German submarine U-300
History | |
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Name | U-300 |
Ordered | 23 March 1942 |
Builder | Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack |
Yard number | 65 |
Laid down | 9 April 1943 |
Launched | 23 November 1943 |
Commissioned | 29 December 1943 |
Fate | Sunk, 22 February 1945 by British warships[1] |
General characteristics | |
Type | Type VIIC/41 submarine |
Displacement | list error: <br /> list (help) 769 long tons (781 t) surfaced 871 long tons (885 t) submerged |
Length | list error: <br /> list (help) 67.23 m (220 ft 7 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) 15,725 km (8,491 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) 250 m (820 ft) Crush depth: 275–325 m (902–1,066 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 × 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 (29 December 1943–31 July 1944) 7th U-boat Flotilla (1 August–30 September 1944) 11th U-boat Flotilla (1 October 1944–22 February 1945) |
Commanders: |
list error: <br /> list (help) Oblt. Fritz Hein (29 December 1943–22 February 1945) |
Operations: |
list error: <br /> list (help) 1st patrol: 18 July–17 August 1944 2nd patrol: 4 October–2 December 1944 3rd patrol: 21 January–22 February 1945 |
Victories: |
list error: <br /> list (help) Two commercial ships sunk (7,559 GRT GRT uses unsupported parameter (help)) One commercial ship damaged (7,176 GRT) One commercial ship a total loss (9,551 GRT) |
German submarine U-300 was a Type VIIC/41 U-boat of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II.
The submarine was laid down on 9 April 1943 by the Bremer Vulkan yard at Bremen-Vegesack as 'werk' 65. She was launched on 23 November 1943, and commissioned on 29 December 1943 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Fritz Hein. U-300 served with the 8th U-boat Flotilla for training, the 7th U-boat Flotilla from 1 August 1944 to 30 September 1944 and the 11th U-boat Flotilla from 1 October 1944 to 22 February 1945 for operations. She carried out three patrols, sinking two ships, and damaged two more before she was sunk on 22 February 1945 off Cadiz, Spain.
Service history
1st patrol
U-300 departed Horten, Norway, on 18 July 1944 and sailed for the waters south-east of Iceland. On 4 August the U-boat was attacked by a Canso flying boat of No. 162 Squadron RCAF with three depth charges, causing extensive damage. The U-boat drove the aircraft off with flak, but was forced to return to base for repairs, arriving at Trondheim on 17 August.[4]
2nd patrol
The U-boat left Trondheim on 4 October 1944 for another patrol south of Iceland. On 10 November she sank two ships from convoy UR-142 en route from the UK to Reykjavík in Iceland.
She hit the British 6,017 ton tanker Shirvan[5] setting her on fire, and when the Icelandic 1,542 ton cargo ship Godafoss[6] stopped, against orders, to pick up survivors from the tanker, she was also torpedoed, and sank within seven minutes with the loss of 24 lives, including four young children.[7] The abandoned Shirvan foundered the next day.
U-300 returned to Stavanger, Norway on 2 December.[8]
3rd patrol
U-300 sailed from Stavanger on 21 January 1945 on her third and final patrol to the Atlantic waters off Spain.[9] There on 17 February, 27 miles from Gibraltar, she attacked Convoy UGS-72, firing two spreads of two torpedoes, hitting the American 7,176 ton Liberty ship Michael J. Stone[10] and the British 9,551 ton tanker Regent Lion.[11]
The Michael J. Stone was flooded in both holds and the steering room. However, she managed to reach Gibraltar under her own power where she was dry-docked and repaired. The Regent Lion, which had already been damaged by a torpedo from U-610 the previous day, had to be taken in tow. She was grounded on Perl Rock, a mile south of Carnero Point in the Bay of Gibraltar, and was later declared a total loss.
Sinking
U-300 was sunk on 22 February 1945 in the North Atlantic west of Cadiz, in position 36°29′N 08°20′W / 36.483°N 8.333°W, by depth charges from the British Algerine-class minesweepers HMS Recruit and HMS Pincher, and the armed yacht/minesweeper HMS Evadne. Nine of the crew were lost, there were 41 survivors.[2]
Summary of raiding history
Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|
10 November 1944 | Godafoss | ![]() |
4,7631,542 | Sunk |
10 November 1944 | Shirvan | ![]() |
6,017 | Sunk |
17 February 1945 | Michael J. Stone | ![]() |
7,176 | Damaged |
17 February 1945 | Regent Lion | ![]() |
9,551 | Total loss |
See also
References
- Notes
- ^ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1999, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, pp. 233-234.
- ^ a b "The Type VIIC/41 boat U-300 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ^ "War Patrols by German U-boat U-300 - Boats - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ^ "Patrol of U-boat U-300 from 18 Jul 1944 to 17 Aug 1944 - U-boat patrols - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ^ "Shirvan (Steam tanker) - Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ^ "Godafoss (Steam merchant) - Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ^ "Morgunblaðið Nov. 12 1944". www.timarit.is. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
- ^ "Patrol of U-boat U-300 from 4 Oct 1944 to 2 Dec 1944 - U-boat patrols - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ^ "Patrol of U-boat U-300 from 21 Jan 1945 to 22 Feb 1945 - U-boat patrols - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ^ "Michael J. Stone (Steam merchant) - Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ^ "Regent Lion (Motor tanker) - Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- Bibliography
- U-300 at uboat.net
- U-300 at ubootwaffe.net
- Bishop, C. Kriegsmarine U-Boats, 1939-45. Amber Books, 2006.
External links