U 251

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U 251
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The submarines arrive (6983648196) .jpg
Type : VII C
Field Post Number : M 15758
Shipyard: Vegesacker shipyard
Bremen-Vegesack
Build number: 016
Keel laying: October 16, 1940
Launch: August 13, 1941
Commissioning: September 20, 1941
Commanders:
  • September 20, 1941 - November 22, 1943
    Kptlt. Heinrich Timm
  • November 23, 1943 - April 19, 1945
    Oblt.zS Franz Säck
Calls: 18 patrols
Sinkings:

2 ships

Whereabouts: Sunk on April 19, 1945 in the Baltic Sea (grid reference AO 4876)

U 251 was a German type VII C submarine of the Kriegsmarine .

history

Construction and commissioning

The boat was on the Vegesacker shipyard built where it was laid down on 18 October 1940, and from the 26 July 1941 ran stack . On September 20, 1941, it was handed over to the Navy.

Time as a training boat

It was discontinued with the 6th U-Flotilla and was under the command of Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Timm from September 20, 1941 to April 30, 1942 on a training voyage. Then it was used from May 1 to June 30, 1942 as a front boat in the 6th U-Flotilla. From July 1, 1942 to May 31, 1943 it was the front boat of the 11th U-Flotilla . From June 1 to June 30, 1943, it was the front boat of the 13th U-Flotilla . From July 1 to November 30, 1943, it was used as a training boat in the 24th U-Flotilla . On November 23, 1943, the boat was used as an experimental and test boat until February 28, 1945 in the 21st U-Flotilla . From March 1, 1945 until its sinking in the Kattegat on April 19, it was assigned to the 31st U-Flotilla as a training boat.

Calls

The boat made a total of 18 patrols.

Sinking of the Jutland

The Jutland was a freighter sailing under the British flag, with her home port in London . He was bought by R. Duncan & Co Ltd. in 1928. in Port Glasgow for the shipping company Tyne & Waer Shipping Co. in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and was en route for them. The ship had a displacement of 6,153 tons.

On May 2, 1942, was Jutland under Captain John Henderson, who with his ship the Nordmeergeleitzug PQ-15 was connected, the south Bear Island by a torpedo from a German torpedo flyer of I./KG 26 (I. group of kampfgeschwader 26) hit . One passenger lost his life and the ship had to be abandoned. While the remaining 62 people (including eight passengers) were taken over by HMS Badsworth and arrived in Murmansk on May 6, 1942 , the ship was left to its fate.

On 3 May 1942, the abandoned was Jutland 0.14 pm from U 251 in position 73 ° 2 '  N , 19 ° 46'  O sunk with torpedoes.

Sinking of the El Capitan

The El Capitan

The El Capitan was a freighter sailing under the Panamanian flag and its home port was Panama. It was built in 1917 by Newport News Shipbuildings & Dry Dock Co. of Newport News, Virginia, for Southern Pacific SS Line, and has been in service for the state-owned US Lines Inc. New York since June 26, 1941. The ship had a displacement of 5,255 tons.

She was under Captain John E. Therik in the convoy PQ-17 , where on July 8, 1942 she took 19 survivors of the freighter John Witherspoon in the Barents Sea , which had been sunk by U 255 two days earlier . On July 9, 1942, the convoy was attacked by German aircraft 65 miles northeast of Iokanga . Three bombs fell on and next to the ship, causing compartments 4 and 5 to fill with water. The ship had to be abandoned and all 37 crew members, 11 members of the army and 19 castaways were taken over by the HMS Lord Austin , while the ship was left to its further fate. After the rescue of the crew was trying the ship with on-board weapons fire to sink. After this failed, the wreck was on July 10, 1942 at 00:45 by torpedo attack by U 251 in position 70 ° 10 '  N , 41 ° 40'  O sunk.

Downfall

On April 19, 1945, a total of 22 aircraft from squadrons 143, 235, 248 and 333 under the direction of AH Simmonds were hunting submarines in the Kattegat . At 4:31 p.m., three submarines, U 251 , U 2502 and U 2335 , were sighted behind an M-class minesweeper and were attacked immediately. The boats U 2335 and U 2502 managed to submerge and escape damaged, while U 251 was sunk by missiles and on-board weapons. Eight of the group's aircraft were credited with sinking. When the boat sank, 39 crew members lost their lives, while four crew members were saved.

The boat sank 13 nautical miles south of Anholt at position 56 ° 37 ′  N , 11 ° 51 ′  E at a depth of 28 to 35 meters and has not been lifted to this day. It is occasionally visited by divers.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ According to other information on 56 ° 34.44'N and 11 ° 44.99'E archive link ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

Web links