German submarine U-391
History | |
---|---|
Nazi Germany | |
Name | U-391 |
Ordered | 20 January 1941 |
Builder | Howaldtswerke, Kiel |
Yard number | 23 |
Laid down | 9 January 1942 |
Launched | 5 March 1943 |
Commissioned | 24 April 1943 |
Fate | Sunk, December 1943, by a British aircraft northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain |
General characteristics [1] | |
Class and 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 |
Height | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) |
Draft | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
Propulsion | list error: <br /> list (help) 2 × supercharged Germaniawerft 6-cylinder 4-stroke F46 diesel engines, totalling 2,800–3,200 PS (2,800–3,200 bhp; 2,100–2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490 2 × GL RP 137/c electric motors, totalling 750 PS (740 shp; 550 kW) and max rpm: 296. |
Speed | list error: <br /> list (help) 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) surfaced 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) submerged |
Range | list error: <br /> list (help) 8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) 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: mixed text and list (help)
|
Service record[2] | |
Part of: |
list error: <br /> list (help) 5th U-boat Flotilla (24 April–30 September 1943) 3rd U-boat Flotilla (1 October–13 December 1943) |
Commanders: |
list error: <br /> list (help) Oblt.z.S. Gert Dültgen (24 April–13 December 1943) |
Operations: | 23 October–13 December 1943 |
Victories: | None |
German submarine U-391 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She carried out one patrol. She did not sink or damage any ships.
She was sunk by a British aircraft northwest of Cape Ortegal in Spain in October 1943.[2]
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 9 January 1942 at the Howaldtswerke (yard) at Flensburg as yard number 23, launched on 5 March and commissioned on 24 April 1943 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Gert Dültgen.
The boat was a member of three wolfpacks.
She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 24 April 1943 and the 3rd flotilla from 1 October of the same year.
Patrol and loss
The boat departed Kiel on 23 October 1943. Passing through the gap that separates Iceland and the Faroe Islands, she was attacked by a Vickers Wellington of No. 179 Squadron RAF on 28 November.
On 13 December, she was attacked and sunk by depth charges dropped from a British B-24 Liberator of 53 Squadron on the western edge of the Bay of Biscay, northwest of Cape Ortegal in Spain.
51 men died in the U-boat; there were no survivors.
Wolfpacks
U-391 took part in three wolfpacks, namely.
- Eisenhart 1 (9–15 November 1943)
- Schill 3 (18–22 November 1943)
- Weddigen (22 November - 7 December 1943)
References
- ^ Gröner 1985, pp. 72–74.
- ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-391". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
Bibliography
- Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 (in German). Vol. IV. Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler. ISBN 3-8132-0514-2.
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(help) - Gröner, Erich (1985). U-Boote, Hilfskreuzer, Minenschiffe, Netzleger, Sperrbrecher (in German). Vol. III. Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 3-7637-4802-4.
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External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-391". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- U-391 at ubootwaffe.net [dead link]
Warning: Display title "German submarine<i> U-391</i>" overrides earlier display title "German submarine <i>U-391</i>" (help).
- Use dmy dates from September 2012
- German Type VIIC submarines
- U-boats commissioned in 1943
- U-boats sunk in 1943
- U-boats sunk by depth charges
- 1943 ships
- Ships built in Kiel
- Ships lost with all hands
- U-boats sunk by British aircraft
- World War II submarines of Germany
- World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
- Maritime incidents in December 1943