U 74 (Navy)

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U 74 (Kriegsmarine)
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Type : VII B
Field Post Number : M 14 151
Shipyard: Vegesacker shipyard
Bremen-Vegesack
Construction contract: June 2, 1938
Build number: 002
Keel laying: November 5, 1939
Launch: August 31, 1940
Commissioning: October 31, 1940
Commanders:
Calls: 7 activities
Sinkings:
  • 4 ships (24,694 GRT )
  • 1 warship (925 t)
Whereabouts: Sunk on May 2, 1942 in the Mediterranean Sea east of Cartagena

U 74 was a German submarine of type VII B , which in World War II by the German navy was used.

history

It was placed on Kiel on November 5, 1939 at the Vegesacker shipyard in Bremen and went into active service on October 31, 1940 under the command of Lieutenant Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat. Kentrat commanded the boat until March 23, 1942 and then handed it over to Oberleutnant Karl Friederich.

From its commissioning on October 31, 1940 to January 31, 1942, the boat was part of the 7th U-Flotilla in Kiel as a training boat . After the training period, U 74 came from February 1, 1941 to November 30, 1941 as a front boat to the 7th U-Flotilla in Saint-Nazaire and from December 1, 1941 to its sinking on May 2, 1942, to the 29th U-Flotilla in La Spezia . U 74 , like most German submarines of its time, had boat-specific signs on the submarine tower , which were chosen by the crew themselves and, in most cases, were also worn on caps and boats . The boat carried an ax, an anchor and a sword over crossed hammers as emblems.

U 74 completed seven operations on which five ships with a total tonnage of 25,619  GRT were sunk and two with a total tonnage of 11,499 GRT were damaged.

On May 24, 1941, the battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen sank the British battle cruiser HMS Hood and severely damaged the HMS Prince of Wales . On that day began a three-day hunt for the Bismarck , with almost a hundred ships in action.

At dawn on May 27, the Bismarck was sunk by shelling the battleships HMS Rodney , HMS King George V and the cruisers HMS Norfolk and HMS Dorsetshire . However, it is still unclear whether the ship went down due to the impact or explosive charges and opening of the bottom valves, which could at least have accelerated the sinking.

The high concentration of ships these days made an attractive target for submarines, and KptLt. Kentrat was ordered to attack British units in the area. In the evening U 74 dived to take up listening posts and discovered another submarine. After surfacing it could be used as the German boat U 556 under KptLt. Wohlfarth to be identified. Shortly before this meeting, fleet chief Admiral Lütjens had sent a request to the commander in chief of the submarines, Karl Dönitz , to instruct a boat to record the Bismarck's war diary . Dönitz instructed U 556 with this task, not knowing that the ship had already sunk. However, U 556 didn't have enough fuel or torpedoes left to complete this mission. Wohlfahrt passed the task on to Kentrat with a megaphone. Kentrat accepted the mission and set off with U 74 to the last known position of the second strongest German battleship.

At 10:36, the crew of U 74 heard sinking noises, but could not determine whether this was the Bismarck or a British ship. The boat went to periscope depth and spotted various battleships and cruisers right in front of it, as well as parts of the wreckage and yellow life jackets. U 74 tried to maneuver into attack position, but the weather was too bad and the sea too restless to stay in periscope depth or to shoot a torpedo.

After the British ships had left the scene, U 74 appeared between wreckage and dead bodies. The sounds the crew had heard that morning had been those of the sinking Bismarck . The three seamen Georg Herzog, Otto Höntzsch and Herbert Manthey were not saved until the evening. U 74 spent another day looking for survivors but could not find any and was ordered to return to Lorient . On the voyage to the safe harbor, the three castaways recovered a little and were able to deliver the first reports on the end of the Bismarck .

Use statistics

The boat conducted individual training from February 22nd to 27th, 1941. It left Kiel on February 22, 1941 and entered Heligoland on February 23, 1941 . After the exercises, U 74 left Heligoland on February 24, 1941, and entered Bergen on February 27, 1941 to supplement it .

First venture

The boat left Bergen on March 5, 1941 at 10 a.m. and entered Saint-Nazaire on April 11, 1941 at 6 p.m. On this 28-day and approximately 5,400 nm above and 193 nm underwater expedition into the North Atlantic , northwest of the North Channel and west of Ireland , a ship with 4,274 GRT was sunk and three ships with 17,240 GRT were damaged.

