Unterseeboot 978
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| Career (Nazi Germany) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Unterseeboot 978 |
| Builder: | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg |
| Laid down: | 24 July 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 12 May 1943 |
| Fate: | sunk on 11 December 1945 during Operation Deadlight. |
| Class and type: | Type VIIC |
| Service record | |
| Part of | Kriegsmarine: 5. Unterseebootsflottille 3. Unterseebootsflottille 11.Unterseebootsflottille |
| Victories | 1 ship damaged ; 7,176 gross register tons (GRT) |
Unterseeboot 978 or U-978 was a World War II German Type VIIC submarine operated by the Kriegsmarine. U-978 holds the distiniction of having completed the longest underwater patrol of World War II.
U-978 was commissioned on 12 May 1943 and assigned to 5. Unterseebootsflottille (German submarine flotilla) for crew training. On 1 August 1944, U-978 was assigned to 3. Unterseebootsflottille for operational service, U-978 completed one patrol with 3. Unterseebootsflottille, on 4 September 1944 she was ordered to 11. Unterseebootsflottille. On 5 September U-978 began service with 11. Unterseebootsflottille, during her second war patrol, U-978 completed the longest underwater Schnorchel patrol of World War II, lasting 68-Days[1]. The record-breaking patrol began on 9 October 1944 when U-978 left Bergen, Norway and ended on 16 December when she returned back to Bergen from her patrol. Note that the famed underwater patrol of U-977, during her surrender to Argentina, was not the longest, as sometimes stated, it lasted 66-days. During her two patrols U-978, did not sink any ships, but damaged one ship beyond repair, which totalled 7,176 GRT. U-978 survived the war as did her whole crew, U-978 was sunk on 11 December 1945 during Operation Deadlight by torpedoes at location .
[edit] Notes
- ^ Bishop, p.116.
[edit] References
- Bishop, C. Kriegsmarine U-Boats, 1939 –45. Amber Books, 2006.
- uboat.net. Retrieved, 14 February 2007.
