German submarine U-277
History | |
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Name | U-277 |
Ordered | 10 April 1941 |
Builder | Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack |
Yard number | 42 |
Laid down | 3 March 1942 |
Launched | 7 November 1942 |
Commissioned | 21 December 1942 |
Fate | Sunk, May 1944 by a British aircraft[1] |
General characteristics | |
Type | Type VIIC submarine |
Displacement | list error: <br /> list (help) 769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged { |
Length | list error: <br /> list (help) 67.1 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull |
Beam | list error: <br /> list (help) 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
Draft | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
Propulsion | list error: <br /> list (help) 2 × supercharged Germaniawerft 6-cylinder 4-stroke M6V 40/46 diesel engines, totalling 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490 2 × electric motors, totalling 750 shp (560 kW) and max rpm: 296. |
Speed | list error: <br /> list (help) 17.7 knots (20.4 mph; 32.8 km/h) surfaced 7.6 knots (8.7 mph; 14.1 km/h) submerged |
Range | list error: <br /> list (help) 15,170 km (8,190 nmi) at 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced 150 km (81 nmi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged |
Test depth | list error: <br /> list (help) 230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft) |
Complement | 44–52 officers and ratings |
Armament | list error: <br /> list (help) • 5 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern) • 14 × G7e torpedoes or 26 TMA mines • 1 × C35 88mm gun/L45 deck gun (220 rounds) • Various AA guns |
Service record[2][3] | |
Part of: |
list error: <br /> list (help) 8th U-boat Flotilla (21 November 1942–31 May 1943) 6th U-boat Flotilla (1 June–31 October 1943) 13th U-boat Flotilla (1 November–1 May 1945) |
Commanders: |
list error: <br /> list (help) Oblt. Robert Lübsen (21 December 1942–1 May 1944) |
Operations: |
list error: <br /> list (help) Six patrols 1st patrol: 29 June–17 August 1943 2nd patrol: 29 August–10 October 1943 3rd patrol: 12 November–22 December 1943 4th patrol: 23 December 1943–6 January 1944 5th patrol: 25 March–6 April 1944 6th patrol: 11 April–1 May 1944 |
Victories: | None |
German submarine U-277 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.
The submarine was laid down on 3 March 1942 at the Bremer Vulkan yard at Bremen-Vegesack as 'werk' 42. She was launched on 7 November 1942 and commissioned on 21 December under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Robert Lübsen.[2]
Service history
U-274 served with the 8th U-boat Flotilla for training from December 1942 to May 1943 and operationally with the 6th U-boat Flotilla from 1 June.[2] She carried out six patrols, but sank no ships. She was a member of six wolfpacks.
She carried out a short voyage between Kiel in Germany and Bergen in Norway over June 1943.
1st patrol
The boat departed Bergen on 29 June 1943 and docked at Hammerfest via Bear Island on 17 August.
2nd patrol
For her second sortie, U-277 departed Hammerfest on 29 August 1943. Her route took her as far north as Svalbard before arriving at Narvik on 10 October.
3rd and 4th patrols
The boat's third patrol took her round Bear Island, but was otherwise uneventful.
Her fourth foray was followed by a series of short 'hops' between Hammerfest, Narvik, Trondheim and Bergen. During one of them, she ran aground and had to be towed off the offending rocks. The damage caused forced an immediate return to base.
5th and 6th patrols and loss
Her penultimate, official patrol was between Narvik and Hammerfest.
She left Hammerfest for the last time on 11 April 1944. She was sunk southwest of Bear Island by depth charges dropped from a Fairey Swordfish of No. 842 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm on 1 May. The aircraft had come from the carrier HMS Fencer.
Fifty men died; there were no survivors.
References
- Notes
- ^ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1999, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 186
- ^ a b c "The Type VIIC boat U-277 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
- ^ "War Patrols by German U-boat U-277 - Boats - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
- Bibliography
External links
See also
- Use dmy dates from August 2012
- German Type VII submarines
- U-boats commissioned in 1942
- U-boats sunk in 1943
- U-boats sunk by aircraft
- World War II submarines of Germany
- World War II shipwrecks in the Arctic Ocean
- 1942 ships
- Ships built in Bremen (state)
- U-boats sunk by depth charges
- Ships lost with all hands
- German submarine stubs