  • March 11, 1941: Damage to the Icelandic fishing liner Frodi with 97 GRT. The steamer was damaged by artillery . There were five dead. The ship entered Vestmann on March 12, 1941 .
  • April 3, 1941: Damage to the British steamer Westpool with 5,741 GRT. The steamer was damaged by a G7e torpedo . The ship was sunk by U 73 on the same day . The ship belonged to the Konoi SC-26.
  • April 3, 1941: sinking of the Greek steamer Leonidas Z. Cambanis ( Lage ) with 4,274 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a G7e torpedo. He had loaded 6,500 tons of wheat and was on the way from Halifax to Swansea . The ship belonged to convoy SC-26. There were two dead and 27 survivors.

Second venture

The boat left St. Nazaire on May 8, 1941 at 4:00 p.m. and entered Lorient on May 30, 1941 . U 74 saved three members of the sunk German battleship Bismarck on this voyage . No ships were sunk or damaged during this 23-day and approximately 5,000 nm over and 140 nm underwater operation in the North Atlantic, southeast of Cape Farewell and the western Biscay .

Third company

The boat left Lorient on July 5, 1941 at 4.15 p.m. and entered St. Nazaire on August 12, 1941 at 11.30 a.m. On this 38 day long and about 6,200 nm over and 211 nm long undertaking in the central North Atlantic and west of Spain , a ship with 4,922 GRT was sunk

  • 5th August 1941: sinking of the British steamer Kumasian ( Lage ) with 4,922 GRT. The steamer was sunk by a torpedo. He had 7,000 tons of general cargo and nine passengers on board and was on the way from Lagos and Freetown to London . The ship belonged to convoy SL-81 with 18 ships. There was one dead and 50 survivors.

Fourth venture

The boat left St. Nazaire on September 8, 1941 at 5:30 p.m. and returned there on September 26, 1941 at 4:45 p.m. During this 16-day and approx. 3,700 nm above and 62 nm underwater expedition in the North Atlantic and southeast of Cape Farewell, a ship with 6,966 GRT and a corvette with 925 t were sunk.

  • September 19, 1941: sinking of the Canadian corvette HMCS Levis ( Lage ) with 925 t. The corvette was damaged by a torpedo, but sank in tow off Iceland. She belonged to convoy SC-44 with 54 ships. There were 18 dead and 40 survivors. The discovery of the convoy and the sinking of the Levis was facilitated by the northern lights .
  • September 20, 1941: sinking of the British steamer Empire Burton ( Lage ) with 6,966 GRT. The steamer was sunk by torpedo. He had 9,106 t of wheat and six RAF members on board and was on the way from Halifax and Sydney to Liverpool . The ship belonged to convoy SC-44. There were two dead and 58 survivors.

Fifth venture

The boat left Saint-Nazaire on October 22, 1941 at 4:00 p.m., and returned there on November 12, 1941. On this 21-day and approx. 5,000 nm above and 67 nm underwater undertaking in the North Atlantic and near Newfoundland , a ship with 8,532 GRT was sunk.

  • November 7, 1941: sinking of the British motor ship Nottingham ( Lage ) with 8,532 GRT. The ship was sunk by two torpedoes. He had general cargo and whiskey loaded and was on his way from Glasgow to New York . It was a total loss with 62 dead.

Sixth venture

The boat was on December 9, 1941 at 9:00 of Saint-Nazaire, and ran at 12.10 pm on January 8, 1942 La Spezia one. On this 30-day expedition, during which the Strait of Gibraltar was passed on December 16, 1941 and operated in the western Mediterranean , off the coast of Egypt and Cyrenaica , the boat ran in Messina on December 20, 1941 and on December 21 , 1941 . December 1941 from there again. From December 24, 1941, it had to return to Messina due to problems with the exhaust flap and left there on December 27, 1941, no ships were sunk or damaged.

Seventh venture

The boat left La Spezia on April 23, 1942 at 2.15 p.m. and was sunk on May 2, 1942. No ships were sunk or damaged on this nine-day venture in the western Mediterranean.

Operations with the following submarine groups

group Period
Group west May 13, 1941 to May 22, 1941
Brandenburg group September 15, 1941 to September 20, 1941
Group of robber barons November 1, 1941 to November 6, 1941

Whereabouts

The boat was on May 2, 1942, a Catalina - C - flying boat discovered and the squadron 202 / C with water bombs attacked. The flying boat stubbornly pursued the submarine and also brought two British destroyers up to it. In consequence of the combined attack of Catalina, the HMS Wishart and the HMS wrestler sank U 74 in the Mediterranean east of Cartagena , Spain in position 37 ° 32 '  N , 0 ° 10'  O marine-grid square CH 5797th all 47 members of the crew found thereby death.

U 74 had no losses to complain about during its service life until it was scuttled.

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. ^ 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 51
  2. ↑ Axel Bojanowski : The day of the war night of 1941. In: Spiegel Online. September 29, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 1: The Hunters. 1939-1942. Heyne, Munich 1998, page 750

See also

Web links