U 871

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U 871
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Type : IX D2
Field Post Number : 19 451
Shipyard: Deschimag AG Weser , Bremen
Construction contract: August 25, 1941
Build number: 1079
Keel laying: November 14, 1942
Launch: September 7, 1943
Commissioning: January 15, 1944
Commanders:

Erwin Ganzer

Flotilla:

- 4th U-Flotilla training boat
January - July 1944
- 12th U-Flotilla front boat
August - September 1944

Calls: an enterprise
Sinkings:

no

Whereabouts: Sunk by depth charges in an air raid on September 26, 1944 northwest of the Azores , no survivors

U 871 was a German D2 submarinethat was used by the German Navy during the U-Boat War in World War II . It was supposed to be used in support of the Monsun group in the Southeast Asian sea ​​area, but was sunk before it could reach the area of ​​operation.

construction

The shipyard of Deschimag AG Weser was already involved in the submarine construction program of the Reich and Kriegsmarine before the beginning of the Second World War . During the war, this shipyard primarily manufactured boats of the "large" types. U 871 was commissioned on August 25, 1941 as part of the twelfth construction contract that Deschimag AG Weser received. The order included the boats U 865 to U 877 . It was a two-hulled boat designed for overseas use. An IX D2 boat was 87.58 meters long and 7.50 meters in diameter. A boat of this type could reach a speed of 19.2 knots when driving above water and drove a maximum of 6.9 knots under water.

Like many boats of its time, U 871 also had a specific symbol on the tower . It was a highly stylized comic-like representation of the Bremen town musicians .

Commitment and history

After commissioning, the boat was assigned as a training boat to the 4th submarine flotilla, which was stationed in Stettin . In August U 871 came to the 12th U-Flotilla as a front boat . From Trondheim from Commander ran full on 31 August 1944 his only company with this boat. U 871 was supposed to join the boats of the so-called group Monsun , which operated in the Indian Ocean . Usually these boats were operated by experienced commanders. However, Ganzer had only completed his submarine training in the previous year and U 871 was his first command. However, he had already had the opportunity at the beginning of the war to gain experience in Southeast Asian waters on board the blockade breaker Warmia .

Sinking

During the approach to the operational area, the boat was attacked by a B-17 bomber northwest of the Azores at the end of September . U 871 was sunk by depth charges on September 26, 1944, killing all 69 crew members.

Individual evidence

  1. Bodo Herzog: German U-Boats 1906-1966 , Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1996, ISBN 3-86070-036-7 . Page 199
  2. ^ 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 152.
  3. Axel Niestlé: German U-Boat Losses during World War II. Details of Destruction , Frontline Books, London 2014, ISBN 978-1-84832-210-3 , page 139

literature

  • 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 .