U 593

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U 593
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Type : VII C
Field Post Number : 38 214
Shipyard: Howaldtswerke AG , Hamburg
Construction contract: January 16, 1940
Build number: 569
Keel laying: 17th December 1940
Launch: September 3, 1941
Commissioning: October 23, 1941
Commanders:

Kptlt. Gerd Kelbling

Flotilla:
Calls: 16 ventures
Sinkings:

9 merchant ships (38,290 GRT), 3 warships (2,902 t), a total of 414 dead

Whereabouts: self-sunk on December 13, 1943 in the western Mediterranean after severe damage (51 prisoners of war, no dead)

U 593 was a German type VII C submarine of the former German Navy . In its 16 patrols it sank nine merchant ships 38,290 BRT and three warships with 2,902 tonnes, with a total of 414 people were killed. On December 13, 1943, it was badly damaged and self- sunk by several British and US destroyers in the western Mediterranean , with all 51 crew members surviving. They came into Allied captivity and were brought to Britain - except for one who escaped in Oran .

history

Uboat Flo07 logo.gif

The keel was laid on December 17, 1940. After being launched on September 3, 1941, the boat was put into service on October 23, 1941 and assigned to the 8th U-Flotilla for training. The commandant was Lieutenant Captain Gerd Kelbling. On the tower the boat carried the mark of the 7th U-Flotilla, the so-called "Bull of Scapa Flow" (see illustration on the left). In addition, U 593 had a stylized thistle with the inscription “Weeds don't go away and I can sting” as a boat emblem.

Calls

After completing the training trips, U 593 was used as a front boat in the 7th U-Flotilla from March 1, 1942. After November 1, 1942, the boat served with the 29th U-Flotilla .

First venture

On March 2, 1942, U 593 left the port of Kiel on its first mission. The patrol led it north of the British Isles through the North Atlantic . During this operation the boat was assigned to the submarine group "Westwall". On March 27, around half past seven in the morning, Commandant Kelbling discovered a ship formation heading south west of Brest. He reported "three destroyers and ten speedboats" and was then attacked by two British destroyers with depth charges, followed by an underwater pursuit lasting several hours. The submarine command grossly misinterpreted Kelbling's report by assuming that it was ships that were returning from the northern French coast after a mine operation . In fact, it was the formation of the HMS Campbeltown , which was approaching Saint-Nazaire as part of Operation Chariot . After 27 days, U 593 entered the port of Saint-Nazaire on March 28, 1942.

Second venture

On his second patrol, Commander Kelbling and U 573 sank the Panamanian tanker MV Persephone in the Atlantic in front of the Barnegat lighthouse ( New Jersey ), killing nine seamen and rescuing 28.

Third company

U 593 left the base in Saint-Nazaire on July 22, 1942 for its third mission. The area of ​​operation for this voyage was in the North Atlantic south of Greenland . There, on August 5, the boat met the other boats of the Steinbrinck Wolf Pack on convoy SC-94 destined for London . One of the torpedoes fired hit the Dutch freighter Spar in the engine room and killed three men from the machine guard. The crew left the ship, which capsized and sank shortly afterwards, in two lifeboats and were picked up by the escort ships. U 593 and its sister boat U 595 were pushed away from the convoy by the escort and lost contact. After a total of 29 days at sea, U 593 returned to the port of Saint-Nazaire on August 19, 1942.

Fourth venture

The fourth mission was to transfer the U 593 into the Mediterranean . It began on October 3, 1942 and ended after 13 days on October 15, 1942 in the port of La Spezia , with the Strait of Gibraltar , which is under British control, being passed between October 10 and 11 . After arriving in La Spezia on October 15, the boat was placed under the 29th U-Flotilla on November 1, 1942.

Fifth venture

On November 2, 1942, U 593 left the port of La Spezia on its fifth mission. The patrol led off the coast of Algeria . There the boat met the Oran convoy KMS 2 on November 12 and torpedoed the British merchant steamer Browning, which was loaded with supplies and explosives . When the ship went down, a seaman was killed, the remaining 61 crew members were picked up by the British mine clearer HMS Fluellen and put on land in Oran. Following the sinking, U 593 was chased for 16 hours by the convoy's escort ships, but escaped undamaged. After 15 days, the boat returned to the port of La Spezia on November 16, 1942.

