U 607

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U 607
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Type : VII C
Field Post Number : 28 509
Shipyard: Blohm + Voss , Hamburg
Construction contract: May 22, 1940
Build number: 107
Keel laying: March 27, 1941
Launch: December 11, 1941
Commissioning: January 29, 1942
Commanders:
Flotilla:
Calls: five ventures
Sinkings:

five ships with 35,879 GRT sunk, one with 8,259 GRT damaged

Whereabouts: Sunk on July 13, 1943 northwest of Cape Ortegal

U 607 was a type VII C submarine, also known as the "Atlantic boat ", which was used by the German Navy during the submarine war in the North Atlantic .

Technical specifications

From the beginning of the war, construction contracts for submarines were given to the Hamburg shipyard Blohm + Voss, which manufactured several types for the Navy. The most built German submarine type was the VII C, of ​​which 144 boats had been delivered by this shipyard by the end of the war. The sixth order from the Kriegsmarine to the Blohm + Voss shipyard included a total of ten boats in addition to the U 607 , all of the type VII C.

A submarine 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 artillery armament of this submarine class was inconsistent, but all boats had four bow torpedo tubes and one stern torpedo tube.

Like many German submarines of its time, the U 607 also had a boat-specific logo on the tower . It was the so-called "Bull of Scapa Flow", which was also the symbol of the 7th U-Flotilla to which the boat belonged from August 1942. The stylized drawing of an attacking bull was based on a well-known caricature, which Engelbert Endrass varied and which was attached to the tower of U 47 . Endrass was the first officer of the watch of the boat, with the Günther Prien to the British naval base was attacked. After Prien's death, the "Bull of Scapa Flow" became the symbol of the 7th U-Flotilla. In addition to the U 607 and U 47 , more than fifty other submarines of the German Navy bore this symbol on the tower.

Commitment and history

Until the summer of 1942, U 607 was subordinate to the 5th U-Flotilla , a training flotilla stationed in Kiel . Commandant Kapitänleutnant Ernst Mengersen undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to train the crew and to retract the boat. He left Kiel on July 9th for his first patrol with this boat. The intended area of ​​operation was the sea area east of the Newfoundland Bank . On August 1, the boat was assigned to the 7th U-Flotilla , whose base was in Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast of northern France. Here was U 607 one on 16 August.

Under the command of Ernst Mengersen, U 607 ran from here for two further operations on the American east coast and in the waters off Greenland . On April 18, 1943, Mengersen handed over command to Oberleutnant zur See Wolf Jeschonnek, who led U 607 on two other operations.

Sinking

A Short Sunderland sank U 607

U 607 left the Saint-Nazaire base on July 10, 1943 for its last venture. In the morning hours of July 17th, the surface boat was discovered and attacked by British planes. The crew of U 607 defended themselves with flak and a battle ensued that lasted about half an hour until the attacking flying boat, a Short Sunderland , scored a decisive hit with a water bomb volley .

Since the boat sank quickly, a large part of the crew below deck failed to save themselves. Only the men who were serving the artillery on the upper deck at the time of the hit or who were in the submarine tower survived the sinking of U 607 . After the boat sank, 25 crew members swam in the water without any life-saving equipment. Thus, the commander of the flying boat, First Officer Hanney, decided to have a dinghy dropped.

Seven survivors, including the commander and his officers, were able to save themselves in the rubber dinghy that had been dropped from the victorious Sunderland. A day later they were picked up by a British search party and taken to Plymouth.

Notes and individual references

  1. The construction contract was issued on May 22, 1940 and included U 599 to U 610 .
  2. ^ 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. 71.
  3. Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 4: German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. 1999, p. 115.
  4. Eckard Wetzel: “U-Boats in front of Murmansk”, Ullstein Verlag edition maritim, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978 3 548 26810 1 , page 35

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 und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
  • 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 .