U 665

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U 665
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Type : VII C
Field Post Number : 25 463
Shipyard: Howaldtswerke Hamburg
Construction contract: August 15, 1940
Build number: 814
Keel laying: June 10, 1941
Launch: June 9, 1942
Commissioning: July 22, 1942
Commanders:

Lieutenant to the sea (the reserve) Hans-Jürgen Haupt

Flotilla:
Calls: 1 patrol
Sinkings:

1 ship (5000 GRT)

Whereabouts: Sunk off St. Nazaire on March 22, 1943

U 665 was a German type VII C submarine . This class of submarines was also called "Atlantic boat". It was used by the Kriegsmarine during the submarine war .

Technical specifications

From the beginning of the war, the Hamburg Howaldtswerft was completely focused on submarine construction. This shipyard was planned for an annual output of 16 submarines. From mid-1943, the production of 22 boats a year was planned - but these numbers could never be reached. By the end of the war, Howaldtswerke Hamburg delivered a total of 33 submarines to the Navy, all of the type VII C. A VII C-boat was 67 m long and had a displacement of 865 m³ under water. It had two diesel engines that enabled a speed of 17 knots over water . During the underwater journey, two electric motors propelled the boat to a speed of 7 knots. The armament consisted (until 1944) of an 8.8 cm cannon and a 2 cm flak on deck, as well as four bow torpedo tubes and a stern torpedo tube. Usually a VII C-boat carried 14 torpedoes with it.

commander

Hans-Jürgen Haupt was born on February 19, 1911 in Berlin and joined the Navy in 1935 . In 1940 and 1941 he served as a platoon leader in the 1st ship master department in Kiel . From 1941 to June 1942 he was a watch officer on U 203 under Rolf Mützelburg. On this boat, Haupt took part in seven enemy voyages, including off the east coast of the USA as part of the company Paukenschlag . In the summer of 1942 he completed his U-boat commander course and took command of the U 665 on July 22, 1942 .

Patrol

The first patrol of the boat was also a transfer from Kiel to Brest , the base of the 1st U-Flotilla . U 665 left Kiel on February 20, 1943. In March the boat was assigned to the submarine group Stürmer , which had been assembled to attack the British convoy SC 122 . Commander Haupt torpedoed a British Liberty freighter . This had already been shot shortly before by U 338 . On March 20, 1943, he sank the British steamer Fort Cedar Lake ( Lage ) with 5000 GRT . During the two-day attack on the very heavily secured convoy, U 665 was significantly damaged. Commander Haupt then decided to call at Saint-Nazaire.

Sinking

On the morning of March 22, 1943, U 665 was discovered by an AW 38 while driving on the surface of the water and attacked with six depth charges. The rear gunner of the bomber registered that the bombs detonated directly on the diving boat, but it was only after the end of the war that it was established that U 665 had been sunk during this attack ( Lage ).

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 1: The German submarine commanders. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg a. a. 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 and Son, Hamburg a. a. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0512-6 .
  • Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .

Web links