German submarine U-219
| Career (Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-219 |
| Ordered: | 6 August 1940 |
| Builder: | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
| Laid down: | 31 May 1941 |
| Launched: | 6 October 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 12 December 1942 |
| Captured: | Seized by Imperial Japanese Navy at Jakarta, 8 May 1945 |
| Career (Japan) |  |
| Name: | I-505 |
| Acquired: | 8 May 1945 |
| Commissioned: | 15 July 1945 |
| Fate: | Surrendered at Jakarta, 1945 Broken up, 1948 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type: | Type XB submarine minelayer |
| Displacement: | 1,763 long tons (1,791 t) surfaced 2,177 long tons (2,212 t) submerged |
| Length: | 89.80 m (294 ft 7 in) o/a 70.90 m (232 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 9.20 m (30 ft 2 in) o/a 4.75 m (15 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 10.20 m (33 ft 6 in) |
| Draught: | 4.71 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × diesel engines, 4,800 hp (3,600 kW) 2 × electric motors, 1,100 hp (820 kW) |
| Speed: | 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) surfaced 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 18,450 nmi (34,170 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced 93 nmi (172 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: | Calculated crush depth: 220 m (720 ft) |
| Complement: | 48 to 60 officers & ratings |
| Armament: | • 2 × 53.3 cm (21 in) stern torpedo tubes • 15 × G7e torpedoes • 66 × SMA mines • 1 × 105 mm (4.1 in) L45 deck gun (200 rounds) |
| Service record[2][3] | |
| Part of: | Kriegsmarine 4th U-boat Flotilla (12 December 1942–30 June 1943) 12th U-boat Flotilla (1 July 1943–30 September 1944) 33rd U-boat Flotilla (1 October 1944–8 May 1945) |
| Commanders: | KrvKpt. Walter Burghagen (12 December 1944–8 May 1945) |
| Operations: | 1st patrol: 22 October 1943–1 January 1944 2nd patrol: 23 August–11 December 1944 |
German submarine U-219 was a Type XB submarine of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II.
The U-boat was laid down on 31 May 1941 at the Germaniawerft yard at Kiel, launched on 6 October 1942, and commissioned on 12 December 1942 under the command of Korvettenkapitän Walter Burghagen.
Contents |
[edit] Service history
[edit] 1st patrol
She first ventured through the South Atlantic with the second Monsun Gruppe to the Indian Ocean in late 1943. Upon reaching Penang, this group of U-boats became part of 33rd U-boat Flotilla, which also comprised U-848, U-849, U-850, U-177, and U-510.
U-219's mission had been to lay mines off Cape Town and Colombo, but when the group's U-tanker was destroyed, U-219 was required to take its place refuelling the other submarines of the group at sea so they could return to Germany. Of this group, only U-510 continued to Penang Island. U-219 returned to France and was prepared for a transport mission at Bordeaux.
[edit] 2nd patrol
On her next voyage east, U-219 departed Bordeaux on 23 August 1944 with U-195 and U-180, carrying two Japanese officers, and cargo which included uranium oxide, blueprints for advanced weapons, and part of a consignment of twelve dismantled V-2 rockets for Japan shared with U-195.[4] Both U-219 and U-195 reached Djakarta in December 1944; U-180 is thought to have been sunk in the Gironde estuary by a mine.
[edit] In Japanese service
Following Germany's surrender, U-219 was seized by the Japanese at Djakarta on 8 May 1945 and on 15 July 1945 was placed into service with the Imperial Japanese Navy as I-505. Eventually U-219, operating as I-505, was captured at Surabaya in August 1945 by the Royal Navy and scuttled in February 1946 at 06°31′00″S 104°54′08″E / 6.5166667°S 104.90222°ECoordinates: 06°31′00″S 104°54′08″E / 6.5166667°S 104.90222°E off the Sunda Strait.
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ "Type XB Mine-laying boats - German U-boat Types of WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. http://uboat.net/types/xb.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
- ^ "The Type XB boat U-219 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/boats/u219.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
- ^ "War Patrols by German U-boat U-219 - Boats - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. http://www.uboat.net/boats/patrols/u219.html. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
- ^ Beasant, John. Stalin's Silver.
- Bibliography
- U-219 at uboat.net
- U-219 at ubootwaffe.net
- Stevens, David, U-boat Far from Home, The Epic Voyage of U-862 to Australia and New Zealand, (1997), Allen & Unwin, ISBN 978-1864482676
- Beasant, John, Stalin's Silver: The Sinking of the USS John Barry, (1999), St. Martin's Press, ISBN 978-0312205904
