U 742
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U 742 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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|---|---|
| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | 41 587 |
| Shipyard: | F. Schichau shipyard , Danzig |
| Construction contract: | June 5, 1941 |
| Build number: | 1545 |
| Keel laying: | May 12, 1942 |
| Launch: | February 4, 1943 |
| Commissioning: | May 1, 1943 |
| Commanders: |
Captain Heinz Schwassmann |
| Flotilla: |
|
| Calls: | 2 activities |
| Sinkings: |
no |
| Whereabouts: | Sunk by air raid on July 18, 1944 in the North Atlantic |
U 742 was a Germantype VII C submarine that was used by the German Navy during World War II in the North Atlantic and the North Sea .
Technical specifications
The F. Schichau shipyard in Gdansk was only included in the navy's submarine building program after the German occupation of Poland . The shipyard built a total of 62 VII-C boats from 1941 to 1944. U 742 was a so-called "Atlantic boat " and was part of a construction contract that took place in June 1941 and comprised a total of six boats of this type. A VII-C boat was 66.5 m long and displaced 760 t of water. A Type VII C-boat, powered by two diesel engines, reached a speed of 17 knots when sailing above the water , had a maximum range of 6500 nm and was able to make 7.8 knots under water with the help of two electric motors, with a maximum range of 80 nm .
Commitment and history
U 742 was assigned to the 8th U-Flotilla as a training boat until March 1944 and was stationed in Danzig . During this time, Commander Schwassmann undertook training trips in the Baltic Sea to retract the boat and train the crew. On April 1, the boat was first assigned to the 6th U-Flotilla , then in June to the 13th U-Flotilla as a front boat. Commander Schwassmann ran out with U 742 for two operations, on which the boat was assigned to the submarine groups Mitte , Grimm and Trutz , who sought combat with allied northern convoys in the North Sea according to the pack tactics developed by Karl Dönitz .
Sinking
On July 18, U 742 was tracked down in the sea area north-east of Iceland by a British reconnaissance aircraft, a Consolidated PBY "Catalina" , and attacked with depth charges. The crew of the submarine tried to repel the aircraft with anti-aircraft fire and severely damaged the Catalina. Two crew members were killed and the oil and fuel tanks riddled, so that Ronald Vaughn, the pilot of the maritime patrol, had to abandon the mission and beach the plane. U 742 sank as a result of water bomb detonations after hits by the Catalina of 210 Squadron of the Royal Air Force at the position 68 ° 24 ' N , 9 ° 51' W , killing all 52 crew members. None of the "35 to 40" survivors whom Vaughn identified in the middle of a puddle of oil after the boat went down were not rescued.
Notes and individual references
- ↑ U 741 to U 746
- ↑ Axel Niestlé: "German U-Boat Losses During World War II. Details of Destruction", Frontline Books, London 2014, ISBN 978-1-84832-210-3 , page 85
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 and Son, Hamburg a. a. 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 and Son, Hamburg a. a. 2001, ISBN 3-8132-0513-4 .
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