U 601
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U 601 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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|---|---|
| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | 47 254 |
| Shipyard: | Blohm + Voss , Hamburg |
| Construction contract: | May 22, 1940 |
| Build number: | 101 |
| Keel laying: | February 10, 1941 |
| Launch: | October 29, 1941 |
| Commissioning: | December 18, 1941 |
| Commanders: |
Peter-Ottmar Grau |
| Flotilla: |
|
| Calls: | 10 activities |
| Sinkings: |
3 cargo ships (8,819 GRT ) |
| Whereabouts: | sunk on February 25, 1944 |
U 601 was a German type VII C submarine. It was used by the German Navy in World War II during the U-Boat War in the North Atlantic , the Arctic Ocean and the Kara Sea. Among other things, the boat was used for mining operations and evacuated a weather service from the island of Novaya Zemlya , who hadset upa weather radio there.
Technical specifications
From the beginning of the war, the Hamburg shipyard Blohm und Voss was included in the navy's submarine building program. On May 22, 1940, the sixth building contract for submarines was given to this shipyard . The order included ten boats of the type VII C, U 599 to U 610 . A boat of this type had a length of 67 m and a displacement of 865 m³ under water. It was propelled over water by two diesel engines that reached a speed of 17 knots . Two electric motors ensured a top speed of 7 knots under water. The armament of this submarine class called “Atlantic boat” consisted of an 8.8 cm cannon and a 2 cm anti-aircraft gun on deck as well as four bow torpedo tubes and a stern torpedo tube.
Mission history
During its time in action, the boat was involved in the operations of submarine groups several times, which, according to the pack tactics developed by Karl Dönitz , were supposed to seek combat with the allied northern convoys in the North Sea and the Kara Sea . The boat was involved in the attacks on convoy QP 15 and convoy JW 56A .
In the course of these attacks, Commander Grau succeeded in sinking one of the cargo ships in QP 15 . The Soviet freighter Kusnec Lesov had 3974 GRT and sank after being hit at the level of the forward cargo hold.
During its service life, the boat essentially operated from the Norwegian navy bases. In the spring of 1943, however , U 601 stayed in Kiel for a few months to repair the damage sustained during the attack on QP 15 .
Sinking
At the end of February 1944, U 601 was discovered during an attack on the Northern Sea Convoy JW 57 by a British flying boat, a so-called Catalina , and attacked with depth charges and sunk. After the boat went down, around 10 survivors could be seen in the water - no U 601 crew member was rescued.
Notes and individual references
- ↑ C. Blair: The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. 1999, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 . P. 54.
- ↑ R. Busch, H.-J. Röll: The Submarine War 1939–1945. Volume 3: German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg a. a. 2001, ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 . Page 261
- ↑ C. Blair: The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. 1999, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 . P. 295.
- ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 4: German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. 1999, p. 195.
literature
- Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 .
- 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 .
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