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German submarine U-129 (1941)

Coordinates: 10°00′00″N 35°34′59″W / 10.000°N 35.583°W / 10.000; -35.583
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History
Germany
NameU-129
Ordered7 August 1939
BuilderAG Weser in Bremen
Laid down30 July 1940
Launched28 February 1941
Commissioned21 May 1941
FateTaken out of service at Lorient 4 July 1944; scuttled on 18 August, raised and broken up, 1946
General characteristics
TypeType IXC submarine
Displacementlist error: <br /> list (help)
1,120 t (1,100 long tons) surfaced
1,232 t (1,213 long tons) submerged
Lengthlist error: <br /> list (help)
76.8 m (252 ft 0 in) overall
58.7 m (192 ft 7 in) pressure hull
Beamlist error: <br /> list (help)
6.8 m (22 ft 4 in) overall
4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull
Height9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
Draft4.7 m (15 ft 5 in)
Propulsionlist error: <br /> list (help)
2 × MAN M9V40/46 supercharged 9-cylinder diesel engines, 4,000 hp (2,983 kW)
2 × SSW GU345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (746 kW)
Speedlist error: <br /> list (help)
18.2 knots (33.7 km/h) surfaced
7.3 knots (13.5 km/h) submerged
Rangelist error: <br /> list (help)
24,880 nmi (46,080 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) surfaced
117 nmi (217 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged
Test depth230 m (750 ft)
Complement48 to 56
Armamentlist error: <br /> list (help)
6 × torpedo tubes (four bow, two stern)
22 × 55 cm (22 in) torpedoes
1 × 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval gun[1] (110 rounds)
Service record
Part of: list error: <br /> list (help)
4th U-boat Flotilla
(21 May 1941–30 June 1941)
2nd U-boat Flotilla
(1 July 1941–1 July 1944)
Commanders: list error: <br /> list (help)
Kptlt. Nicolai Clausen
(21 May 1941–13 May 1942)
Krvkpt. Hans-Ludwig Witt
(14 May 1942–8 July 1943)
Oberleutnant Richard von Harpe
(12 July 1943–19 July 1944)
Operations: list error: <br /> list (help)
1st patrol:
3 August–30 August 1941
2nd patrol:
27 September–8 October 1941
3rd patrol:
21 October 1941–28 December 1941
4th patrol:
25 January–5 April 1942
5th patrol:
20 May–21 August 1942
6th patrol:
28 September 1942–6 January 1943
7th patrol:
11 March–29 May 1943
8th patrol:
27 July–9 September
9th patrol:
9 October–11 October 1943; then 12 October–31 January 1944
10th patrol:
22 March 1944–19 July 1944
Victories: 29 commercial ships sunk (143,748 GRT GRT uses unsupported parameter (help))

German submarine U-129 was a Type IXC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down at the AG Weser yard, Bremen as 'werk' 992 on 30 July 1940, launched on 28 February 1941 and was commissioned on 21 May with Kapitänleutnant Nicolai Clausen in command.

Her service life began with training in the 4th U-boat Flotilla; she moved to the 2nd Flotilla for operations on 1 July 1941.

She sank 29 ships, a total of 143,748 tons, on ten patrols.

Operational career

She made the short journey from Kiel, arriving in Horten in Norway on 24 July 1941.

1st, 2nd and 3rd patrols

The boat's first patrol involved her departure from Horten, crossing the North Sea and entering the Atlantic Ocean by passing close to the Faroe Islands on the Icelandic side. She arrived at Lorient (where she would be based for most of her career), in occupied France on 30 August 1941.

Her second sortie saw her cross the Bay of Biscay to a point north of the Azores.

Her third patrol was further south, as far south as a similar latitude to Rio De Janeiro, but success continued to elude her.

4th patrol

Things improved dramatically when as part of Operation Drumbeat,[2] she attacked the Nordvangen on 20 February; this ship sank in one minute northeast of Trinidad. Staying in the West Indies / northern South America region, she sank another six vessels.

