Unterseeboot 2322

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

U-2322
Type		XXIII
Launch Date		April 30, 1944
Commission Date		July 1, 1944
Construction yard		Deutsche Werft, Hamburg
Patrols
Start Date	End Date	Assigned Unit
No Patrols		4th Flotilla
No Patrols		32nd Flotilla
February 6, 1945	March 3, 1945	11th Flotilla
April 4, 1945	April 30, 1945	11th Flotilla
Commanders
March, 1944	May, 1945	Kptlt. Fridtjof Heckel
Successes
Type of Ship Sunk	Number of Ships Sunk	Gross Registered Tonnage
Commercial Vessels	1	1,317
Military Vessels	None	0

Unterseeboot 2322, or more commonly U-2322 was a highly advanced German Type XXIII submarine built for the Kriegsmarine in 1944. U-2322 was one of just a few such boats to undertake an operational patrol, and one of just three to undergo two. During these patrols, she succeeded in sinking a single British freighter, one of just five ships sunk by this submarine class.

U-2321 was built at Hamburg in just four months, being ready by July 1944. As a prototype of a new class of boats, she was not ready for active service until 1945, as there were numerous engineering difficulties to contend with and the crew had to be trained to manage the new boat and new operational tactics practised and decided on. When she was finally ready for a war patrol in February 1945, it was more as an experiment into the abilities of the boat than a real attempt to damage allied shipping.

1 War Patrol
2 Raiding career
3 References
4 See also

[edit] War Patrol

Leaving Horten in Norway on the 6 February, U-2322 proceeded to the East coast of Scotland, particularly in the area of St Abbs Head, where lone coastal shipping sometimes passed, believing that German U-boats would not bother waiting in such a dangerous spot for such insignificant prey. This plan finally worked on the 25 February, when the 1,300 ton coastal cruiser SS Egholm was sunk by a torpedo ^[1]. This first and only success for U-2322 was achieved in the dark off Holy Island. The rest of this patrol was unsuccessful.

The second patrol, off East Anglia in April was totally fruitless, powerful allied escorts and well-organised convoys effectively cutting off the small U-boats from their potential targets. The only advantage gained in these patrols was that no XXIII type boat was lost in the North Sea, all losses coming in German waters from indirect sources like accident, bombing raids and naval mines.

When Germany surrendered, U-2322 was at Stavanger in Norway, from where it sailed to Loch Ryan in Scotland for disposal in Operation Deadlight. Towed out to sea on the 27 November, the unmaintained and rusting boat was destroyed as a naval gunnery target.