U 600
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U 600 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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 City arms of Bielefeld, arms of the boat |
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| Type : | VII C |
| Shipyard: | Blohm & Voss , Hamburg |
| Construction contract: | May 22, 1940 |
| Build number: | 576 |
| Keel laying: | January 25, 1941 |
| Launch: | October 16, 1941 |
| Commissioning: | December 11, 1941 |
| Commanders: |
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| Flotilla: |
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| Calls: | 6 activities |
| Sinkings: |
five ships sunk, three ships damaged |
| Whereabouts: | sunk on November 25, 1943 northeast of the Azores by HMS Bazely and HMS Blackwood . |
U 600 was a German submarine from the Type VII C , which in World War II by the German navy was used.
Technical specifications
The order for the boat was on 22 May 1940, the shipyard Blohm & Voss , Hamburg awarded. The keel was laid on January 25, 1941, the launch on October 16, 1941. The commissioning under Lieutenant Bernhard Zurmühlen finally took place on December 11, 1941.
history
After its commissioning on December 11, 1941 to July 31, 1942, the submarine belonged to the 5th U-Flotilla and from August 1, 1942 to November 25, 1943 to the 3rd U-Flotilla .
Patrols
First patrol
Following the test drives in the Baltic Sea, U 600 undertook its first patrol and left Kiel , the base of the 5th U-Flotilla, on July 14, 1942 . The boat passed the GIUK gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and was then ordered to go to the Caribbean . On the way there, U 600 met the British schooner Vivian P. Smith north of Hispaniola on August 10, 1942 . The submarine stopped the sailor with warning shots. The crew went to safety in the lifeboats and were then arrested and interrogated by the submarine crew. Then the U 600 sank the sailing schooner with its on-board weapons. The ship sank around 11:04 p.m. The crew was able to reach the Turks Islands with the lifeboats . U 600 continued on its way to the Caribbean, where it met the Allied convoy TAW-12 in the Windward Passage on August 13, 1942 . U 600 succeeded in sinking two of the convoy's ships: the American flagship of the Convoi-Commodore Delmundo (5,032 GRT ) and the Latvian Everelza (4,520 GRT). Then the submarine returned and ran on September 22, 1940 in La Pallice, France .
Second patrol
The second patrol began on November 22, 1942 from La Pallice. In the meantime, the German submarines had switched to pack tactics and U 600 was assigned to the daredevil submarine group when it left . On December 8, as part of this group, the boat sank the American freighter James McKay (6,762 GRT) during the attack on the convoy HX 217 . When it was sunk about 425 miles south of Iceland , there were no survivors on the part of the 62-strong crew. On December 11, U 600 was transferred to the Raufbold submarine group . The patrol ended without further sinking on December 27, 1942 with the arrival in La Pallice.
Third patrol
On February 11, 1943, U 600 set out again from La Pallice on its third patrol. From February 19, it was assigned to the submarine group Knappen . When this group attacked the convoy ON-166 on February 24, U 600 damaged the Norwegian freighter Ingria (4,391 GRT). The ship was sunk by U 628 later that day . On February 27, Zurmühlen was awarded the German Cross in Gold . U 600 was then briefly assigned to the Burggraf submarine group from March 4 to March 5, 1943 and was then transferred to the Raubgraf submarine group , which operated on the SC 122 convoy , which ran the Atlantic in west-east - Crossed direction. At noon on March 16, U 600 sighted a convoy and kept in touch with it - however, it was not the SC 122 , which had been spotted by the German B service , but ships of the convoy HX , which was traveling on roughly the same route behind, i.e. west of this, convoy HX 229 . On the night of March 16-17, U 600 attacked the convoy and sank the British tanker Southern Princess (12,156 GRT) as well as two ships, the American freighter Irénée Du Pont (6,125 GRT) and the British freighter Nariva (8,714 GRT) BRT). Both ships were sunk by U 91 on the morning of March 17 . Then the British destroyer discovered HMS Beverly U 600 and launched several depth charges against the boat, but could not damage it. After this success, U 600 turned around and entered La Pallice on March 26, 1943.
Fourth patrol
On April 25, U 600 ran from La Pallice on its fourth patrol and was assigned to the Drossel submarine group from April 29 to May 5, 1943 . The group operated first against convoy SL 128 and then against HX 237 . During this mission seven of the thirteen submarines used in the group were lost, with only four sunk cargo ships. The U 600 was unsuccessful and also collided with the U 406 on May 5 and was so badly damaged that it returned to its base in La Pallice on May 11.
Fifth patrol
On June 12th, U 600 again set out from La Pallice for its fifth patrol. While still in the Bay of Biscay , the boat was attacked on June 14th together with U 257 and U 615 by Allied aircraft with on-board weapons. It could U 600 , a B-17 Flying Fortress damage apparently. Two days later, U 600 and two other boats northwest of Cape Finisterre were attacked by a B-24 Liberator with depth charges and on-board weapons. The boat was slightly damaged and one crew member was killed. The aircraft was also damaged by flak fire on the boats. The boat continued its use on the African west coast until its return on September 10th. No Allied ships were sunk or damaged on this patrol.
Sixth patrol
On November 7, 1943, U 600 ran out of Brest on its sixth patrol. Shortly before, on November 1st, Zurmühlen had been promoted to corvette captain. The boat was assigned to the Schill 1 submarine group on November 16 . On November 18, the group met the convoy MKS 30 , but could not sink any cargo ships, but only an escort ship, the British corvette HMS Chanticleer . During the mission, however, the submarine U 211 was sunk on November 19 . On November 22nd, U 600 was transferred to the Weddingen submarine group .
Whereabouts
During use in this group, U 600 was sunk on November 25, 1943 northeast of the Azores by the British frigates HMS Bazely and HMS Blackwood . All 52 crew members were killed in the sinking. ( Location )
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 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg a. a. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
- ↑ a b Bernhard Zurmühlen Short biography of the commandant on: uboat.net
- ^ Martin Middlebrook: Convoy - German submarines chase allied convoys. Moewig Taschenbuchverlag. Rastatt. ISBN 3-8118-4342-7 . Page 131.
- ^ Martin Middlebrook: Convoy - German submarines chase allied convoys. Moewig Taschenbuchverlag. Rastatt. ISBN 3-8118-4342-7 . Page 159 f.
- ^ Martin Middlebrook: Convoy - German submarines chase allied convoys. Moewig Taschenbuchverlag. Rastatt. ISBN 3-8118-4342-7 . Page 301.
- ↑ U 406 CV of the boat on: uboat.net
Web links
- U 600 CV of the boat on: uboat.net , a detailed site about German submarines, their commanders and their allied opponents (in English).