| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-506 |
| Ordered: | 25 September 1939 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werft, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 296 |
| Laid down: | 11 July 1940 |
| Launched: | 20 June 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 15 September 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 12 July 1943 |
| 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 January 1942) 10th U-boat Flotilla (1 February 1942–12 July 1943) |
| Commanders: | Kptlt. Erich Würdemann (15 September 1941–12 July 1943) |
| Operations: | 1st patrol: 9–25 March 1942 2nd patrol: 6 April–15 June 1942 3rd patrol: 28 July–7 November 1942 4th patrol: 14 December 1942–8 May 1943 5th patrol: 6–12 July 1943 |
| Victories: | 14 commercial ships sunk (69,893 GRT) 3 commercial ships damaged (23,358 GRT) 1 commercial ship a total loss (6,821 GRT) |
German submarine U-506 was a Type IXC U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 11 July 1940 at the Deutsche Werft yard at Hamburg, launched on 20 June 1941, and commissioned on 15 September 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Erich Würdemann. After completing her training with 4th U-boat Flotilla based at Stettin, U-506 was transferred to 10th U-boat Flotilla for front-line service on 1 February 1942.[1]
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U-506 first departed Hamburg on 2 March 1942 and sailed to Heligoland,[2] leaving there on 9 March for her first patrol, which took her around the British Isles to Lorient, France, by 25 March.[3]
The U-boat sailed from Lorient on 6 April 1942, crossed the Atlantic, and entered the Gulf of Mexico to operate off the Mississippi River Delta against the crucial oil trade.[4] En route she sank a Nicaraguan merchant ship off the southern tip of Florida.[5] Between 10 and 20 May she sank three American oil tankers and a banana boat, and damaged four other oil tankers, one so badly it was declared a total loss. On the return journey she sank two British merchant ships off the Bahamas, finally returning to Lorient on 15 June.[4]
U-506 sailed from Lorient once again on 28 July 1942 and headed south to the coast of West Africa, operating against ships sailing from Freetown, Sierra Leone. There she sank five more merchant ships, four British, one Swedish. On the return journey the U-boat took part in the rescue operations after the sinking of the RMS Laconia, before returning to Lorient on 7 November after 103 days at sea.[6]
The U-boat sailed from Lorient on 14 December 1942 and again headed south, this time to the coast of South Africa, where she sank two merchant ships, one British, the other Norwegian, before returning to base on 8 May.[7]
U-506's final voyage began on 6 July 1943.[2] On 12 July the U-boat was attacked by a USAAF B-24 Liberator bomber of the 1st Anti-Submarine Squadron in the North Atlantic west of Vigo, Spain, in position . The U-boat was located by the aircraft's SC137 10 cm radar, which the Germans could not detect, and was attacked with seven depth charges. The U-boat broke in two, and about 15 men were seen in the water by the pilot, who dropped a liferaft and a smoke flare. Only six men were rescued by a British destroyer three days later.[1]
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