| Career (Nazi Germany) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-752 |
| Ordered: | 9 October 1939 |
| Builder: | Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven |
| Laid down: | 5 January 1940 |
| Launched: | 29 March 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 24 May 1941 |
| Status: | Sank 23 May 1943 by air rocket attack in north Atlantic |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type VIIC submarine |
| Displacement: | 769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 67.1 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Draft: | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × supercharged Germaniawerft 6-cylinder 4-stroke M6V 40/46 diesel engines, totalling 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490 2 × electric motors, totalling 750 shp (560 kW) and max rpm: 296 |
| Speed: | 17.7 knots (20.4 mph; 32.8 km/h) surfaced 7.6 knots (8.7 mph; 14.1 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 15,170 km (8,190 nmi) at 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced 150 km (81 nmi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft) |
| Complement: | 44–52 officers & ratings |
| Armament: | • 5 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 1 stern) • 14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines • 1 × C35 88mm gun/L45 deck gun (220 rounds) • Various AA guns |
| Service record | |
| Part of: | Kriegsmarine 3rd U-boat Flotilla (training) 24 May 1941 - 1 August 1941 3rd U-boat Flotilla (Front Boat, 8 patrols) |
| Commanders: | Kptlt. Karl-Ernst Schroeter 24 May 1941 - 23 May 1943 |
| Operations: | 9 patrols |
| Victories: | 8 ships sunk for a total of 33,492 gross register tons (GRT) |
German submarine U-752 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for the German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She served with 3rd U-boat Flotilla from 24 May 1941 to 23 May 1943 under the command of Karl-Ernst Schroeter.[1]. U-752 completed nine[2] wartime patrols and sank eight ships totalling 33,492 GRT, and damaged one for a total of 4,799 GRT.
Thirty-two days into her ninth patrol, on 23 May 1943, U-752 was attacked by Fairey Swordfish aircraft attached to the British escort carrier HMS Archer in the mid-Atlantic. A Rocket Spear, a new weapon with a solid cast iron head[3], entered and left the pressure hull leaving large holes, and the U-boat went down with twenty-nine crew members, including her commander. Of the forty-six crewmen aboard, seventeen survived the sinking. This was the first success of the Rocket Spear.