German submarine U-279
History | |
---|---|
Name | U-279 |
Ordered | 10 April 1941 |
Builder | Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack |
Yard number | 44 |
Laid down | 31 March 1942 |
Launched | 16 December 1942 |
Commissioned | 3 February 1943 |
Fate | Sunk, October 1943 by an American 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[3][4] | |
Part of: |
list error: <br /> list (help) 8th U-boat Flotilla (3 February 1943–31 July 1943) 9th U-boat Flotilla (1 August–4 October 1943) |
Commanders: |
list error: <br /> list (help) Kptlt. Otto Finke (3 February–4 October 1943) |
Operations: |
list error: <br /> list (help) One patrol: 4 September–4 October 1943 |
Victories: | None |
German submarine U-279 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.
The submarine was laid down on 31 March 1942 at the Bremer Vulkan yard at Bremen-Vegesack as 'werk' 44. She was launched on 16 December 1942 and commissioned on 3 February 1943 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Otto Franke.[3]
Service history
U-279 served with the 8th U-boat Flotilla for training from February to July 1943 and operationally with the 9th flotilla from 1 August 1943.[3] She carried out one patrol, but sank no ships. She was a member of one wolfpack.
Patrol and loss
The boat departed Kiel on 4 September 1943. She entered the Atlantic Ocean after negotiating the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She was sunk exactly a month after her departure (4 October), by depth charges dropped from a US Ventura aircraft southwest of Iceland.[5] There were men in boats and in the water, but the Ventura could not call for assistance. Its radio had been put out of commission during the attack.[6][7]
Forty-eight men died; there were no survivors.
Previously recorded fate
The submarine was initially categorized as having been sunk by a British Liberator southwest of Iceland on 4 October 1943.
References
- Notes
- ^ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1999, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, pp. 147-148
- ^ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1999, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, pp. 152-153.
- ^ a b c "The Type VIIC boat U-279 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
- ^ "War Patrols by German U-boat U-279 - Boats - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
- ^ Kemp, pp. 147-148
- ^ http://uboat.net/boats/u279/htm
- ^ http://www.u-boot-archiv.de/dieboote/u0276.html U-279 at u-boot-archiv.de
- Bibliography
External links
See also
- Use dmy dates from August 2012
- German Type VII submarines
- U-boats commissioned in 1943
- U-boats sunk in 1943
- U-boats sunk by aircraft
- World War II submarines of Germany
- World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
- 1943 ships
- Ships built in Bremen (state)
- U-boats sunk by depth charges
- Ships lost with all hands
- German submarine stubs