U 399

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U 399
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Type : VII C
Field Post Number : M 46 386
Shipyard: Howaldtswerke in Kiel (Plant 32)
Construction contract: August 25, 1941
Build number: 031
Keel laying: November 18, 1942
Launch: December 4, 1943
Commissioning: January 22, 1944
Commanders:
Flotilla:
Calls: 1 patrol
Sinkings:

2 ships (7,538 GRT)

Whereabouts: sunk in the English Channel on March 26, 1945

U 399 was a German type VII C submarine of the Kriegsmarine during World War II .

history

Construction and commissioning

U 399 was commissioned on August 25, 1941 and laid down on November 18, 1942 in the Howaldswerke Kiel . It was launched on December 4, 1943, and commissioned on January 22, 1944 under the command of Leutnant zur See Kurt van Meeteren.

U 399 served as a training boat until January 31, 1945 . During this time the boat belonged to the 5th U-Flotilla , a training flotilla stationed in Kiel. During the training there was a change of command: Kurt van Meeteren took over U 3021 and Heinz Buhse took over U 399 . On February 1, 1945, U 399 was assigned to the 11th U-Flotilla as a front boat, to which it belonged until it was sunk.

commitment

For its first voyage, U 399 left Kiel on January 25, 1945, to which it returned three days later.

The only patrol was on February 6, 1945 from Horten (Norway) via Kristiansand (February 7–8, 1945) to Land's End , where U 399 was to patrol.

assignment

U 399 ran from Kristiansand on February 8, 1945 with the order to patrol the North Atlantic and sink enemy ships on the way and in the target area.

On this patrol met U 399 on the convoy BTC 103 ( Bristol Channel - Thames ) and was on 21 March 1945 US liberty ship James Eagan Layne with 7176 BRT at position 50 ° 20 '  N , 4 ° 15'  W sink .

In the further course of the patrol, U 399 encountered convoy BTC 108 and sank the Dutch motor ship Pacific ( Lage ) with 363 GRT on March 26, 1945 .

Downfall

In the further course of March 26, 1945 U 399 met the 3rd "Escort Group" and was sunk by depth charges and hedgehogs from the HMS Duckworth , a captain-class frigate belonging to it .

wreck

The wreck is at the coordinates 49 ° 56 '  N , 5 ° 22'  W in grid square BF 2514. Only one crew member survived the sinking, the remaining 46 died.

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