Unterseeboot 512
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| U-512 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | IXC
|
||
| Launch Date | October 9, 1941 | ||
| Commission Date | December 20, 1941 | ||
| Construction yard | Deutschewerft, Hamburg | ||
| Patrols | |||
| Start Date | End Date | Assigned Unit | |
| August 15, 1942 | October 2, 1942 | 10th Flotilla | |
| Commanders | |||
| December, 1941 | October, 1942 | Kptlt. Wolfgang Schultze | |
| Successes | |||
| Type of Ship Sunk | Number of Ships Sunk | Gross Registered Tonnage | |
| Commercial Vessels | 3 | 20,619 | |
| Military Vessels | None | 0 | |
Unterseeboot 512 (usually abbreviated to U-512) was a German Type IXC U-boat of the Kriegsmarine built for service in the Second Battle of the Atlantic. Although she was short lived, U-512 was a quite successful boat, making full use of the time she enjoyed in the entrance to the Caribbean Sea, during the Second happy time. She was commanded by Kptlt. Wolfgang Schultze, an admiral's son and previously training captain of U-17.
She was built during 1941 by the Deutschewerft shipyards in Hamburg, and work on her was completed in December, ready for her working-up period in the Baltic Sea to train her crew and iron out any engineering problems. Following this, she was detailed to cross the Atlantic Ocean and operate off the northern coast of South America in order to catch unescorted allied shipping heading for or leaving the Panama Canal.
[edit] War Patrol
Departing from Kiel on the 15 August 1942, U-512 headed into the Atlantc and then to the south-west, arriving in her designated patrol zone by the second week in September. She was almost immediately successful, sinking the slow, unescorted 10,000 ton American tanker SS Patrick J. Hurley with her deck guns, claiming 17 lives. [1] A week later, a second ship was found, the lone Spanish frieghter SS Monte Gorbea, which was sunk with 52 lives despite her neutral status. This act would undoubtably have led to Schultze's court-martial, had he returned from the patrol [2]. U-512's final victory came on the 24 September, when another American ship, the 6,000 ton SS Antionus was sunk by two torpedoes off Venezuela [3].
On the 2 October, while still lurking off the South American coast, U-512 was spotted by a B-18 Bolo aircraft belonging to the 99th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Force off Cayenne. the aircraft flew low and dropped her bombload directly on the boat, sinking her and 51 of her crew instantly. Only one man, Matrosengefreiter Franz Machen of U-512 escaped the boat and was rescued from his raft by USS Ellis ten days later.
[edit] Raiding career
| Date | Ship | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 September 1942 | SS Patrick J Hurley | American | 10,865 | Sunk |
| 19 September 1942 | SS Monte Gorbea | Spanish | 3,720 | Sunk |
| 24 September 1942 | SS Antionus | American | 6,034 | Sunk |
[edit] References
- Sharpe, Peter, U-Boat Fact File, Midland Publishing, Great Britain: 1998. ISBN 185780072.
- U-boat.net webpage for U-512
- ^ http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/2154.html
- ^ http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/2185.html
- ^ http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/2208.html
See Also: List of U-boats
