U 974
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U 974 ( previous / next - all submarines ) |
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| Type : | VII C |
| Field Post Number : | 43 387 |
| Shipyard: | Blohm & Voss , Hamburg |
| Construction contract: | June 5, 1941 |
| Build number: | 164 |
| Keel laying: | June 26, 1942 |
| Launch: | March 11, 1943 |
| Commissioning: | April 22, 1943 |
| Commanders: |
Joachim Zaubitzer |
| Calls: | an enterprise |
| Sinkings: |
no depressions |
| Whereabouts: | sunk by torpedo in Karmsund on April 19, 1944 |
U 974 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 Baltic Sea . U 974 was one of the few WWII submarines that was sunk by another submarine.
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 974 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 974 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.
Commitment and history
From April 22nd to October 31st, 1943 U 974 was subordinated to the 5th U-Flotilla as a training boat and stationed in Kiel . On November 1, 1943, the boat was assigned to the 7th U-Flotilla as a front boat. On November 8th, Commander Joachim Zaubitzer handed over command to Oberleutnant zur See Heinz Wolf. Commander Wolf left Kiel with U 974 on March 23 and reached the German submarine base in Topdalsfjord, Norway three days later. From here ran U 974 from April 18.
Submarine against submarine
U 974 passed Karmsund under escort on the way to its intended area of operation in the European Arctic Ocean when its tower was discovered by the crew of the Norwegian submarine Ula from half a kilometer away . The Ula was a British U-class submarine , a small type of submarine that was originally developed for training purposes. This boat was actually intended to be handed over to Dutch submarine crews, whose ship, however, had been sunk by U 575 while crossing Australia . Instead, the submarine was handed over to a Norwegian submarine crew. Although U 974 was protected by two escort ships, Commander Valvatne decided to attack the German submarine and let loose a torpedo fan . The escort ships then tried to attack the Norwegian submarine with depth charges, but were unsuccessful.
Sinking
The second torpedo of the fan detached from the Ula hit U 974 amidships between the galley and the diesel room. The boat broke apart and immediately sank. Only the bridge watch and the helmsman who had been in the tower were able to save themselves. The eight survivors were picked up by one of the escort ships, the minesweeper M 407 .
Notes and individual references
- ↑ Bodo Herzog: German U-Boats 1906-1966 , Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1996, ISBN 3-86070-036-7 . Page 196
- ↑ Oblerleutnant zS Zaubitzer was then used as company commander and training manager at the torpedo school in Flensburg-Mürwik base . He held this post until the end of the war
- ↑ The first of the current submarines of the Norwegian Navy produced in Germany was named after the Ula . Accordingly, the submarines are the submarine class 210 as Ula class called
- ^ Paul Kemp: The German and Austrian submarine losses in both world wars. Urbes-Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich 1998, ISBN 3-924896-43-7 . Page 192 - page 193
literature
- 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 4: German submarine losses from September 1939 to May 1945. ES Mittler and Son, Hamburg a. a. 1999.
Web links
- U 974 CV of the boat on: uboat.net , a detailed site about German submarines, their commanders and their allied opponents (in English).
Map with all coordinates: