U 247
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U 247 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
|
|---|---|
| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | 53 355 |
| Shipyard: | Germania shipyard in Kiel |
| Construction contract: | June 5, 1941 |
| Build number: | 681 |
| Keel laying: | December 16, 1942 |
| Launch: | September 23, 1943 |
| Commissioning: | October 23, 1943 |
| Commanders: |
First lieutenant to the sea Gerhard Matschulat |
| Flotilla: |
5th U-Flotilla training boat |
| Calls: | 2 patrols |
| Sinkings: |
1 fish steamer (207 GRT, 10 dead) |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk off Land's End on September 1, 1944 (52 dead, no survivors) |
U 247 was a German type VII C submarine . This type was called "Atlantic boat". U 247 was used by the Navy during the U-Boat War in the North Atlantic and in the waters around England, especially in the Minch and Bristol Channels . On its two patrols, the submarine sank a British fishing steamer weighing 207 GRT, killing ten seamen and surviving two seriously injured. On September 1, 1944, the submarine was sunk off Land's End , killing all 52 men of the crew.
Technical specifications
The Germania shipyard in Kiel was already building submarines in peacetime on behalf of the Navy. Among other things, boats for export to Turkey and Yugoslavia were built under secrecy in camouflaged facilities . After the beginning of the war, the Germania shipyard then produced almost exclusively submarines. As part of the increased submarine building program initiated by Karl Dönitz , an annual output of 42 boats was planned - a production volume that could never be achieved. The Germania shipyard delivered a total of 58 type VII C boats from 1940 to 1944. Driven by two diesel engines, this model reached a speed of 17.6 nm while traveling above the water and was able to travel 8 nm under water with the help of the two electric motors. However, the power of the batteries only allowed this top speed for underwater travel for an hour. At a lower speed, the boat could theoretically travel underwater for up to three days. A dive of this length could not be expected of the crew, however, as the air in the Type VII C boats was largely used up after just 24 hours. This was also the usual interval for charging the batteries by generators during a surface voyage.
commander
October 23, 1943 to September 1, 1944 Gerhard Matschulat
Gerhard Matschulat was born on May 25, 1920 in Berlin and joined the Navy in 1938. He completed his submarine training in December 1942 and then went on as an officer on watch on U 458 . During this time Gerhard Matschulat was promoted to first lieutenant at sea . In the late summer of 1943 he completed the commanders course at the 2nd submarine training department in Neustadt in Holstein and the supplementary commanders course at the 24th U-Flotilla in Memel . Oblt.zS Matschulat took command of U 247 on October 23 of the same year , which he held until the boat was sunk.
Commitment and history
From commissioning to May 1944, the U 247 initially undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to familiarize the crew with the boat and to familiarize itself with one another. At that time the boat was under the control of the 5th U-Flotilla. In June 1944 U 247 then joined the 1st U-Flotilla. Commander Matschulat transferred the boat from Kiel via Arendal to Bergen and from there on the first patrol, which was to end in Brest , the base of the 1st U-Flotilla.
Fish steamer off Scotland
At the end of May 1944, U 247 cast off on its first patrol in Bergen to patrol the Minch Canal on the coast of Scotland. On June 5, Commander Matschulat sighted some armed fish steamers, none of which he was able to sink through torpedo fire. He decided to let emerge and the ships with the machine guns of the air defense to attack. Ten crew members of the sunk fish steamer Noreen Mary were killed and two survived seriously wounded. One of the surviving British sailors later stated that Oblt.zS Matschulat had fired at him while he, MacAllister, was holding onto a lifeboat. U 247 then stayed in this sea area for a week without having any further enemy contact, then Commander Matschulat set course for Brest, where the boat entered on July 28, 1944.
Sinking
In August 1944, Brest, the base of the 1st and 9th U-Flotilla, was declared a fortress. The navy took over the defense of the city against the advancing Allied troops under the command of the flotilla chief Winter. U 247 left for its last patrol on August 26th. The waters around England, in particular the Bristol Channel, were intended as the operational area. Off Land's End , the boat was sighted by two British frigates on August 31 and followed until the afternoon of the next day. As a result of good sonar contact, HMS St. John finally succeeded in sinking U 247 using depth charges ( Lage ).
Remarks
- ↑ This allegation was brought forward by the British Prosecution against the Defendant Dönitz in the Nuremberg Trial. Dönitz rejected the allegation on the grounds that a crew member who was under fire on a ship only had the impression that the fire was personal to him.
- ↑ Lothar Günther Buchheim describes the events in the city of Brest at the time of the siege in his novel "The Fortress"
literature
- Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1998, pp. 692, 716f. ISBN 3-453-16059-2 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 1: The German submarine commanders. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 1996, p. 156. 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 and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 1997, pp. 132, 194. ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 3: The German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2008, p. 158. ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 4: The German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2008, pp. 288f., 318. ISBN 3-8132-0514-2 .
- 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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