German submarine U-78 (1940)

History
Name	U-78
Ordered	25 January 1939
Builder	Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack
Yard number	6
Laid down	28 March 1940
Launched	7 December 1940
Commissioned	15 February 1941
Fate	Sunk on 16 April 1945 by Soviet artillery fire.
General characteristics
Type	Type VIIC submarine
Displacement	list error: <br /> list (help); 769 tonnes (757 long tons) ↑; 871 t (857 long tons) ↓
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 MAN 6-cylinder 4-stroke M 6 V 40/46 diesel engines, totalling 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490; 2 × BBC 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); 8,500 nmi (15,700 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) ↑; 80 km (43 nmi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) ↓
Test depth	list error: <br /> list (help); 230 m (750 ft); Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft)
Complement	44–52 officers & ratings
Armament	list error: <br /> list (help); • 5 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 1 stern); • 14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines; • 1 × C35 88mm gun/L45 deck gun (220 rounds); • Various AA guns
Service record
Part of:	list error: <br /> list (help); 22nd U-boat Flotilla; (15 February 1941–28 February 1945); 4th U-boat Flotilla; (1 March–16 April 1945)
Commanders:	list error: <br /> list (help); Kptlt. Adolf Dumrese; (15 February 1941–July 1941); Oblt. Kurt Makowski; (July 1941–February 1942); Kptlt. Max Bernd Dieterich; (February 1942–30 June 1942); Kptlt. Ernst Ziehm; (1 July 1942–November 1942); Kptlt. Helmut Sommer; (November 1942–16 May 1943); Wilhelm Eisele; (17 May 1943–26 November 1944); Oblt. Horst Hübsch; (27 November 1944–16 April 1945)
Operations:	None
Victories:	None

German submarine U-78 was a Type VIIC submarine of the Nazi German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was the only German submarine to be sunk by land-based artillery fire during the war.

She was ordered on 25 January 1939, and laid down on 28 March 1940, in the shipyard of Bremer Vulkan in the port city of Bremen-Vegesack as 'Werk 6'. U-78 was launched on 7 December 1940 and formally commissioned into the Kriegsmarine as a "school boat" on 15 February 1941, with a crew of 41 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Alfred Dumrese.^[2]

Service record

U-78 spent the majority of her career as a training U-boat, during which time she had several different crews. As a result, she never sank any enemy vessels nor engaged any enemy ships or convoys. On 1 March 1945, she was transferred to the 4th U-boat Flotilla but never saw any combat; prior to beginning her first patrol she was sunk on 16 April 1945. U-78's fate is notable in that she was the only German U-boat to be sunk by land-based artillery fire during World War II.^[2]^[4]

Use as a training boat

U-78 spent almost her entire career as part of the 22nd U-boat Flotilla as a "school boat", a role which saw her being used to train U-boat crews. During this time, her commander was changed six times: in July 1941 from Kapitänleutnant (K/L) Alfred Dumrese to Oberleutnant (O/L) Kurt Makowski, who remained in command until February 1942 when she was handed over to K/L Max Bernd Dieterich; in July 1942, K/L Ernst Ziehm took command of the U-boat from Dieterich in November 1942. K/L Helmut Sommer took command from Ziehm in May 1943; the sixth commander of U-78 took control of the U-boat when Wilhelm Eisele was named captain and lastly, the seventh commander, O/L Horst Hübsch, took command of U-78 from Eisele on 27 November 1944. All of U-78's changes of command took place while the U-boat was still serving as a training boat. Crewmembers used her as a practice submarine before being assigned to their operational U-boat.^[2]

Sinking

By March 1945, the war was coming to an end, the Kriegsmarine was faced with a dwindling number of active U-boats. To offset this, the Navy looked to transfer boats away from other duties, such as training. On 1 March 1945, U-78 began active service with the 4th U-boat Flotilla. Just a month and a half later, however, on 16 April 1945, U-78 was sunk after being attacked by Soviet land-based artillery while she was docked near the electricity supply pier in the German port of Pillau in East Prussia.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "U-78 Type VIIC". ubootwaffe.net. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Helgason, Guðmundur. "U-78". U-Boat War in World War II. Uboat.net. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Type VIIC". U-Boat War in World War II. Uboat.net. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "U-boat losses by cause". U-Boat fates 1939-1945. Uboat.net. Retrieved 14 March 2010.

