U 516
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U 516 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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 The flotilla sign of the 10th U-Flotilla indicated U 516 on the tower |
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| Type : | IX C |
| Field Post Number : | 41 960 |
| Shipyard: | German shipyard , Hamburg |
| Construction contract: | February 14, 1940 |
| Build number: | 312 |
| Keel laying: | May 12, 1941 |
| Launch: | December 16, 1941 |
| Commissioning: | March 10, 1942 |
| Commanders: |
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| Calls: | 6 activities |
| Sinkings: |
15 ships |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk on January 3, 1946 en route to the sinking site as part of Operation Deadlight northwest of Ireland |
U 516 was a German submarine of the type IX C , which was used by the German navy in the submarine warfare during the Second World War in the Indian Ocean , in the West and Central Atlantic and in the Caribbean .
Construction and technical data
The Deutsche Werft AG in Hamburg-Finkenwerder was one of the most modern German shipyards at the beginning of the war and was only commissioned to build the type IX C boats. A submarine of this class was 78.9 m long and displaced 1120 m³ of water. Two 2200 hp diesel engines ensured an overwater speed of a maximum of 18.3 knots , which corresponds to 33.9 km / h . When underwater, the two electric motors enabled a speed of 7.3 knots, which is 13.5 km / h. The Type IX C had four bow and two stern torpedo tubes and carried 22 torpedoes. Deutsche Werft AG built 24 boats of this type, also with the use of forced labor. U 516 was part of the third construction contract that this shipyard received. U 516 had the flotilla sign of the 10th U-Flotilla on the tower: a U-boat on a black cross.
history
U 516 was subordinated to the 4th U-Flotilla on February 10, 1942 and stationed in Stettin . During this time, Commander Wiebe undertook training trips with the boat in the Baltic Sea to retract the boat and train the crew. From the middle to the end of May, Corvette Captain Hans Pauckstadt briefly commanded the boat as a substitute. On September 1, 1942, the boat was assigned to the 10th submarine flotilla , which was stationed in the Atlantic port of Lorient in northern France .
Ventures
On August 12th, Commander Wiebe left Kiel for his first patrol with U 516 . On this venture he sank five ships. On November 14th the boat entered Lorient. The next venture took the boat towards the end of 1942 in the Indian Ocean, where U 516 was assigned to the Seehund submarine group , which searched for Allied ships according to the pack tactics developed by Karl Dönitz . During this voyage, Commander Wiebe sank four ships. U 516 returned to Lorient on May 4, 1943. At the beginning of July, Lieutenant Captain Hans-Rutger Tillessen took command of U 516 . He ran out on July 8th on his first patrol with this boat, on which he did not sink any ships, but took care of a few other submarines. The next venture, which U 516 set out for on September 30, 1943, took an unusually long time, so that U 516 had to be supplied by itself. In mid-January, the boat and other submarines were discovered and attacked by two American fighters while they were taking over fuel at sea. Commander Tillessen managed to escape by diving with U 516 . At the end of January, the boat finally took over provisions and fuel from U 539 . On this patrol, Commander Tillessen sank six ships. On February 26th, the boat entered Lorient again. U 516 set sail on May 7, 1944 for its last venture under the command of Tillessen . Commander Tillesen patrolled the western Atlantic and the Caribbean on this voyage. He sank a ship and returned to Europe in September. U 516 reached Flensburg on October 4, 1944 .
End of the boat
In spring 1945 Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich Petran took command of U 516 . He moved the boat to Horten in March and set out from here on April 1st for the last boat trip . Commander Petran patrolled the North Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay by boat . He finally capitulated on May 10, 1945 at sea. The boat entered Loch Eriboll on May 14 , one of the collection points for the German submarines that were handed over. From here the boat drove over Loch Alsh to the Northern Irish port of Londonderry . From here it was in January 1946 after Moville spent where U 516 from the HMS Quantock , a destroyer of the Hunt class was taken in tow. When the Quantock was supposed to move the boat to the intended sinking position the next day, U 516 sank .
literature
- Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg a. a. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
See also
Notes and individual references
- ↑ Georg Högel, “Embleme Wappen Malings deutscher U-Boats” Koehler (5th edition, 2009) page 116
- ↑ U 516 handed over fuel and provisions to U 532 and U 533 in the course of this undertaking
- ↑ the other boats were U 544 and U 129
- ^ Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing vor München 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 , p. 172.