U-530 after surrender at Mar del Plata Naval Base |
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| Career (Nazi Germany) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-530 |
| Ordered: | 15 August 1940 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werft AG, Hamburg-Finkenwerder |
| Laid down: | 8 December 1941 |
| Launched: | 28 July 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 14 October 1942 |
| Fate: | Surrendered in Mar del Plata, Argentina, 10 July 1945 Sunk during tests on 28 November 1947 by a torpedo from USS Toro |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type IXC/40 submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,120 t (1,100 long tons) surfaced 1,232 t (1,213 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 76.8 m (252 ft) overall 58.7 m (192 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.9 m (22 ft 8 in) overall 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × MAN M9V40/46 supercharged 9-cylinder diesel engines, 4,400 hp (3,300 kW) 2 × SSW GU345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (740 kW) |
| Speed: | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) surfaced 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 25,620 nmi (47,450 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 117 nmi (217 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Complement: | 48 to 56 |
| Armament: | 6 × 55 cm (22 in) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern) 22 × torpedoes & 44 TMA mines 1 × Utof 105 mm (4.1 in)/45 deck gun with 110 rounds |
| Service record | |
| Part of: | 4th U-boat Flotilla (14 October 1942–28 February 1943) 10th U-boat Flotilla (1 March 1943–30 September 1944) 33rd U-boat Flotilla (1 October 1944–8 May 1945) |
| Commanders: | Kptlt. Kurt Lange (14 October 1942–January 1945) Oblt. Otto Wermuth (January 1945–10 July 1945) |
| Operations: | 7 patrols |
| Victories: | 2 ships sunk for a total of 12,063 GRT 1 ship damaged for a total of 10,195 GRT |
German submarine U-530 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II.
U-530 was commissioned on 14 October 1942, and served with 4th U-boat Flotilla for training, then 10th U-boat Flotilla from 1 March 1943 to 30 September 1944, and 33rd U-boat Flotilla from 1 October 1944 to 8 May 1945. U-530 completed seven war patrols sinking two ships totalling 12,063 gross register tons (GRT) and damaging one ship totalling 10,195 GRT. She surrendered in Mar del Plata, Argentina on 10 July 1945.
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On 22 May 1944 the U-530 left Lorient, France for operations in the Trinidad area. On her outward voyage she was to rendezvous with the Japanese submarine I-52 and supply the larger boat with a Naxos radar detector, radar operator, and a German navigator to help the I-52 complete her journey.
The submarines rendezvoused on 23 June in mid-Atlantic, 850 mi (1,370 km) west of the Cape Verde Islands. U-530 then headed for Trinidad, finally returning to base after 133 days at sea. The Allies had been informed of the rendezvous and directed the escort carrier Bogue (CVE-9) to the scene; her aircraft managed to sink the I-52 with an acoustic torpedo.[1]
U-530 did not initially surrender at war's end, as ordered by Admiral Dönitz, instead the crew headed for Argentina and ultimately surrendered on 10 July 1945 at Mar del Plata.
Her captain, Oberleutnant Otto Wermuth, had decided to surrender at Mar del Plata. He did not explain why it had taken him more than two months to reach there, nor why the submarine had jettisoned its deck gun, or why the crew carried no identification, nor what had happened to the ship's log.
The unexpected arrival of the U-530 started many rumors. Brazilian Admiral Jorge Dodsworth Martins said he believed that the U-530 could have sunk the cruiser Bahia, while Brazilian Admiral Dudal Teixeira believed that the U-530 had come from Japan. An Argentine reporter claimed that he had seen a Buenos Aires provincial police report to the effect that a strange submarine had surfaced off the lower Argentine coast and had landed a high-ranking officer and a civilian who might have been Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun in disguise.[2] U-977 was also accused of sinking the Bahia; an inquiry eventually found that she had been sunk due to a gunnery accident.[3]
The Argentine Naval Ministry issued an official communique in which they stated that the U-530 was not responsible for the sinking of the Bahia; no Nazi leader or high military officers were aboard; and the U-530 had landed no one on the coast of Argentina before surrendering.[2]
The crew of the U-530 were interned, and then transferred to the United States for trials. She was sunk as a target on 28 November 1947 by a torpedo from Toro (SS-422).
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