U 970

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
U 970
( previous / next - all submarines )
10
City coat of arms of Falkenstein, godfather city of the boat
Type : VII C
Field Post Number : 51 558
Shipyard: Blohm & Voss , Hamburg
Construction contract: June 5, 1941
Build number: 170
Keel laying: May 29, 1942
Launch: February 11, 1943
Commissioning: March 25, 1943
Commanders:

Hans-Heinrich Ketels

Calls: two ventures
Sinkings:

no depressions

Whereabouts: Sunk by air raid on June 8, 1944

U 970 was a German type VII C submarine, a so-called "Atlanticboat". It was used by the German Navy during the U-Boat War in World War II in the North Atlantic and 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 970 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 970 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.

Many German cities took on so-called "boat sponsorships" for submarines. A delegation from the city was present at the commissioning, the citizens sent gifts to the respective bases and the regional newspapers reported on the activities. The godfather town of U 970 was Falkenstein in Vogtland . Accordingly, as a boat-specific symbol, the boat carried the city's coat of arms over two crossed daggers, which was the crew mark of the officer class of Commander Ketels.

Commitment and history

From March 25, 1943 to February 29, 1944, U 970 served as a training boat with the 5th U-Flotilla and was stationed in Kiel . From March 1st it was assigned to the 3rd U-Flotilla as a front boat. U 970 remained with this flotilla until it was sunk.

First venture

On March 16, 1944 Commander ran Ketels with U 970 by mountains on his first patrol with this boat. U 970 circled the British Isles and arrived on April 22nd in La Pallice in occupied France . No Allied ships were sunk or damaged by U 970 on this venture .

Loss of the boat

Commander Ketels left La Pallice with U 970 on June 6th to take part in the attack on the Allied landing fleet. On June 7, 1944, U 970 , which was sailing on the surface at that time, was sighted by the Short Sunderland flying boat of the 228th Squadron of the RAF . Commander Ketels managed to submerge the submarine before the Sunderland could attack. A short time later, however , U 970 was caught again by the same flying boat and sunk with depth charges. A short time later, the German air rescue service fished 14 survivors out of the water. Those rescued were, besides the commander, mainly the bridge watch and the anti-aircraft crew , who were able to save themselves in good time before the submarines were sunk into the water. The survivors had been drifting in the water for 33 hours before they were tracked down by a Dornier Do 24 , a flying boat of the German emergency flight squadron. The remaining 38 men of the crew went down with the boat.

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 158.
  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 204
  4. ↑ Clay Blair : The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 . Page 681

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 .
  • 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 .