U 966

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U 966
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Type : VII C
Field Post Number : 51 418
Shipyard: Blohm & Voss , Hamburg
Construction contract: June 5, 1941
Build number: 166
Keel laying: May 1, 1942
Launch: January 14, 1943
Commissioning: April 4, 1943
Commanders:

Eckehard Wolf

Calls: 1 company
Sinkings:

none
(1 Wellington bomber shot down)

Whereabouts: Damaged, stranded and self- sunk in an air raid on November 10, 1943 northwest of Cape Ortegal

U 966 was a German type VII C submarine, a so-called "Atlanticboat", which was used by the German Navy during the submarine war in World War II in the North Atlantic and in the Bay of Biscay .

Technical specifications

A VII C-boat was driven by two 1400 HP strong diesel engines and reached a speed of 17 knots . Under water, a submarine could make a speed of 7.6 kn with the help of two electric motors with 375 HP each. However, the power of the batteries only allowed this top speed for underwater travel for an hour. At a lower speed, the boat could theoretically travel underwater for up to three days.

As a VII C-boat, U 966 also had a water displacement of 769 t on the surface and 871 t under water. It was a total of 67.1 m long, 6.2 m wide, 9.6 m high with a 50.5 m long pressure hull and had a draft of 4.74 m. The submarine, built in the Hamburg shipyard Blohm & Voss , was powered by two four-stroke F46 diesel engines with 6 cylinders each and a charging fan from the Kiel Germania shipyard with an output of 2060 to 2350 kW, with two electric motors GU 460 / 8-27 from AEG for underwater operation driven with an output of 550 kW. It had two drive shafts with two 1.23 m tall propellers. The boat was suitable for diving to a depth of 230 m.

U 966 had five 53.3 cm torpedo tubes - four at the bow and one at the stern - and fourteen torpedoes , an 8.8 cm SK C / 35 cannon with 220 rounds of ammunition, and a 3.7 cm anti -aircraft gun M42 18/36/37/43 and two 2 cm FlaK C / 30.

Like most German submarines of its time, the U 966 also had a boat-specific logo that was usually selected and designed by the crew themselves during the training period. The boats carried these symbols, mostly coats of arms, on the submarine tower . A smaller version, often made of brass, was worn by the crew on uniform caps and boats . In U 966 it was this is a crest with a cone and a sphere. Above it was the bowling slogan " Good wood" . The design was based on a typical statement made by the commander, who often referred to his crew as a "tired bowling club" during their training period.

Commitment and history

From April 4 to July 31, 1943, U 966 served as a training boat with the 5th U-Flotilla . From August 1, 1943 the boat was used by the 9th U-Flotilla as a front boat. On October 5, 1943, Commander Wolf set out with U 966 for his first venture with this boat from Drontheim in the direction of the planned operational area in the central North Atlantic.

Loss of the boat

On the morning of November 10th 1943, U 966 by a Wellington bomber of the 612th Squadron of the RAF and two Liberator bombers of the US Navy discovered and with water bombs attacked. The boat's crew defended themselves with anti-aircraft fire and shot down the attacking Wellington bomber. Later that day attacked another Liberator, this time flown by a crew of the Czechoslovak exile army of No. 311 Squadron RAF , the boat with ballistic missiles . Under the impression of lasting damage as a result of the depth charge and rocket hits, Commander Wolf decided to withdraw from the battle and sink the U 966 himself. The boat was laid aground in shallow waters off the Spanish coast and then blown up by its own crew. 42 members of the 50-strong crew survived the sinking of U 966 . The Spanish government did not rate the German seafarers as castaways , but classified them as combatants . As a result, the surviving crew was sent to an internment camp.

In the summer of 2018, divers found the wreck of the boat. The location of U966 is in an area that is difficult to access and where the sea has to be very calm to be able to get there. The remains are at a depth of 24 to 26 meters.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bodo Herzog: German U-Boats 1906-1966 , Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1996, ISBN 3-86070-036-7 . Page 196
  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 157
  3. ^ Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing vor München 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 , page 162 - page 163
  4. ↑ Andres Wysling: Sunk German submarine discovered off the coast of Spain. In: www.nzz.ch. July 6, 2018, accessed July 6, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Silvia R. Pontevedra: Buena pesca en el submarino nazi. In: El País . July 6, 2018, accessed July 6, 2018 .
  6. ↑ n-tv news: Divers find parts of a German submarine . In: n-tv.de . ( n-tv.de [accessed on July 9, 2018]).

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 .

Web links

  • U 966 CV of the boat on: uboat.net , a detailed site about German submarines, their commanders and their allied opponents (in English).