External links

U-78 at u-boot-archiv.de Template:De icon

[U78-1] "U-78 Type VIIC". ubootwaffe.net. Retrieved 14 March 2010.

[U-78-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Helgason, Guðmundur. "U-78". U-Boat War in World War II. Uboat.net. Retrieved 14 March 2010.

[Uboat.net-3] Helgason, Guðmundur. "Type VIIC". U-Boat War in World War II. Uboat.net. Retrieved 14 March 2010.

[sink-4] Helgason, Guðmundur. "U-boat losses by cause". U-Boat fates 1939-1945. Uboat.net. Retrieved 14 March 2010.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Type VII submarines
Type VIIA	U-27 U-28 U-29 U-30 U-31 U-32 U-33 U-34 U-35 U-36
Type VIIB	U-45 U-46 U-47 U-48 U-49 U-50 U-51 U-52 U-53 U-54 U-55 U-73 U-74 U-75 U-76 U-83 U-84 U-85 U-86 U-87 U-99 U-100 U-101 U-102
Type VIIC	U-69 U-70 U-71 U-72 U-77 U-78 U-79 U-80 U-81 U-82 U-88 U-89 U-90 U-91 U-92 U-93 U-94 U-95 U-96 U-97 U-98 U-132 U-133 U-134 U-135 U-136 U-201 U-202 U-203 U-204 U-205 U-206 U-207 U-208 U-209 U-210 U-211 U-212 U-221 U-222 U-223 U-224 U-225 U-226 U-227 U-228 U-229 U-230 U-231 U-232 U-235 U-236 U-237 U-238 U-239 U-240 U-241 U-242 U-243 U-244 U-245 U-246 U-247 U-248 U-249 U-250 U-251 U-252 U-253 U-254 U-255 U-256 U-257 U-258 U-259 U-260 U-261 U-262 U-263 U-264 U-265 U-266 U-267 U-268 U-269 U-270 U-271 U-272 U-273 U-274 U-275 U-276 U-277 U-278 U-279 U-280 U-281 U-282 U-283 U-284 U-285 U-286 U-287 U-288 U-289 U-290 U-291 U-301 U-302 U-303 U-304 U-305 U-306 U-307 U-308 U-309 U-310 U-311 U-312 U-313 U-314 U-315 U-316 U-331 U-332 U-333 U-334 U-335 U-336 U-337 U-338 U-339 U-340 U-341 U-342 U-343 U-344 U-345 U-346 U-347 U-348 U-349 U-350 U-351 U-352 U-353 U-354 U-355 U-356 U-357 U-358 U-359 U-360 U-361 U-362 U-363 U-364 U-365 U-366 U-367 U-368 U-369 U-370 U-371 U-372 U-373 U-374 U-375 U-376 U-377 U-378 U-379 U-380 U-381 U-382 U-383 U-384 U-385 U-386 U-387 U-388 U-389 U-390 U-391 U-392 U-393 U-394 U-396 U-397 U-398 U-399 U-400 U-401 U-402 U-403 U-404 U-405 U-406 U-407 U-408 U-409 U-410 U-411 U-412 U-413 U-414 U-415 U-416 U-417 U-418 U-419 U-420 U-421 U-422 U-423 U-424 U-425 U-426 U-427 U-428 U-429 U-430 U-431 U-432 U-433 U-434 U-435 U-436 U-437 U-438 U-439 U-440 U-441 U-442 U-443 U-444 U-445 U-446 U-447 U-448 U-449 U-450 U-451 U-452 U-453 U-454 U-455 U-456 U-457 U-458 U-465 U-466 U-467 U-468 U-469 U-470 U-471 U-472 U-473 U-475 U-476 U-477 U-478 U-479 U-480 U-481 U-482 U-483 U-484 U-485 U-486 U-551 U-552 U-553 U-554 U-555 U-556 U-557 U-558 U-559 U-560 U-561 U-562 U-563 U-564 U-565 U-566 U-567 U-568 U-569 U-570 U-571 U-572 U-573 U-574 U-575 