USS U-2513 off Key West, October 1946 |
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| Career (Germany) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-2513 |
| Ordered: | 6 November 1943 |
| Builder: | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 2513 |
| Laid down: | 19 July 1944 |
| Launched: | 14 September 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 12 October 1944 |
| Fate: | Surrendered, 8 May 1945 |
| Career (USA) | |
| Name: | USS U-2513 |
| Acquired: | August 1945 |
| In service: | September 1946 |
| Out of service: | July 1949 |
| Fate: | Sunk as target, 7 October 1951 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type XXI submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,621 long tons (1,647 t) surfaced 1,819 long tons (1,848 t) submerged |
| Length: | 251 ft 9 in (76.73 m) |
| Beam: | 21 ft 9 in (6.63 m) |
| Draft: | 20 ft 3 in (6.17 m) |
| Propulsion: | Diesel-electric Diesel engines, 4,000 hp (2,983 kW) Electric motors, 4,400 hp (3,281 kW) |
| Speed: | 16 knots (18 mph; 30 km/h) |
| Range: | 25,000 km (13,000 nmi) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) surfaced 550 km (300 nmi) at 5 kn (5.8 mph; 9.3 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: | 280 m (920 ft) |
| Complement: | 57 |
| Armament: | • 6 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes • 4 × 20 mm guns |
German submarine U-2513 was a Type XXI U-boat of the Kriegsmarine, that was operated by the United States Navy for several years after World War II.
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Her keel was laid down on 19 July 1944 by Blohm + Voss of Hamburg. She was commissioned on 12 October 1944 with Kapitänleutnant Hans Bungards in command. Bungards was relieved on 27 April 1945 by Fregattenkapitän Erich Topp, who commanded the boat for less than two weeks.
U-2513 conducted no war patrols. On 8 May 1945, Topp surrendered his command at Horten, Norway. U-2513 was taken to Oslo on 20 May, then to Lishally, Northern Ireland, which she reached on 7 June. In August 1945, the U-boat was transferred to the United States.
A year later, August 1946, U-2513 began an extensive overhaul in Charleston, South Carolina, which was completed late in September. On 24 September, she departed Charleston and headed for Key West, Florida. The following day, she began six months of duty which included both evaluation tests of the U-boat's design and duty in conjunction with the development of submarine and antisubmarine tactics. The Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program (GUPPY) would be initiated because of the results of these tests.
On 21 November 1946 President Harry S. Truman became the first American President to travel on a submarine when he visited U-2513. The sub went 440 feet (130 m) below the surface with the President onboard, and a demonstration was made to him of the German schnorchel (a specialized submarine snorkel).[1]
On 15 March 1947, U-2513 headed north from Key West, Florida, bound for the New England coast, and arrived at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 22 March. She remained there until 8 September when she began six weeks of operations out of Portsmouth and New London, Connecticut, under the auspices of the Commander, Submarines, Atlantic Fleet. She concluded that duty on 15 October and departed New London to return to Key West. U-2513 resumed her old duties at Key West five days later and continued them until the summer of 1949.
In mid-June 1949, the submarine moved from Key West, Florida, north via Norfolk, Virginia, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she was placed out of service in July 1949. She remained at Portsmouth until August 1951 at which time she returned to Key West. On 2 September 1951, the Chief of Naval Operations ordered that the boat be sunk by gunfire. U-2513 was sunk west of Key West, Florida during rocket tests by the destroyer USS Robert A. Owens (DD-827) on 7 October 1951.
The final resting place of U-2513 is about 23 miles northeast of the Dry Tortugas (70 miles west of Key West) in about 213 feet (65 m) of water at .[2] She is reachable only by divers experienced in decompression diving at that depth. The site is rarely dived on due to its depth and remote location.
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