U 527
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U 527 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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|---|---|
| Type : | IX C |
| Field Post Number : | M 06857 |
| Shipyard: | German shipyard , Hamburg |
| Construction contract: | August 15, 1940 |
| Build number: | 342 |
| Keel laying: | October 28, 1941 |
| Launch: | June 17, 1942 |
| Commissioning: | September 2, 1942 |
| Commanders: |
September 2, 1942 - July 23, 1943 |
| Calls: | 2 activities |
| Sinkings: |
1 ship (5242 GRT) |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk on July 23, 1943 by aircraft of the USS Bogue |
U 527 was a German submarine of the Kriegsmarine of the type IX C , which was used in the Second World War .
history
The construction contract for this boat was awarded to the Deutsche Werft in Hamburg on August 15, 1941 . It was laid there on October 28, 1941. The launch was on June 17, 1942. On September 2, 1942, U 527 was put into service under the command of Lieutenant Herbert Uhlig. Until January 31, 1943, the boat was assigned to training the 4th U-Flotilla in Stettin and undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to train the crew. Then it belonged to the 10th U-Flotilla in Lorient as a front boat until its sinking . U 527 bore the coat of arms of its godfather town Meldorf (see picture on the left), birthplace of the commandant's wife, as a boat coat of arms.
commander
Herbert Uhlig was born on February 27, 1916 in Chemnitz and joined the Navy in 1935. After completing his submarine training, he served as the first officer on watch on U 105 . On June 1, 1942 he was promoted to lieutenant captain and took over command of U 527 on September 2, 1942 , which he held until the boat was sunk.
Calls
In total, U 527 completed two operations, during which the boat operated in the North Atlantic, west of Newfoundland and south of Iceland , as well as in the Middle Atlantic south-west of the Azores .
First venture
Duration: February 9, 1943 (Kiel) to April 12, 1943 (Lorient)
On March 8, 1943, attack on convoy SC 121 . The British cargo ship Fort Lamy (5,242 GRT) ( location ) was sunk. The Fort Lamy had the assault ship HMS LCT-2480 (291 BRT) on board.
On March 19, 1943 at 10:47 am attacked the Mathew Luckenbach (5,848 GRT), a straggler from convoy HX 229 . The cargo ship was torpedoed, two of the three torpedoes hit the ship. The ship was abandoned by the crew who were rescued by the USCGC Ingham (WPG 35). The Mathew Luckenbach was finally sunk by U 523 on the same day .
Second venture
In the early afternoon of May 27, 1943, the boat left Lorient. It was accompanied by a mine-layer until sunset.
On May 29, 1942, a towed storm-damaged large ship attempted to attack at 47 ° north 4 ° west. The escort corvette was able to disrupt the attack, so that neither side was scuttled. Another attack on a fast-moving ship in the Bahamas was unsuccessful.
On 2/3 July 1943 start of the return journey.
Downfall
The boat was attacked and damaged by an airplane on the way back, and was also chased by three destroyers afterwards. During the meeting with U 648 on July 23, 1943 near the Azores , the damaged boat was sighted and attacked by an aircraft of the USS Bogue ( location ). At this time, U 527 was supplying the smaller VII c-boat and the crews were completely surprised by the attack. While the more manoeuvrable U 648 dived into the alarm, Commander Uhlig tried to fight the aircraft with U 527 and at the same time ran into a fog bank in order to hide from the aircraft. Because the rear gun failed after a hit and the rear machine gun was positioned too far to the right, the aircraft could approach relatively unhindered. The low-flying aircraft dropped six bombs, one of which hit the edge of the tower on the port side. It quickly became clear that the boat was lost. The commander ordered the evacuation, he helped and was pulled under water by the sinking submarine, but was still able to save himself. Uhlig later said that he estimated that the boat sank about 40 seconds after the hit. A total of 14 people managed to escape from the sinking boat, but the first officer on watch died before the rescue. In a letter written in 1946 to the relatives of the deceased 40 crew members, Uhlig also defended the thesis that he suspected that very few had drowned, but had already been killed by the detonation. In doing so, he certainly showed consideration for the bereaved.
Rescue and internment
The plane also dropped a smoke buoy, which explains the quick rescue. The destroyer USS Clemson reached the 13 survivors after about three hours and took them on board. The next day they were taken to the USS Bogue , on which they reached Casablanca . The survivors were taken to New York by freighter and from there to a prisoner-of-war camp in Arizona. The three surviving officers, including Commandant Uhlig, were taken to an officers' camp in Parks , the other crew members to another camp nearby.
In 1946, Herbert Uhlig was released from captivity with the surviving crew members and returned to Germany.
Individual evidence
- ^ 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. 117.
- ↑ 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. 244.
- ↑ 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.
- ^ Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. 1998, p. 138.
literature
- 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 .
- Georg Högel: Emblems, coats of arms, Maling's German submarines 1939–1945. 4th edition. Koehler, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-7822-0826-9 .
- Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .
- Melanie Wiggins: Submarine War in the Gulf of Mexico. 1942-1943. License issue. Weltbild, Augsburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-8289-5421-2 , pp. 173-179.
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