U 253
|
U 253 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
|
|---|---|
| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | 33 347 |
| Shipyard: | Vegesacker shipyard of the Bremer Vulkan in Bremen-Vegesack |
| Construction contract: | September 23, 1939 |
| Build number: | 18th |
| Keel laying: | November 15, 1940 |
| Launch: | August 30, 1941 |
| Commissioning: | October 21, 1941 |
| Commanders: |
Adolf Friedrichs |
| Calls: | 1 company |
| Sinkings: |
no |
| Whereabouts: | missing since September 24, 1942 |
U 253 was a German submarine from the Type VII C , which in submarine warfare during World War II by the German Navy in the North Atlantic was used.
Construction and technical data
The boat was built at the Bremer Vulkan shipyard in Vegesack . This shipyard has been building submarines for the Reichsmarine and later for the Kriegsmarine since 1934, partly by circumventing the provisions of the Versailles Treaty . U 253 was part of the first construction contract that was awarded to Bremer Vulkan after the start of the war and included a total of 5 boats. The construction contract was dated September 23, 1939, the commissioning took place on October 4, 1941 by First Lieutenant Adolf Friedrichs. Like most German submarines of its time, the U 253 also had a boat-specific sign on the tower. It was a picture of a man blowing, sitting on a breakwater .
Commitment and history
Until August 31, 1942, U 253 was assigned to the 8th U-Flotilla as a training boat and was stationed first in Königsberg , then in Danzig . During this time, Commander Friedrichs undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to train the crew and to retract the boat. From September 1942 the boat came to the 6th U-Flotilla as a front boat . In the following days it was equipped for the first operation in Kiel .
Loss of the boat
U 253 left Kiel on September 12, 1942 . The following day the boat arrived at the submarine base in Kristiansand, Norway . From there the boat set out for the intended area of operation the next day. In the following weeks, Commander Friedrichs operated with U 253 in the Denmark Strait and west of Iceland . From there, Friedrichs reported for the last time on September 24th.
It is assumed that U 253 drove into one of the British minefields off the Icelandic coast and sank there. It was long assumed that U 253 had been sunk by a Catalina reconnaissance aircraft on September 23 . The Catalina attack, however, was aimed at U 255 .
All members of the 45-person crew were killed in the sinking of U 253 .
Notes and individual references
- ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 . Page 219 - page 220
- ^ A b Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939–1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 , page 81.
- ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 . Page 464
- ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 . Page 464
- ↑ Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 . Page 55
Map with all coordinates: