U 711
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U 711 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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|---|---|
| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | 50 659 |
| Shipyard: | HC Stülcken Sohn , Hamburg |
| Construction contract: | December 7, 1940 |
| Build number: | 777 |
| Keel laying: | July 21, 1941 |
| Launch: | June 25, 1942 |
| Commissioning: | September 26, 1942 |
| Commanders: |
Hans-Günther Lange |
| Flotilla: |
5th U-Flotilla training boat |
| Calls: | 13 activities |
| Sinkings: |
a merchant ship with 7,176 GRT and a warship with 925 t sunk |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk on May 4, 1945 at the berth by an aircraft attack |
U 711 was a submarine from the Type VII C , which by the German Navy during the Second World War in the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean was used.
Construction and commissioning
The boat was part of a construction contract that went to the Hamburg Stülcken shipyard and comprised a total of 22 type VII C boats. Such a boat had a length of 67 m and 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 artillery armament of the VII C-Boats was inconsistent, but all had four bow torpedo tubes and one stern torpedo tube. Usually a VII C-boat carried 14 torpedoes with it.
U 711 was put into service in Hamburg on September 26, 1942 by Lieutenant zur See Hans-Günther Lange , from August 1944 Lieutenant Commander . Like most German submarines of its time, the U 711 also had a boat-specific logo on the tower that was jointly selected by the crew. It was a white duck with a red ribbon around its neck and two thistles tied into it.
Commitment and history
The boat initially belonged to the 5th U-Flotilla , which was stationed in Kiel . During this time, Commander Lange undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to retract the boat and train the crew. On April 1, 1943, the boat was assigned to the 11th U-Flotilla as a front boat.
Use in the North Sea
By late summer of the same year, U 711 had completed four operations in the Arctic Ocean. The boat patrolled Jan Mayen , near Bear Island , in the Matochkin crowd , which separates the two main islands from Novaya Zemlya , and due to a reported but not found northern sea convoy at Hammerfest . At the beginning of October the boat moved to Trondheim for a longer stay in the shipyard . In December U 711 moved to Narvik from where Commander Lange left for his fifth venture on December 18, whereby the boat was so badly damaged by a collision during the departure that it had to return to Trondheim for another period in the yard.
Convoys
In the spring of 1944, U 711 first moved to Narvik, from where it left for its fifth operation on March 22nd. On this and the following two patrols in the North Sea, the boat was assigned to the submarine groups “Blitz”, “Donner”, “Donner und Keil”, “Grimm” and “Trutz”, who controlled the battle according to the pack tactics developed by Karl Dönitz searched with allied convoy trains. During these missions, Commander Lange reported the damage and sinking of several ships, including five destroyers . However, only one sinking could be confirmed:
- April 30, 1944 American steamer "William S. Thayer" with 7,176 GRT sunk
Knight's cross
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On his eleventh venture with U 711, Commander Lange sank another ship. The boat belonged to the submarine group "Rasmus" during this mission and left Narvik on February 9th.
- 17 February 1945 British corvette Bluebell sunk with 925 tons
The Bluebell was the ninth enemy warship that Commander Lange reported as torpedoed, and the first whose actual sinking could be proven. For example, he had previously reported the Ashanti and HMS Keppel sunk. In the case of the attacks in question on the destroyers mentioned on April 2 and August 25, however, the two ships remained undamaged and further successful attacks on enemy destroyers reported by Lange were not confirmed.
Nevertheless, on April 29, he was awarded the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by radio .
Sinking
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On May 2, 1945, U 711 returned from the thirteenth company and ran at the naval base in Kilbotn . The boat moored at the former Norwegian passenger ship Black Watch , which was anchored there and served the Navy as a living and supply ship. On May 4, the base was attacked as part of Operation Judgment by British planes launched by escort carriers HMS Searcher , HMS Trumpeter and HMS Queen .
The majority of the crew of U 711 was on the Black Watch at this time , which was badly hit by the fighter-bombers, caught fire immediately and then sank quickly. 32 U 711 crew members who had taken up quarters on the passenger ship were killed. The submarine was also badly hit and sank.
Eleven men of the crew, including Commander Lange, who were on board U 711 at the time of the attack , were able to save themselves.
literature
- 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 .
- Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bodo Herzog : German U-Boats 1906–1966 , Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1996, ISBN 3-86070-036-7 , page 196
- ^ 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 139.
- ↑ Rainer Busch, Hans-Joachim Röll: The U-Boat War 1939-1945. Volume 3: German submarine successes from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler und Sohn, Hamburg et al. 2001, pages 289–290
- ↑ Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 , page 790
- ↑ Axel Niéstle: German U-Boot-Losses during World War II Details of Destruction , Frontline Books, Barsley 2014, ISBN 978-1-84832-210-3 , page 82
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