U-576 U-577 U-578 U-579 U-580 U-581 U-582 U-583 U-584 U-585 U-586 U-587 U-588 U-589 U-590 U-591 U-592 U-593 U-594 U-595 U-596 U-597 U-598 U-599 U-600 U-601 U-602 U-603 U-604 U-605 U-606 U-607 U-608 U-609 U-610 U-611 U-612 U-613 U-614 U-615 U-616 U-617 U-618 U-619 U-620 U-621 U-622 U-623 U-624 U-625 U-626 U-627 U-628 U-629 U-630 U-631 U-632 U-633 U-634 U-635 U-636 U-637 U-638 U-639 U-640 U-641 U-642 U-643 U-644 U-645 U-646 U-647 U-648 U-649 U-650 U-651 U-652 U-653 U-654 U-655 U-656 U-657 U-658 U-659 U-660 U-661 U-662 U-663 U-664 U-665 U-666 U-667 U-668 U-669 U-670 U-671 U-672 U-673 U-674 U-675 U-676 U-677 U-678 U-679 U-680 U-681 U-682 U-683 U-701 U-702 U-703 U-704 U-705 U-706 U-707 U-708 U-709 U-710 U-711 U-712 U-713 U-714 U-715 U-716 U-717 U-718 U-719 U-720 U-721 U-722 U-731 U-732 U-733 U-734 U-735 U-736 U-737 U-738 U-739 U-740 U-741 U-742 U-743 U-744 U-745 U-746 U-747 U-748 U-749 U-750 U-751 U-752 U-753 U-754 U-755 U-756 U-757 U-758 U-759 U-760 U-761 U-762 U-763 U-764 U-765 U-766 U-767 U-768 U-771 U-772 U-773 U-774 U-775 U-776 U-777 U-778 U-779 U-821 U-822 U-825 U-826 U-901 U-903 U-904 U-905 U-907 U-921 U-922 U-923 U-924 U-925 U-926 U-927 U-928 U-951 U-952 U-953 U-954 U-955 U-956 U-957 U-958 U-959 U-960 U-961 U-962 U-963 U-964 U-965 U-966 U-967 U-968 U-969 U-970 U-971 U-972 U-973 U-974 U-975 U-976 U-977 U-978 U-979 U-980 U-981 U-982 U-983 U-984 U-985 U-986 U-987 U-988 U-989 U-990 U-991 U-992 U-993 U-994 U-1051 U-1052 U-1053 U-1054 U-1055 U-1056 U-1057 U-1058 U-1101 U-1102 U-1131 U-1132 U-1161 U-1162 U-1191 U-1192 U-1193 U-1194 U-1195 U-1196 U-1197 U-1198 U-1199 U-1200 U-1201 U-1202 U-1203 U-1204 U-1205 U-1206 U-1207 U-1208 U-1209 U-1210
Type VIIC/41	U-292 U-293 U-294 U-295 U-296 U-297 U-298 U-299 U-300 U-317 U-318 U-319 U-320 U-321 U-322 U-323 U-324 U-325 U-326 U-327 U-328 U-691 U-827 U-828 U-929 U-930 U-995 U-997 U-998 U-999 U-1000 U-1001 U-1002 U-1003 U-1004 U-1005 U-1006 U-1007 U-1008 U-1009 U-1010 U-1011 U-1013 U-1014 U-1015 U-1016 U-1017 U-1018 U-1019 U-1020 U-1021 U-1022 U-1023 U-1024 U-1025 U-1063 U-1064 U-1065 U-1103 U-1104 U-1105 U-1106 U-1107 U-1108 U-1109 U-1110 U-1163 U-1164 U-1165 U-1166 U-1167 U-1168 U-1169 U-1170 U-1171 U-1172 U-1271 U-1272 U-1273 U-1274 U-1275 U-1276 U-1277 U-1278 U-1279 U-1301 U-1302 U-1303 U-1304 U-1305 U-1306 U-1307 U-1308
Type VIID	U-213 U-214 U-215 U-216 U-217 U-218
Type VIIF	U-1059 U-1060 U-1061 U-1062
Preceded by: Type II Followed by: Type IX List of U-boats of Germany

Service record

Use as a training boat

Sinking

See also

References

External links