5th and 6th patrols

The submarine returned to her sunshine haunts; included in the toll was the Hardwicke Grange, which was sunk with torpedoes and the deck gun north of Puerto Rico on 12 June 1942. She also sank the Millinrocket on 17 June off La Isabela, Cuba and a ship from the Soviet Union, the Tuapse, in the Gulf of Mexico on 4 July.

Her sixth patrol included the sinking of the Trafalgar about 1,100 mi (1,800 km) northeast of Guadeloupe on 16 October 1942 and the West Kebar some 350 mi (560 km) northeast of Barbados.

7th, 8th and 9th patrols

Patrol number seven saw ships such as the Melbourne Star and the Panam consigned to the deep. On the return journey, tragedy struck; U129 was refuelling from the 'milk cow' supply submarine U-459 when two men were swept overboard. One was recovered fairly swiftly but the other could not be found.[3]

Her eighth foray was west of the Canary Islands but did not produce any results.

U-129's ninth patrol was divided into two; she departed Lorient on 9 October 1943, but put into St. Nazaire on the 11th. A day later she headed for the US eastern coast, sinking the Libertad on 4 December off North Carolina.

10th patrol

The boat began her last operation which at 111 days, was her longest, on 22 March 1944. Steaming south, she encountered the Anadyr about 600 mi (970 km) south southeast of Recife in Brazil and sank her.

Fate

The boat was taken out of service at Lorient 4 July 1944; she was scuttled on 18 August. She was raised and broken up in 1946.

Summary of raiding history

Date[4] Name Flag Tonnage Fate
20 February 1942 Nordvangen  Norway 2,400 Sunk
23 February 1942 George L. Torian  Canada 1,754 Sunk
23 February 1942 Lennox  Canada 1,904 Sunk
23 February 1942 West Zeda  USA 5,658 Sunk
28 February 1942 Bayou  Panama 2,605 Sunk
3 March 1942 Mary  USA 5,104 Sunk
7 March 1942 Steel Age  USA 6,188 Sunk
10 June 1942 L. A. Christensen  Norway 4,362 Sunk
12 June 1942 Hardwick Grange  United Kingdom 9,005 Sunk
17 June 1942 Millinrocket  USA 3,274 Sunk
27 June 1942 Las Choapas  Mexico 2,005 Sunk
27 June 1942 Tuxpam  Mexico 7,008 Sunk
1 July 1942 Taspe  Soviet Union 6,320 Sunk
12 July 1942 Tachirá  USA 2,325 Sunk
19 July 1942 Port Antonio  Norway 1,266 Sunk
23 July 1942 Onodaga  USA 2,309 Sunk
16 October 1942 Trafalgar  Norway 5,542 Sunk
23 October 1942 Reuben Tipton  USA 6,829 Sunk
30 October 1942 West Kebar  USA 5,620 Sunk
5 November 1942 Astrell  Norway 7,595 Sunk
5 November 1942 Meton  USA 7,027 Sunk
2 April 1943 Melbourne Star  United Kingdom 12,806 Sunk
24 April 1943 Santa Catalina  USA 6,507 Sunk
4 April 1943 Panam  Panama 7,277 Sunk
4 December 1943 Libertad  Cuba 5,441 Sunk
6 May 1944 Anadyr  United Kingdom 5,278 Sunk
11 May 1944 Empire Heath  United Kingdom 6,643 Sunk

References

  1. ^ Campbell, John Naval Weapons of World War Two ISBN 0-87021-459-4 pp. 248 and 249
  2. ^ Gannon, Michael - Operation Drumbeat - the dramatic true story of Germany's first U-boat attacks along the American coast in World War II, 1990, Harper and Row publishers, ISBN 0-060161155-8, pp. 129 and 489.
  3. ^ http://uboat.net/boats/patrols/patrol_3850.html
  4. ^ "Ships hit by U-129 - U-boat Successes - German U-boats - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 July 2012.

See also


10°00′00″N 35°34′59″W / 10.000°N 35.583°W / 10.000; -35.583