U 276

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U 276
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Type : VII C
Field Post Number : 49 169
Shipyard: Vegesacker shipyard
Bremen-Vegesack
Construction contract: April 10, 1941
Build number: 036
Keel laying: February 24, 1942
Launch: October 24, 1942
Commissioning: December 9, 1942
Commanders:
Calls: 3 activities
Sinkings:

no

Whereabouts: on September 29, 1944 in Neustadt i. H. decommissioned

U 276 was a submarine from the Type VII C , that of the German Navy during the submarine war in the Second World War in the Norwegian Sea and in the Baltic Sea was used.

Technical specifications

The Vegesacker Werft , founded in 1938 as a subsidiary of Bremer Vulkan , built a total of 74 submarines for the Navy. Even before the war began at the beginning of September 1939, the shipyard received an order to build 15 Type VII C boats.

The two diesel engines of these boats enabled a speed of 17 knots when crossing the water  , which corresponds to 31.6 km / h. Such a Type VII-C boat had a maximum range of 6500 nm . When diving , the boat was powered by two 375 hp electric motors, which ensured a speed of 7.6 knots - that's 14 km / h. U 276 wore a Roman sword as a coat of arms in front of a sunny sky over a blue sea.

Commanders

Jürgen Thimme wasbornin Berlin on September 26, 1917and joined the Navy in 1937. Initially he served as an officer on watch on the escort ship F3 , with the 3rd minesweeping flotilla and, following his submarine training, on the U 214 . In August 1941 Jürgen Thimme was promoted to first lieutenant at sea. In autumn 1942 he completed his U-boat commandant course and took over command of U 276 , which he handed over to his successor Rolf Borchers on October 19, 1943. Jürgen Thimme did not make any patrols with this boat.
Rolf Borchers was born on November 1, 1913 in Stettin and joined the Reichsmarine in 1933. At the beginning of the war he served on the light cruiser Emden . Rolf Borchers was promoted to lieutenant captain in April 1941 and completed his submarine training in the autumn of the same year. He commanded U 149 and U 226 , before taking command of U 276 in autumn 1943, with which he undertook three enemy voyages.
Heinz Zwarg was born on November 22, 1917 and joined the Navy in 1937. After completing his submarine training, he served as a second watch officer on the U 97 until the summer of 1941. Until autumn 1943, Heinz Zwarg served, among other things, as a naval liaison officer and with the staff of the BdU. In November 1943, he took over command of U 415 , which he held until May 1944. In April of the same year, Heinz Zwarg was promoted to lieutenant captain. On July 19, 1944, he took command of U 276 .

Commitment and history

From December 9, 1942 to February 29, 1944, U 276 was assigned to the 8th U-Flotilla as a training boat and was stationed in Danzig . During this time, Commander Thimme and Commander Borchers undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to retract the boat and train the crew. U 276 made its first voyage from Kiel on February 28th . The relocation trip took the boat over Bergen to Trondheim . In March U 276 was assigned to the 1st U-Flotilla .

In the northern sea

In March and April 1944, Commander Borchers made two operations in the North Sea with U 276 . The boat moved into a defensive waiting position in the sea area off Trondheim. On May 25, 1944, the day after it left Trondheim , U 276 was damaged by an aircraft attack. Commander Borchers and his crew were trying to find survivors of the U 476, which was sunk the day before , when an unidentified aircraft attacked, wounding three crew members and seriously damaging the boat.

U-Bootgruppe Mitte

On June 8th, U 276 was assigned to the U-Boot-Gruppe Mitte consisting of 13 submarines , which were supposed to take a defensive position in a line in front of Norway in order to counter possible attacks by the Allies in connection with Operation Overlord were expected. The boat entered Bergen on June 28th.

Workshop boat, power boat and end

Since the damage that U 276 had received during the aircraft attack on May 25th turned out to be serious, the boat lost its status as a front boat. Commander Borchers took it back to Kiel on a transfer trip from July 1st to 7th. U 276 was subordinated to the 31st U-Flotilla and was used for research and test purposes as well as for power generation until the end of the war. The boat was decommissioned in Neustadt in Holstein in September 1944.

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ a b c d Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. 1997, p. 468.
  2. ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939-1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 , p. 85.
  3. ↑ a b c Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 , p. 677.
  4. ^ Eckard Wetzel: U-Boats in front of Murmansk. 2008, p. 68.
  5. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. 1997, p. 353.
  6. ↑ Bodo Herzog: German U-Boats 1906–1966. Karl Müller, Erlangen 1996, ISBN 3-86070-036-7 , p. 270.

literature

  • 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 .
  • Eckard Wetzel: U-boats in front of Murmansk (= Ullstein. 26810, Maritim ). Newly reviewed and revised edition, 1st edition. Ullstein, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-548-26810-1 .