U 408

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U 408
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Type : VII C
Field Post Number : 47 966
Shipyard: Danzig Werft AG, Danzig
Construction contract: October 16, 1939
Build number: 109
Keel laying: September 30, 1940
Launch: July 16, 1941
Commissioning: November 19, 1941
Commanders:

Captain Reinhard von Hymmen

Flotilla:
  • 5th U-Flotilla training boat
    November 1941 - April 1942
  • 9th U-Flotilla front boat
    May 1942 - June 1942
  • 11th U-Flotilla Front Boat
    July 1942 - May 1942
Calls: 4 activities
Sinkings:

3 ships (19,355 GRT)

Whereabouts: Sunk in November 1942 in the North Sea , north of Iceland

U 408 was a German type VII C submarine, a so-called "Atlantic boat ". It was used by the Navy during the Submarine War in 1942 in the Arctic Ocean and mainly operated against convoys traveling the Murmansk route.

Technical specifications

Following the attack on Poland , the Danzig shipyard was included in the submarine building program of the Navy and was intended for the annual production of a dozen VII C-boats. The shipyard produced a total of 42 submarines until the city was taken by the Red Army . U 408 was part of the second construction contract to this shipyard, which included a total of four Type VII C boats. This type of boat was also called "Atlantic boat". A VII C boat had a length of 67 m and a displacement of 865 m³ under water. It was propelled over water by two diesel engines, which enabled a speed of 17 knots , two electric motors ensured 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 . Usually a VII C boat carried 14 torpedoes.

commander

Reinhard von Hymmen was born on November 5, 1914 in Berlin and joined the Reichsmarine in 1933 . From September to November 1941 von Hymmen drove as a commander student and officer on watch on U 564 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Reinhard Suhren . On November 19, 1941, he then took over his own command on U 408 , with which he sank a year later. On December 1, 1942, Reinhard von Hymmen was posthumously promoted to corvette captain.

Commitment and history

Von Hymmen undertook the first enemy voyages with U 408 as part of the Rösselsprung company in June and July 1942. Commander von Hymmen operated, together with eleven other submarines, against the northern sea convoy PQ 17 , which was heading towards Murmansk . U 408 did not score any sinkings, as the boat was mainly entrusted with sighting and reconnaissance tasks and played a major role in the recovery of the convoy near Jan Mayen after the PQ 17 was out of sight due to a fog bank.

Fighting

On his third venture, U 408 operated as part of the U-Gruppe “Trägerertod” in the North Sea against the convoy PQ 18 . The boat attacked a Soviet steamer with a fan shot consisting of three torpedoes. The shot hit not only the intended target, but also an American steamer traveling further away.

  • September 13, 1942, Soviet steamer Stalingrad with 3550 GRT sunk ( location )
  • September 13, 1942 American steamer Oliver Ellsworth with 7191 GRT sunk ( location )

The actual target of the U group, the escort carrier Avenger (hence the codename of the group), determined by Rear Admiral Klüber (the Admiral Nordmeer), was not damaged during this mission. The next day U 408 encountered the wreckage of a tanker floating up the keel. The British ship had been torpedoed by U & snbp; 457 the previous night , but not sunk. Commander von Hymmen had the wreck sunk by shelling it with the 8.8 cm cannon.

  • September 14, 1942, British tanker Atheltemplar with 8992 GRT sunk ( location )

On September 16, the convoy QP 14, coming from Murmansk and consisting of ships traveling without cargo, crossed the course of PQ 18. U 408 and six other boats parted from the originally pursued convoy. During the attack on QP 14 , Kapitänleutnant von Hymmen reported having damaged a steamer and a destroyer. However, these reports could not be confirmed.

Sinking

His fourth and last venture led U 408 on patrol off the north coast of Iceland . On the 28th birthday of the commander, November 5, 1942 was U 408 in the Denmark Strait north of Iceland in surface drive through an air raid by an American Catalina US Navy Patrol Squadron VP 84 with depth charges sunk ( location ). The pilot reported having spotted seven Germans in the water who were swimming in an oil patch between parts of the wreckage, but none survived.

Notes and individual references

  1. 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 . Page 109
  2. Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 3: German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. 2001, p. 191.
  3. The 15 cargo ships and their cover (12 British warships) had gathered at Arkhangelsk and left on September 13th.
  4. After Murmansk (or a nearby alternative port) ordered convoys had the identifier PQ, from there next identifier QP and then specifying, resulting from the numerical sequence number.
  5. ^ A b Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2. Pages 53-54
  6. ^ Ragnar J. Ragnarsson: US Navy PBY Catalina Units of the Atlantic War (= Osprey Combat Aircraft. 65). Osprey Publishing, Oxford et al. 2006, ISBN 1-84176-910-X , p. 46.

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 1: The Hunters. 1939-1942. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-12345-X .
  • Clay Blair: The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 .

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