U 396
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U 396 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | 52 277 |
| Shipyard: | Howaldtswerke in Kiel |
| Construction contract: | April 10, 1941 |
| Build number: | 028 |
| Keel laying: | June 6, 1942 |
| Launch: | August 27, 1943 |
| Commissioning: | October 16, 1943 |
| Commanders: |
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| Flotilla: |
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| Calls: | 5 patrols |
| Sinkings: |
no |
| Whereabouts: | disappeared north-west of England since April 1945 |
U 396 was a German type VII C submarine , a so-called "Atlantic boat ". It was mainly used as a weather boat by the Kriegsmarine during the submarine war .
Technical specifications
A VII C-boat had a length of 67 m and a displacement of 865 m³ under water. It was propelled by two diesel engines, which enabled a speed of 17 knots over water . During the underwater journey, two electric motors propelled the boat to a speed of 7 knots. The armament consisted 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 until 1944 . Usually a VII-C-boat carried 14 torpedoes with it. U 396 was equipped with a snorkel which, when submerged, supplied fresh air and diverted the toxic diesel exhaust gases. As a result, the two diesel engines could also be used underwater, which enabled faster travel and a longer stay underwater.
Commanders
- October 19, 1943 to March 1945
Ernst-Günther Unterhorst was born on April 5, 1919 in Hadersleben and joined the Navy in 1937 . After completing his officer training, he was assigned to the air force and did not return to the navy until the spring of 1942 to begin his submarine training. He then drove as the first watch officer on the U 403 until the summer of 1943 . In the summer of the same year he completed the commanders course and initially received a building instruction for U 395 , which was not put into service due to damage. After a few days as a commander on behalf of U 394 , Oberleutnant zur See Unterhorst was given command of U 396 .
- March 1945 and April 1945
The successor of Oblt.zS Unterhorst as commander of U 396 was born in what is now Denmark. Hilmar Siemon was born on March 29, 1915 in Aabenraa and entered the Navy in 1934. He completed his submarine training in the spring of 1943, initially served as the first officer on watch on the U 97 and took over command of the U 334 in the same year after completing the commanders course . From the spring of 1943, Lieutenant Siemon was employed as a staff officer in the 13th U-Flotilla in Drontheim , then he became company commander in the Mürwik Naval School . In the spring of 1944, Lieutenant Siemon took command of U 396 .
history
First contact with the enemy
U 396 had the first enemy contact on the first voyage from Kiel to the planned operational area off the Norwegian coast. The boat was by a British maritime reconnaissance aircraft type Consolidated PBY "Catalina" attacked. The attacker damaged the boat's snorkel, causing several crew members to be carbon monoxide poisoned. On July 3rd , Commander Unterhorst had an unscheduled call to Bergen for repairs . U 396 should actually have joined a submarine group that was in a defensive position off the Norwegian coast. Due to the damage, the boat joined this group late.
"Middle" submarine group
In June 1944, U 396 was assigned to the submarine group "Mitte", 21 boats which took up a defensive position off the Norwegian coast and were involved in fierce fighting with the bombers and fighters of the RAF Coastal Command . After six of the boats were sunk and five others were damaged, the submarine group "Mitte" was disbanded. U 396 entered Drontheim damaged .
Weather boat
In autumn 1944, U 396 was supposed to be patrolling the North Canal together with other boats , but the snorkel failed just a few days after leaving the port. Commander Unterhorst drove back to Drontheim for repairs and due to the delay, the boat received a different order: Use as a weather boat. Such missions were based on the fact that the weather situation in Europe depends largely on the meteorological processes in the Arctic region. The tasks of such boats included the determination of temperatures and weather observations from which the current and expected weather conditions could be derived to support further operational planning of the Navy. From October to December 1944 U 396 was used as a weather boat in the North Atlantic together with U 546 and U 170 , both of which had returned from unsuccessful long-distance journeys off the African coast.
Loss of the boat
The fate of U 396 is unclear. The last message from the boat was received on April 11, 1945. Lieutenant Siemon stated that he was returning from a weather patrol from the North Atlantic . There is no evidence of what happened to U 396 after this point in time , so a diving accident is considered to be the cause of the loss of the boat.
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 .
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine 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 .
- Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 .
- Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the naval war 1939-1945. Manfred Pawlak Verlagsges., Herrsching 1981, ISBN 3-88199-0097 .
Remarks
- ^ Bomb raid by the 8th US Air Force (199 bombers against Kiel and Travemünde) on July 29th.