Sixth venture

U 593 left the base in La Spezia on November 29, 1942 for its sixth combat mission. The journey led again along the North African coast from western Algeria to Tunisia . The search for enemy ships was unsuccessful, however, and U 593 ended its mission after 33 days at sea on December 31, 1942 in the Italian naval port of Pola .

Seventh venture

For the seventh patrol, U 593 left Pola on February 6, 1943 and operated in the eastern Mediterranean. It did not sink or damage any ships on this venture. It entered Salamis on March 8, 1943.

Eighth venture

On March 13, 1943, U 593 left the port of Salamis on its eighth mission. The patrol area was the area between Crete and the Libyan coast east of the Great Syrte . On March 18, north of Derna in the Cyrenaica , the boat encountered a small convoy traveling from Tripoli to Alexandria . They managed to torpedo two of the merchant ships, the Dafila and the Kaying . 31 sailors were killed in this attack, 22 on the Dafila and nine crew members on the Kaying . U 593 returned to Salamis after nine days on March 21.

Ninth venture

On its ninth venture, U 593 sank the British merchant ship City of Guildford on March 27, 1943 in the Mediterranean off Derna (Libya) . Of the 142 people on board, 129 died. The 13 survivors were rescued by the British warship HMS Exmoor .

Tenth venture

On April 11, 1943, on its tenth venture, U 593 sank the British merchant ship City of Guildford in the Mediterranean Sea 110 km from Bardia (Libya) . Of the 37 crew members, 16 died while 21 survived.

Eleventh venture

On its tenth venture, U 593 operated off the coast of Algeria. On June 22, 1943, its torpedoes hit two United States Navy warships : The landing ship LST-333 with 1625 t was damaged 8 nautical miles off Cape Corbelin, killing 25 of the 288 men on board. The damaged ship was towed to Dellys and sank on July 6th. There was no loss of life on the damaged LST-387 . On July 5, 1943, the British command ship Devis with 6054 GRT was sunk off Cape Bengut . Of the 343 people on board, 52 died while the rest were rescued by the British warship HMS Cleveland .

Twelfth venture

U 593 left the port of Toulon on July 27, 1943 for a patrol in the western Mediterranean. On August 5, it was attacked west of Sardinia by three American P-40 Warhawk fighter bombers. The boat suffered a number of machine gun hits in the area of ​​the bridge, but had no losses among the crew. Due to the damage, U 593 returned to the port of Toulon three days later on August 8th.

Thirteenth venture

On September 15, 1943, U 593 left the base in Toulon. The mission led off the coast of Campania . There, on September 21, the boat met the convoy NSS-3 , which was transporting supplies for Salerno . In the attack about 45 miles south of Salerno, one of the downed torpedoes hit the American Liberty freighter William W. Gerhard . The ship was badly damaged, the crew and passengers disembarked and were picked up by the escort ships. An attempt to tow the ship to safety failed because of a fire that broke out and finally exploded the ammunition. Two seafarers died and nine crew members were injured. On September 25, U 593 encountered the American minesweeper USS Skill , which was patrolling between Cape Licosa and Capri , and torpedoed him. The hit broke the ship in two and sank within a few minutes. Of the 103 crew, only 31 sailors survived. On October 5, U 593 returned to the port of Toulon after 21 days at sea.

Fourteenth venture

On October 26, 1943, U 593 left the port of Toulon. The mission led through the western Mediterranean to the Algerian coast. There the boat met convoy KMS 30, which had left Oran, and shot a triple fan in the early hours of November 3rd . One of the torpedoes hit the French merchant steamer Mont Viso and sank it, killing 35 men of the 49-strong crew. On November 7, 1943, U 593 returned to Toulon after 13 days at sea without further success.

Fifteenth venture

U 593 left the port of Toulon on November 25, 1943 on a special mission. Purpose was the hunt for an enemy submarine near Saint-Tropez . After five days without enemy contact, the boat returned to the port of departure on November 29th.

