U 737
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U 737 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | 49 907 |
| Shipyard: | F. Schichau shipyard , Danzig |
| Construction contract: | April 10, 1941 |
| Build number: | 1534 |
| Keel laying: | February 14, 1942 |
| Launch: | November 21, 1942 |
| Commissioning: | January 30, 1943 |
| Commanders: |
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| Flotilla: |
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| Calls: | 10 activities |
| Sinkings: |
no |
| Whereabouts: | sunk in a collision near Narvik in December 1944 |
U 737 was a type VII C submarinethat was used by the German Navy against Allied convoys during the submarine war in the North Sea . In addition, the crew set upan automatic weather radio station on Spitsbergen .
Technical specifications
A total of 62 VII-C boats were built at the Schichau shipyard between 1941 and 1944. Immediately after the occupation of Poland , the shipyard was included in the submarine building program and commissioned with the construction of these so-called “Atlantic boats”. A VII-C boat was 66.5 m long and displaced 760 t of water. Powered by the 3000 hp diesel engine, it made speeds of up to 17 knots and had a maximum range of 9500 nautical miles .
Commitment and history
U 737 was initially assigned to the 8th U-Flotilla in Danzig as a training boat . During this time, the commander Oberleutnant zur See Poeschel undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to train the crew and to retract the boat. At the beginning of July 1943, U 737 was assigned to the 13th U-Flotilla , where it remained until it was sunk. During this time, the boat completed ten operations under three commanders. U 737 belonged to several submarine groups which, according to the pack tactics developed by Karl Dönitz , sought combat with the Allied northern sea convoys that were heading for the ice-free ports in the north of the Soviet Union . In addition, the boat was entrusted with the deployment of weather radios , automatic stations that could independently collect and pass on weather data. Under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Paul Brasack, U 737 also attacked allied weather observation facilities on Svalbard. On March 6, 1944, the boat was attacked by a British aircraft. Commander Brasack decided to fight the attacker with flak . U 737 was badly damaged in this conflict as a result of several water bomb hits and had to break off the operation.
Sinking
In mid-December 1943, the submarine command decided to block the British naval base Scapa Flow with a total of eight submarines. U 737 also left Narvik for this company on December 6th and headed for Trondheim for equipment . Since the submarine command did not trust the inexperienced commander Friedrich-August Gréus to do the job, it was decided not to include U 737 in the attempted blockade of the British naval base. The boat was ordered back to Narvik. U 737 left Trondheim in the direction of Narvik on December 14, 1944. Twelve days later, the boat collided with a mine clearance ship when entering Narvik and sank. 31 crew members were killed and 20 were rescued - including First Lieutenant zur See Gréus.
literature
- 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 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Clay Blair : Der U-Boot-Krieg, Volume 2 Die Gejagt , Heyne Verlag, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 , page 745
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