from start to finish, was chosen because of the acoustic analogy of snorkeling to a snorkeling (trumpeting) elephant. - Because of the functional similarity of the trunk for the vital intake of food with that of snorkeling for the vital air supply. "
The air raid on Kiel on May 14, 1943
During the Allied bombing of Kiel on May 14, 1943, the city and the shipyards were damaged. At the Germania shipyard, all floating docks, including floating dock 5, which included U 236 and its sister boat U 237 , were completely sunk. U-boats that were lying at the equipment quay at the time of the bombing got away with a few scratches, while U 235 was hit by a bomb in the stern and sank to the bottom of the fjord. At the end of May 1943, the U 235 , U 236 and U 237 were lifted and fully repaired by the end of September and October and put back into service as training boats. The command of U 236 was taken over by the 24 year old Oberleutnant zur See Curt Hartmann, previously II WO on Kapitänleutnant Günther Pfeffers Type IX C Boat U 171 , who, however, only commanded the boat for seven months before he was given leave of absence. His successor was Oberleutnant zur See Ludo Kregelin, previously in command of U 60 , U 38 and later in command of the Type XXI test boat U 3003 . But he too was posted a short time later and replaced by Lieutenant zur See Herbert Mumm, the younger brother of Lieutenant Friedrich Mumm, who was in command of the Hamburg Type VII C boat U 594 .
The end of the first snorkel boat
On May 3, 1945, U 236 received the order to relocate to the Kristiansand U base and immediately left Kiel . On May 4th, the boat was attacked by the 9th US Army Air Force / XXIX TAC and the RAF / 2 at 11:45 a.m. west of Schleimünde . TAF / Squadron 175 and 184 hit by multiple missiles and machine gun fire. Despite the very shallow water depth, Lieutenant Mumm decided to dive in order to lay the boat aground. After the fighter-bombers cleared and darkness fell, Vimes let the boat emerge to assess the damage and receive messages. It was found that the port external fuel bunkers had been hit and released a lot of oil. Oberleutnant Mumm again laid the boat aground and decided, in a hopeless situation, to sink U 236 , which was to happen within 24 hours. After the crew had disembarked, the boat was sunk at 2 a.m. on the open coast near Schleimünde by opening the flood valves itself. Nothing further is known about the whereabouts of the wreck. The last known position was 54 ° 37 'N, 10 ° 03' E in the former naval plan square AO 7487.
literature
- 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 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939-1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 , p. 79.
- ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939-1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 , p. 224.
- ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939-1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 , p. 79.