U 442

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U 442
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Type : VII C
Shipyard: F. Schichau Werft GmbH , Danzig
Keel laying: October 19, 1940
Commissioning: March 21, 1942
Commanders:

1941–1943
frigate captain Hans-Joachim Hesse

Calls: 2 patrols
Sinkings:

4 ships (25,417 GRT)

Whereabouts: Sunk off Cape St. Vincent on February 12, 1943

U 442 was a German type VII C submarine of the Kriegsmarine .

history

Construction and commissioning

The keel of U 442 was laid on October 19, 1940 at the F. Schichau GmbH shipyard in Danzig. It was put into service on March 21, 1942 as a training boat with the 5th U-Flotilla . On October 1 of the same year, the boat was assigned to the 7th U-Flotilla in Saint-Nazaire and used as a front boat.

Calls

First patrol

During its service, U 442 undertook an patrol following the transfer voyage from Kiel (the base of the 5th U-Flotilla) to Saint-Nazaire from September 17 to November 16, 1942. The area of ​​operation of the boat was the North Atlantic east of Newfoundland. Commander Hesse sank two ships with a total of 8,434 GRT on this voyage :

  • on September 25 the British freighter Empire Bell ( location )
  • on November 4th the British freighter Hatimura ( location )

In addition, the Greek freighter Parthenon was attacked on November 2nd . The impact of the torpedo could be heard, but there was no explosion.

Second patrol

The second patrol on December 20, 1942 was also the last of the boat. U 442 sank on this journey:

  • on January 9, 1943 the British tanker Empire Lytton ( able )
  • on January 27, the American steamer Julia Ward Howe ( Lage ),

a total of 16,983 GRT.

Whereabouts

The submarine was sunk by British Hudson planes west of Cape St. Vincent on February 12, 1943 ( Lage ). The entire boat crew (48 seamen) perished.

Remarks

  1. The freighter had been torpedoed shortly before by U 132 , which was still in the immediate vicinity when the torpedo from U 442 detonated the Hatimura . It is now certain that U 132 was also sunk by this detonation.

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 3: German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 2001, ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 .