U 424

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U 424
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Type : VII C
Field Post Number : 51 006
Shipyard: Danzig Werft AG in Danzig
Construction contract: April 10, 1941
Build number: 126
Keel laying: April 16, 1942
Launch: November 28, 1942
Commissioning: April 7, 1943
Commanders:
  • Günther Lüders
Flotilla:
Calls: 2 activities
Sinkings:

no

Whereabouts: Sunk by depth charges in the North Atlantic on February 11, 1944, no survivors

U 424 was a German type VII C submarine . This class of submarines was also called "Atlantic boat". It was used by the Kriegsmarine during the submarine war in the North Atlantic .

Technical specifications

After the incorporation of the Free City of Danzig into the German Reich, the Danziger Werft AG was included in the submarine building program by the Navy and commissioned with the annual construction of a dozen VII C-boats. Until the city was taken by the Red Army , the shipyard produced a total of 42 submarines of this type. U 424 was part of the sixth construction contract for this shipyard, which included a total of four Type VII C boats. Such a boat had a length of 67 m and a displacement of 865 m³ under water. It was powered by two diesel engines, which ensured a speed of 17  kn (31.6 km / h). A VII C-boat had a maximum range of 6500 nm . Under water, the two electric motors, each with 375 hp , were usually used, which achieved a speed of 7 kn (12.6 km / h). Until 1944, the armament consisted of an 8.8 cm cannon and a 2.0 cm flak on deck as well as four bow torpedo tubes and a stern torpedo tube.

Commitment and history

Until September 1943, U 424 belonged to the 8th U-Flotilla, a training flotilla, and was stationed in Danzig . From here the boat undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to train the crew. On its first patrol in the autumn, Commander Lüders led the boat from Kiel via Drontheim to the operational area in the North Atlantic and east of Newfoundland . On December 15, U 424 entered Brest , the base of the 1st Flotilla, where the boat was stationed from now on. On January 29, 1944, the boat left for his second venture. The sea area south and west of Ireland was intended as the operational area .

Loss of the boat

In order to protect their ships from the German submarines that hunted convoys according to the pack tactics developed by Karl Dönitz , the Allies put together so-called "escort groups", which consisted of several smaller warships that were used for the U- Trained in boat hunting. The protection of the large combined convoy , composed of SL 147 and MKS 38 , which crossed the Atlantic at the beginning of February 1944, was the responsibility of the 2nd Escort Group of the British Navy. These included the sloops Wild Goose and Woodpecker , who had already sunk U 762 in a coordinated attack on February 8 . Three days later, the Wild Goose's ASDIC finally recorded U 424 . Supported by the Woodpecker occupied the British sloop boat in three starts with depth charges . A puddle of oil riddled with wreckage, which formed on the surface of the water after some violent underwater detonations, finally indicated the sinking of U 424 .

Notes and individual references

  1. ^ The construction contract of April 10, 1941 also included U 421 , U 422 and U 423 .
  2. Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 , p. 247 ff.
  3. Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 , p. 265.
  4. ^ Bernard Ireland: Battle of the Atlantic. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD 2003, ISBN 1-59114-032-3 , pp. 186-187.
  5. Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 4: German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. 1999, p. 187.

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