U 63 (Navy)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
U 63 (Kriegsmarine)
( previous / next - all submarines )
Type : II C
Field Post Number : M 06 536
Shipyard: Deutsche Werke AG , Kiel
Construction contract: July 21, 1937
Build number: 262
Keel laying: January 2, 1939
Launch: December 6, 1939
Commissioning: January 18, 1940
Commanders:

January 18, 1940 - February 25, 1940
First Lieutenant Günther Lorentz

Calls: 1 company
Sinkings:

1 ship (3,840 GRT)

Whereabouts: Sunk on February 25, 1940 south of the Shetland Islands

U 63 was a German submarine of type II C , which in World War II by the German navy was used.

history

The order for the boat was awarded to the Deutsche Werke AG in Kiel on July 21, 1937 . The keel was laid on January 2, 1939, the launch on December 6, 1939, and the commissioning under Oberleutnant zur See Günther Lorentz finally took place on January 18, 1940. Boats of this class were also called dugouts . Like most German submarines of its time, the U 63 also had a boat-specific symbol on the submarine tower : a jumping green frog.

From its commissioning on January 18, 1940, until its sinking on February 25, 1940, the boat was part of the 1st U-Flotilla in Kiel as a training or front boat .

Use statistics

Commander Günther Lorenz ran out with U 63 during his service time to a company on which he sank a ship with a tonnage of 3,840  GRT .

First venture

The boat left Heligoland on February 17, 1940 and was sunk south of the Shetland Islands on February 25, 1940 . On this nine-day expedition in the North Sea , a ship with 3,840 GRT was sunk.

Whereabouts

On February 25, 1940, U 63 was in the North Sea, south of the Shetland Islands, by depth charges and torpedoes from the British destroyers HMS Escort , HMS Inglefield , HMS Imogen and the British submarine HMS Narwhal at position 58 ° 40 ′  N , 0 ° Sunk 10 ′  W in marine grid square AN 4156. One crew member was killed and 24 were rescued.

U 63 did not lose any crew member during its service before the sinking.

literature

  • Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 1: The Hunters. 1939-1942. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-12345-X .
  • Clay Blair: The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 .
  • 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 .
  • 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 .
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 4: German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 1999, ISBN 3-8132-0514-2 .
  • Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The submarine war 1939-1945. Volume 5: The knight's cross bearers of the submarine weapon from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg et al. 2003, ISBN 3-8132-0515-0 .
  • Erich Gröner : Die Handelsflotten der Welt 1942 and supplement 1944. JF Lehmanns Verlag, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-469-00552-4 (reprint of the 1942–1943 edition).
  • Erich Gröner: Search list for ship names (= The merchant fleets of the world. Supplementary volume). JF Lehmanns Verlag Munich 1976, ISBN 3-469-00553-2 (reprint of the 1943 edition).

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 2: U-boat construction in German shipyards. E. S. Mittler and Son, Hamburg a. a. 1997, page 29
  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 , page 48

See also

Web links