U 263

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U 263
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Type : VII C
Field Post Number : 02 258
Shipyard: Vegesacker shipyard in Bremen
Construction contract: August 15, 1940
Build number: 028
Keel laying: June 8, 1941
Launch: April 18, 1942
Commissioning: May 6, 1942
Commanders:

Corvette Captain Kurt Nölke

Flotilla:
Calls: 2 patrols
Sinkings:

2 ships (12,376 GRT)

Whereabouts: sunk in the Bay of Biscay off La Rochelle in January 1944

U 263 was a German type VII C submarine . This class of submarines was also called "Atlantic boat". It was used by the Kriegsmarine during the submarine war in the Atlantic .

Technical specifications

The Vegesacker shipyard was a subsidiary of Bremer Vulkan , which was founded in 1938 to carry out military construction contracts exclusively. This shipyard had completed a total of 52 Type VII C boats by 1943 on behalf of the Navy . A submarine of this type had a length of 67 m and a displacement of 865 m³ under water. It was propelled over water by two diesel engines that ensured a speed of 17 knots . Two electric motors produced a speed of 7 knots under water. The armament consisted of a 8.8 cm cannon and a 2.0 cm flak on deck, as well as four bow torpedo tubes and a stern torpedo tube until 1944 . In the spring of 1943, a brief attempt was made to convert the U 263 to a stronger anti-aircraft armament. However, this upgrade to an anti-aircraft submarine was abandoned.

commander

Kurt Nölke was born in Hanover on September 5, 1914 and joined the Navy in 1935 . He was thus a member of Crew 35 , the officer class of that year. In 1939 and 1940 he served as adjutant and artillery officer on the former passenger steamer Queen Luise , which had been converted into a mine- layer , until he switched to the torpedo boat Jaguar in April 1940 . Kurt Nölke completed his submarine training in May 1941. He then went on to be the first watch officer on the U 82 . He received his first command on December 5th of the same year on U 20 , which at that time was used as a school boat in the 22nd U-Flotilla. On May 6, 1942, Kurt Nölke took over command of U 263 , which he held with interruptions until the boat was sunk.

Commitment and history

In November 1942, the Allies landed massive forces on the North African coast. The Navy tried to counter this Operation Torch with an increased use of submarines. The challenge was to relocate the submarines, which at that time were mainly in use in the Atlantic - from the French Atlantic ports - partly through the well-guarded Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean and partly in the shallow and submarine Operating boats in unsuitable waters off the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.

Westwall submarine group against Operation Torch

U 263 had left its base in Kiel on October 27, 1942 to operate in the North Atlantic . The boat was assigned to the second wave of submarines, which - summarized in the submarine group "Westwall" - were to attack the ships of Operation Torch off Gibraltar and met the convoy KR-S 3 on the approach Road to Gibraltar was. Commander Nölke ordered a so-called four-fan shot in which all four bow torpedoes were released simultaneously. As a result, he succeeded in sinking two ships

  • November 20, 1942 Norwegian freighter Prins Harald ( Lage ) (7244 BRT) and British steamer Grangepark (5132 BRT) sunk with torpedo (fan shot)

Commander Nölke reported a hit on another steamer that caught fire. The fourth torpedo detonated in the safety net of the British freighter Ocean Pilgrim , but did no damage. Following this successful attack, U 263 was attacked by several escort ships and filled with over a hundred depth charges. The submarine was so badly damaged that commander Nölke decided to set course for the new base of the boat in Brest - but the U 263 never arrived there .

Thirteen months in the shipyard

A Lockheed Hudson of RAF discovered U 263 on November 24 and attacked it with four depth charges. Commander Nölke reported considerable additional damage, which made it impossible for U 263 to go down again, which is why the BdU decided to allow the boat to enter a neutral Spanish port for internment . Since the U 511, which was also marching back, had caught up with U 263 in the meantime and two Ju 88 bombers were also able to provide escort protection, Commander Nölke decided to venture to France anyway. U 263 arrived in La Rochelle on November 29th. The severe damage made it necessary to lay in the shipyard for a longer period of time, during which the boat was repaired and rebuilt. The experience from the clashes between submarines and enemy aircraft had made Karl Dönitz convinced that the conversion of submarines - especially for anti-aircraft combat - would be an effective measure against the air superiority of the Allies in the sea area. Based on this consideration, it was decided to convert some Type VII submarines into so-called anti-aircraft submarines, which should attract aircraft when they travel over water and then fight them with anti-aircraft guns. U 263 was intended to be such a flak trap , a plan that was abandoned in the summer of 1943. The conversion, which initially essentially consisted of an extension of the tower superstructure, was dismantled and the U 263 was given its original appearance. During this time Kurt Nölke was in command of U 584 .

Sinking

U 263 did not leave La Rochelle until January 19, 1944. One day later, Commander Nölke reported the damage to a fuel tank, which had leaked during a test dive, and asked for help. This was the last contact with U 263 . An immediately initiated two-day search with minesweepers and outpost boats and four Ju 88s remained unsuccessful. The German submarine command suspected a diving accident due to human error. In contrast, allied agencies saw a mine hit as the cause ( location ).

Remarks

  1. ↑ From December 1942 to February 1943 Nölke was in command of U 584 , as U 263 was badly damaged in the shipyard
  2. ↑ In addition to the U 263 , the Westwall submarine group also included U 515 , U 155 , U 411, U 564 , U 86 , U 91 , U 98 , U 218, U 566, U 613, U 92 , U 413 , U 653, U 519 and U 185
  3. ↑ the dating of the attacks is inconsistent in the literature. This information follows Busch and Röll. Rohwer and Hümmelchen define this attack as the first and the cause of the damage and the termination of the patrol, and accordingly locate a second air raid on November 27th
  4. ↑ the last radio message from U 263 quoted. According to Busch, Röll: “Diving bunker two port side depressed during a deep dive attempt, diving unclear, cause unknown. Return to La Pallice. Request guidance, stand ... "

literature

  • Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 .
  • 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 .
  • Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .
  • Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the naval war 1939-1945. Manfred Pawlak, Herrsching 1981, ISBN 3-88199-0097 .