Downfall

HMS Tynedale, sunk by U 593

In the morning hours of December 12th, Commander Kelbing managed to sink the British destroyer Tynedale, killing 73 Royal Navy sailors, including seven officers, while 82 were rescued. The day before, U 223 had damaged a British frigate so badly in the sea area off Algiers that it had to be abandoned. Under the impression of these two losses, the Allied command posts put together a submarine hunting group. Five warships then set out to pursue the submarines in a coordinated manner and tracked down U 593 on December 12 at around 3 p.m. Commander Kelbing sank the closest pursuer, HMS Holcombe - like the Tynesdale also a Hunt-class destroyer - with an acoustically controlled torpedo and was initially able to escape. Of the Holcombe's crew , 84 died while 80 were rescued. In the early afternoon of the next day, U 593 was rediscovered and forced to surface by several depth charges from the USS Wainwright and HMS Calpe . Commander Kelbing let evacuate the boat and even sink . All 51 crew members survived the sinking of U 593 , were fished up by the Wainwright and the Calpe and taken as prisoners of war to Oran in Algeria. Here the second officer on watch managed to escape from captivity together with the second officer on watch from the submarine U 73, which was also sunk . The remaining 50 prisoners from U 593 were brought to Great Britain along with 33 men from U 73 .

U 593 did not lose any crew members during its service life, even before the sinking. Thus U 593 is one of the very few German submarines of the Second World War that was sunk in the course of a battle and whose crew members nonetheless survived the war without exception - albeit as prisoners of the Allies.

Sinkings

date Surname flag Tonnage
(GRT)
dead Survivors location
May 25, 1942 Persephone PanamaPanama Panama 8426 9 28 location
August 5, 1942 Save NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands 3616 3 36 location
November 12, 1942 Browning United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 5332 1 61 location
March 18, 1943 Dafila United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 1940 22nd 15th location
March 18, 1943 Kaying United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 2626 09 072 location
March 27, 1943 City of Guildford United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 5157 129 013 location
April 11, 1943 Runo United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 1858 16 021st location
June 22, 1943 USS LST-333 United StatesUnited States United States 1625 25th 263 location
July 5, 1943 Motto United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 6054 52 291 location
September 21, 1943 William W. Gerhard United StatesUnited States United States 7176 02 265 location
September 7, 1943 USS Skill United StatesUnited States United States 0815 72 031 location
November 3, 1943 Mont Viso FranceFrance France 4531 35 014th location
December 12, 1943 HMS Tynedale United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 1000 73 082 location
December 12, 1943 HMS Holcombe United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom 1087 84 080 location

See also

literature

  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 1: The German submarine commanders. Preface by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rohwer, Member of the Presidium of the International Commission on Military History. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 1996, p. 120. ISBN 3-8132-0490-1 .
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 2: Submarine construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 1997, pp. 58, 223. ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 3: The German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2008, p. 256f. ISBN 978-3-8132-0513-8 .
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 4: The German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2008, pp. 176–179. ISBN 978-3-8132-0514-5 .
  • Erich Gröner , Dieter Jung, Martin Maas: The German warships 1815-1945. Volume 3: Submarines, auxiliary cruisers, mine ships, net layers. Bernhard & Graefe Verlag, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-7637-4802-4 .
  • Clay Blair : The Submarine War - The Hunters 1939–1942 . Heyne Verlag, 1998. pp. 644, 653, 667, 763, 766. ISBN 3-4531-2345-X .
  • Clay Blair: The Submarine War - The Hunted 1942–1945 . Heyne Verlag, 1999. pp. 70, 120, 136f., 141, 266f., 452, 490, 539. ISBN 3-4531-6059-2 .
  • Eberhard Möller, Werner Brack: Encyclopedia of German U-Boats. From 1904 to the present. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-613-02245-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. 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. 59 and p. 373.
  2. This symbol goes back to Günther Prien's attack on the British naval port in Scapa Flow .
  3. ^ 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. 127.
  4. Clay Blair: "The U-Boat War. Volume 1. Die Jäger 1939-1942", Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-12345-X . Page 653
  5. Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 , p. 539.
  6. ^ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll, Der U-Boot-Krieg, Volume 4 The German U-Boat Losses 1939-1945 , ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg, 1999, pp. 177-179.
  7. ^ Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 , pp. 167-168.
  8. U-593 successes . UBoat.net. Retrieved April 17, 2014.