U 420
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U 420 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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|---|---|
| Type : | VII C |
| Shipyard: | Danzig Werft AG, Danzig |
| Keel laying: | December 3, 1941 |
| Launch: | August 18, 1942 |
| Commissioning: | December 16, 1942 |
| Commanders: |
December 16, 1942 - October 20, 1943 |
| Calls: | 2 patrols |
| Sinkings: |
no |
| Whereabouts: | missing in the North Atlantic since October 20, 1943 |
U 420 was a German type VII C submarine of the former Navy in World War II .
history
Construction and commissioning
It was commissioned on January 20, 1941 and laid down on December 3, 1941 at Danziger Werft AG, Danzig . It was launched on August 18, 1942, and commissioned on December 16, 1942 under the command of Lieutenant Hans-Jürgen Reese.
From its commissioning until June 30, 1943, the boat was part of the 8th U-Flotilla in Danzig for training purposes, and from August 1, 1943 until it was lost to the 11th U-Flotilla in Bergen ( Norway ).
commitment
On June 12, 1943 , U 420 ran out of Kiel for its first patrol into the North Atlantic . On July 3, the submarine was attacked by a Canadian “Liberator” bomber and severely damaged by a hit with an acoustic torpedo of the Mark 24 “FIDO” type, killing two crew members. U 420 managed to return to Lorient ( France ), where the boat arrived on July 16, 1943.
After repairs were carried out on 7/8. October relocation from Lorient to Brest . U 420 ran from there on October 9, 1943 for its second patrol.
Downfall
The last report put the boat down on October 20, 1943 at about position 48 ° 0 ' N , 21 ° 0' W on the way to its area of operation off Newfoundland . It has been missing since then.
There are no indications of the reason for its disappearance; the assumption that it was sunk with depth charges by a Canadian "Liberator" bomber on October 26, 1943, has turned out to be a mistake. The attack was actually aimed at U 91 and did not cause any significant damage.
literature
- Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .
- 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 .
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