U 254
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U 254 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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.jpg) Return of U 251 , a sister boat of U 254 |
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| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | M 41 903 |
| Shipyard: | Vegesacker shipyard Bremen-Vegesack |
| Construction contract: | September 23, 1939 |
| Build number: | 019 |
| Keel laying: | December 14, 1940 |
| Launch: | September 20, 1941 |
| Commissioning: | November 8, 1941 |
| Commanders: | |
| Flotilla: |
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| Calls: | 3 patrols |
| Sinkings: |
3 ships (18,553 GRT) |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk by collision on November 8, 1942 in the North Atlantic southeast of Cape Farewell. |
U 254 was a German submarine of the Kriegsmarine in World War II .
History of the boat
U 254 was commissioned from Vegesacker Werft, Bremen on September 23, 1939, and laid on keel on December 14, 1940 as the new 019. After nine months of construction, U 254 was launched on September 20, 1941 and put into service on November 8 of the same year under the command of Lieutenant Captain Hans Gilardone. For the next seven months, U 254 sailed in the Baltic Sea as a training boat for the 8th U-Flotilla stationed in Danzig , before it was assigned to the 9th U-Flotilla as a front boat with effect from August 1, 1942 . Before its sinking, the boat carried out three patrols, one under Kptlt Odo Loewe and two under Kptlt Hans Gilardone, and sank three ships with a total tonnage of 18,553 GRT.
commitment
1. patrol
U 254 under Kptlt Hans Gilardone left on June 14, 1942 at 7:10 a.m. At that time it was still a training boat of the 8th U-Flotilla, from Kiel for the first patrol into the North Atlantic. It first moved to Kristiansand , Norway , where more fuel was added before it set sail again on June 16 at 05:05. On this 35 days, 7 hours and 30 minutes trip, the boat operated in the North Atlantic, west of Iceland and east of Newfoundland. Before entering Brest on August 19th, Lieutenant Gilardone sank a ship, the British freighter Flora II with 1218 GRT.
2. Patrol
When U 254 left Brest on September 21, 1942 at 7:00 p.m. for the second patrol, it was commanded by Kptlt Odo Loewe on behalf of Kptlt Gilardone. The voyage was 30 days and the operational areas were again in the North Atlantic and east of Newfoundland. Kptlt Loewe succeeded in sinking the 11,327 GRT American motor tanker Esso Williamsburg on October 3rd and the 6,098 GRT British freighter Pennington Court on October 9th . The boat returned to its home port of Brest on October 22nd and was again taken over by Kptlt Gilardone.
3. Patrol
On November 21, 1942 U 254 and Kptlt Hans Gilardone left Brest for the third patrol. It operated again in the North Atlantic and was put on the convoy HX-217 together with ten other boats , but no sinking or damage could be achieved.
The end of U 254
On December 8, 1942 at 9:34 p.m. ObltzS Hans-Hartwig Trojers U 221 was on the surface of the water in thick fog and heavy darkness. Suddenly another submarine appeared in front of the bow of U 221 , so that a collision was inevitable. U 221 hit the other boat directly behind the tower at the level of the galley, but it was still buoyant. U 221 approached the boat, which unexpectedly sank at the stern and left only four survivors in the water. It later turned out that U 221 had sunk U 254 by Kptlt Hans Gilardone. 41 crew members of U 254 , including the commander, perished while the four survivors of the boat were picked up by U 221 and brought to France. The wreck is located in the former naval grid square AK 2551 at position 58 ° 44 'N - 33 ° 02' W.
U-boat groups with which U 254 operated
| Wolf pack | time |
|---|---|
| lynx | September 27, 1942 to October 6, 1942 |
| Panther | October 6, 1942 to October 12, 1942 |
| leopard | October 12, 1942 to October 14, 1942 |
| tank | November 27, 1942 to November 8, 1942 |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The ten other boats were U 135 under ObltzS Heinz Schütt, U 211 under Kptlt Karl Haus, U 439 under Kptlt Wolfgang Sporn, U 445 under ObltzS Heinz-Konrad Fenn, U 465 under Kptlt Heinz Wolf, U 524 under Kptlt Walter Freiherr von Steinaecker, U 611 under Kptlt Nikolaus von Jakobs, U 623 under ObltzS Hermann Schröder, U 663 under Kptlt Heinrich Schmid and U 758 under Kptlt Helmut Manseck.