U 392

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U 392
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Type : VII C
Field Post Number : 45 441
Shipyard: Howaldtswerke in Kiel
Construction contract: January 20, 1941
Build number: 024
Keel laying: March 31, 1942
Launch: April 10, 1943
Commissioning: May 29, 1943
Commanders:


First Lieutenant for the Sea Henning Schümann

Flotilla:
  • 5th U-Flotilla training boat
    May - November 1943
  • 1st U-Flotilla front boat
    December 1943 - March 1944
Calls: 2 activities
Sinkings:

no

Whereabouts: Sunk by British naval forces on March 16, 1944 while attempting to pass the Strait of Gibraltar

U 392 was a German type VII C submarine , a so-called "Atlantic boat ". It was used by the Kriegsmarine in the North Atlantic during the Submarine War in World War II .

Technical specifications

The Deutsche Werke in Kiel had been entrusted with the construction of submarines for the German Reichsmarine and for export since 1935 . After the start of the war, the shipyard received major construction contracts from the Navy. As a result, Deutsche Werke was scheduled to produce twelve Type VII C boats a year. Such a boat was 67  m long and had a displacement of 865 m³ under water. It was propelled by two diesel engines, which enabled a speed of 17 kn (31.6 km / h) over water . Two electric motors enabled the boat to travel underwater at a speed of 7 kn (12.6 km / h). The armament of the VII C-Boats consisted until 1944 of an 8.8 cm cannon and a 2 cm Flak C / 30 on deck as well as four bow torpedo tubes and a stern torpedo tube. Usually a VII C-boat carried 14 torpedoes with it.

commander

Henning Schümann was born on April 17, 1919 in Elmschenhagen near Kiel and joined the Navy in 1937. Until 1942 he served as an officer on watch on the destroyer Richard Beitzen . In April of this year Henning Schümann was promoted to first lieutenant. He completed his submarine training in July 1942 and then made two patrols on board U 402 under the command of Siegfried von Forstner as the first watch officer (1 week) until spring 1943 . In March and April 1943, Henning Schümann completed his commanding course with the 24th U-Flotilla in Memel . In May he took over command of U 392.

Commitment and history

Until November 1943 U 392 was under the 5th U-Flotilla , a training flotilla that was stationed in Kiel . During this time, Commander Schümann undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to train the crew. On December 2, 1943, U 392 set out on its first venture from here. The North Atlantic, more precisely the sea area west of Ireland, was intended as the operational area. On December 26th, Commander Schümann reported having attacked and hit two warships with torpedoes. However, this information could not be confirmed. On January 20, the boat entered Brest , the base of the 1st U-Flotilla, to which the boat had belonged since December 1943.

Loss of the boat

In mid-March 1944, two Catalina flying boats located a submarine trying to cross the Strait of Gibraltar . The summoned frigate Affleck sank the submarine with a grenade launcher . It can be assumed that this boat was U 392.

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Bodo Herzog: German U-Boats 1906–1966. Karl Müller, Erlangen 1996, ISBN 3-86070-036-7 , p. 273.
  2. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 1: The German submarine commanders. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1996, ISBN 3-8132-0490-1 , p. 218.
  3. ↑ a b Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939 to 1945. Volume 2: The U-Boat construction in German shipyards. 1997, p. 482.
  4. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 3: German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 2001, ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 , p. 186
  5. ^ Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing vor München 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 , p. 186.

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