U 463

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U 463
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Type : XIV
Field Post Number : M 41 387
Shipyard: Deutsche Werke AG , Kiel
Build number: 294
Keel laying: March 8, 1941
Launch: December 20, 1941
Commissioning: April 2, 1942
Commanders:

April 2, 1942 - May 16, 1943
KKpt. ZV Leo Wolf Bauer

Calls: 5 patrols
Sinkings:

no

Whereabouts: Sunk in the North Atlantic on May 16, 1943 (56 dead, no survivors)

U 463 was a German submarine from Type XIV , which in World War II by the German navy was used. As a supply submarine, it was not intended to attack enemy ships and did not sink any ships. On May 16, 1943, it was sunk by a British aircraft, killing all 56 men on board.

Technical specifications

As a submarine class XIV boat, officially called Type XIV , U 463 was a modification of the Type IX D and was designed to provide fuel, food and ammunition to other German submarines during World War II. From time to time crew members were also changed. The nickname of the boats of this class was "Milchkuh" or "Manatee". U 463 could not shoot any torpedoes itself . It only carried anti-aircraft guns for defense against air attacks. Instead, a wide variety of support was provided for the front submarines to be supplied. So decreed U 463 run a small machine shop with numerous spare parts for repairs at sea. In addition, there were extensive cold rooms for fresh provisions and an on-board bakery. In contrast to the smaller Type VII submarines, there was also a doctor on board. On the tower, U 463 had a drawing of a pelican feeding its young through a funnel.

Construction, commissioning and commander

The order for the boat was awarded to Deutsche Werke AG in Kiel on August 15, 1940 . All ten boats of this type were built at this shipyard. The keel was laid on March 8, 1941 and the launch took place on December 20, 1941. The commissioning under Corvette Captain Leo Wolfbauer finally took place on April 2, 1942. The Austrian Wolfbauer, born in Pernegg an der Mur in 1895 , graduated from the Naval Academy Fiume in 1913 and served as a submarine officer in the First World War. After Austria was annexed to the Greater German Reich, he joined the navy, like many of the kuk naval officers. Wolfbauer was under the 24th U-Flotilla from 1940. The command on U 463 was his first on-board command since 1918. He was considered too old for a command on one of the combat submarines. For the clumsy supply submarines, on the other hand, mature commanders were preferred, while the younger generation was more likely to accept the inconvenience of the smaller combat submarines. On April 1, 1942, Wolfbauer was appointed corvette captain.

Calls

From April to July 1942, U 463 was stationed with the 4th training flotilla in Stettin .

First supply trip

On July 11, 1942, the submarine left Kiel for its first supply trip in the Atlantic . Numerous submarines were supplied with fuel west of the Azores , including U 564 on August 3, 1942 , which was on an eventful patrol in the Caribbean and U 129 , which returned from a long undertaking in the western Atlantic. U 154 was supplied on August 7 and U 217 on August 12, 1942 . On September 3, 1942, U 463 entered Saint-Nazaire and was initially subordinate to the 10th U-Flotilla, a front flotilla to which all "dairy cows" belonged during this period.

With a duration of 55 days at sea, the first was also the longest supply trip for U 463 .

Second supply trip

The second supply trip led U 463 on September 28, 1942 from Saint-Nazaire to the North Atlantic. After supplying several front submarines, such as U 69 , Brest was called on November 11, 1942 . From then on, U 463 , like all "dairy cows", was subordinate to the 12th U-Flotilla, which had been re-established on October 15, 1942.

Third supply trip

U 463 ran from Brest on December 6, 1942 for its third supply trip, this time leading to the central Atlantic southwest of the Azores. On December 20, 1942, U 91 was supplied with drinking water. On December 22, 1942, U 92 was supplied with provisions. On January 12, 1943, U 463 met with U 109 to supply it with 14.6 m³ of fuel. On January 26, 1943, the submarine returned to Saint-Nazaire.

Fourth supply trip

The fourth supply trip started on March 4, 1943 and led into the North Atlantic. On March 19, 1943, U 89 was supplied with 23 m³ of fuel and provisions. On April 17, 1943, U 463 reached Bordeaux , the base of the 12th U-Flotilla. From here the boat moved to Le Verdon in May .

Fifth supply trip

On May 10, 1943, U 463 finally left Le Verdon for its last venture, which led to the North Atlantic and from which the submarine never returned.

Whereabouts

On May 16, 1943, U 463 was sighted at 6:20 p.m. by a Handley Page Halifax of the 58th Squadron of the Royal Air Force at position 48 ° 28 ′  N , 10 ° 20 ′  W while traveling over water.

The successful American deciphering of the “Triton” key network used by the submarines , which was used to encrypt radio communications with the BdU , is regarded as a major cause of the discovery . From April 1943 onwards, more than 120 specially developed Desch bombes were manufactured in the US Naval Computing Machine Laboratory , which were directed against the Enigma-M4 used by the Navy .

The aircraft was noticed on U 463 and Commander Wolfbauer immediately submerged. Several depth charges of Halifax met in and around the vertebrae, the submarine left in the water. Shortly afterwards, debris and puddles of oil appeared on the surface of the water. All 56 crew members including the commander of U 463 were killed in the sinking.

For a long time it was assumed that U 463 had already been sunk on May 15, southwest of the Isles of Scilly . However, U 266 had fallen victim to this attack by Halifax "M" of the 58th RAF squadron, which is now considered certain .

See also

Notes and individual references

  1. ^ Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Malings German submarines 1939-1945. 5th edition. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7822-1002-7 , p. 110.
  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. 497.
  3. ↑ Wolfbauer drove third until 1917, then as second officer on the kuk boat U-29.
  4. ↑ a b c P. Kemp: German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. 1997, p. 121.
  5. ↑ 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 , p. 259.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h 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. 492.
  7. ↑ Jennifer Wilcox : Solving the Enigma - History of the Cryptanalytic Bombe . Center for Cryptologic History, NSA, Fort Meade (USA) 2001, p. 52. PDF; 0.6 MB ( memento from January 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ John AN Lee, Colin Burke, Deborah Anderson: The US Bombes, NCR, Joseph Desch, and 600 WAVES - The first Reunion of the US Naval Computing Machine Laboratory . IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 2000. p. 35. PDF; 0.5 MB , accessed May 22, 2018.
  9. ^ B. Herzog: German U-Boats 1906–1966. 1996, p. 274.
  10. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 4: German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1999, ISBN 3-8132-0514-2 , p. 98.

literature

  • Bodo Herzog: German U-Boats 1906–1966. Karl Müller, Erlangen 1996, ISBN 3-86070-036-7 .
  • Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 28 ′ 0 ″  N , 10 ° 20 ′ 0 ″  W.