| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-157 |
| Ordered: | 25 September 1939 |
| Builder: | AG Weser, Bremen |
| Yard number: | 999 |
| Laid down: | 21 October 1940 |
| Launched: | 5 June 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 15 September 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 13 June 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type IXC submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,120 t (1,100 long tons) surfaced 1,232 t (1,213 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 76.8 m (252 ft 0 in) o/a 58.7 m (192 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.8 m (22 ft 4 in) o/a 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in) |
| Draft: | 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × MAN M9V40/46 supercharged 9-cylinder diesel engines, 4,400 hp (3,281 kW) 2 × SSW GU345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (746 kW) |
| Speed: | 18.2 knots (33.7 km/h) surfaced 7.7 knots (14.3 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 24,880 nmi (46,080 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) surfaced 117 nmi (217 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Complement: | 48 to 56 |
| Armament: | • 6 × torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern) • 22 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedoes • 1 × Utof 105 mm/45 deck gun (110 rounds) • AA guns |
| Service record[1][2] | |
| Part of: | 4th U-boat Flotilla (15 September 1941–31 May 1942) 2nd U-boat Flotilla (1–13 June 1942) |
| Commanders: | KrvKpt. Wolf Henne (15 September 1941–13 June 1942) |
| Operations: | 1st patrol: 30 April–10 May 1942 2nd patrol: 18 May–13 June 1942 |
| Victories: | 1 commercial ship sunk (6,401 GRT) |
German submarine U-157 was a Type IXC U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 21 October 1940 at the AG Weser yard at Bremen, launched on 5 June 1941, and commissioned on 15 September 1941 under the command of Korvettenkapitän Wolf Henne. After training with 4th U-boat Flotilla, U-157 was transferred to 2nd U-boat Flotilla for front-line service on 3 June 1942.[1]
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U-157 sailed from Kiel on 30 April 1942, around the British Isles, and arrived at Lorient, France, eleven days later on 10 May.[3]
The U-boat left Lorient on 18 May 1942 and sailed across the Atlantic to the Caribbean Sea.[4] There, on 11 June, she torpedoed and sank the unescorted 6,401-ton American tanker Hagan about five miles off the north coast of Cuba. The tanker, loaded with 22,676 barrels of blackstrap molasses, was hit in the engine room, destroying the engines and causing at least one boiler to explode. About a minute later a second torpedo struck, and the tanker began to sink by the stern. The crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats, but two officers and four crewmen were lost. The boats, containing 38 men, both landed in Cuba.[5]
U-157 was sunk two days later, on 13 June, south-west of Key West, in position , by depth charges from the US Coast Guard cutter USS Thetis. All 52 crew were lost.[1]
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