German submarine U-85 (1941)

For other ships of the same name, see German submarine U-85.
Career
Name: U-85
Ordered: 9 June 1938
Builder: Flender Werke, Lübeck
Yard number: 281
Laid down: 18 December 1939
Launched: 10 April 1941
Commissioned: 7 June 1941
Fate: Sunk, 14 April 1942
General characteristics
Class and type: Type VIIB U-boat
Displacement: Surfaced 753 tons tons
submerged 857 tons
Length: Overall 66.6 m
pressure hull 48.8 m
Beam: Overall 6.2 m
pressure hull 4.7 m
Draught: 4.74 m
Propulsion: Surfaced: two supercharged MAN, 6 cylinder, 4-stroke M6V 40/46 diesels totalling 2,800 - 3,200bhp(2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490.
Speed: Surfaced 17.9 knot (33 km/h)
submerged 8 knot (15 km/h)
Range: Surfaced: 16,095 km
submerged: 175 km
Test depth: 230 m (754 ft). Calculated crush depth: 250-295 m (820-967 ft)
Complement: 44 to 48 officers & ratings
Armament: • 5 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes: 4 bow, 1 stern
• 14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines
• 1 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) deck gun with 220 rounds
• 1 × C30 20 mm AA
Service record
Part of: 3rd U-boat Flotilla
(7 June 1941–14 April 1942)
Commanders: Oblt. Eberhard Greger
(7 June 1941–14 April 1942)
Operations: 1st patrol: 28 August–18 September 1941
2nd patrol: 16 October–27 November 1941
3rd patrol: 8 January–23 February 1942
4th patrol: 21 March–14 April 1942
Victories: 3 commercial ships sunk (15,060 GRT)

German submarine U-85 was a Type VIIB U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II.

Commissioned on 7 June 1941, and assigned to the 3rd U-boat Flotilla, U-85 completed four war patrols with the flotilla, and sank three ships totalling 15,060 gross register tons (GRT). U-85 was sunk with all hands on 14 April 1942 off the United States coast near Cape Hatteras by gunfire from the destroyer USS Roper (DD-147). U-85 was the first German U-boat loss of "Operation Drumbeat" (Paukenschlag), Germany's U-boat offensive off the eastern seaboard of the United States in 1942.

Contents

Sunk by USS Roper

U-85 was operating within visual distance of Bodie Island Light at midnight on 13 April 1942 when Roper detected the submarine on British Type 286 RADAR at a range of 2,700 yards (2,500 m). U-85 attempted to run south on the surface and fired its stern torpedo at Roper when range closed to 700 yards. Roper evaded the torpedo and U-85 turned sharply to starboard when the range closed to 300 yards. Roper illuminated U-85 with searchlight and observed men on deck near the gun whose firing arc had just been cleared by the course change. Roper raked U-85 with machine gun fire and scored a hit with a 3"/50 caliber gun. Roper then dropped a pattern of 11 depth charges where U-85 disappeared below the surface.[1]

Numerous men were observed in the water, but no rescue attempt was made until daylight. By then, there were no survivors among the 29 bodies floating in life jackets. Some of the bodies were wearing civilian clothes carrying wallets with United States currency and identification cards.[2] The bodies were fingerprinted, photographed, and buried in a night-time military ceremony at the Hampton National Cemetery. U-85 lies in less than 100 feet of water; and the United States Navy briefly attempted salvage.[1] More recent investigation by sport divers has raised questions about Navy reports of the wreck.[3]

Wreck

The hatch of the U-85 is on display in the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse visitor center, and the sub itself still serves as an attraction for divers.[4] The Enigma machine was illegally recovered from the wreck by private divers and in 2003 the German government agreed to allow the machine to be displayed at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, in Hatteras, North Carolina.[5]

Raiding career

Date Ship[6] Nationality Tonnage Fate
10 September 1941 Thistleglen  UK 4,748 Sunk
9 February 1942 Empire Fusilier  UK 5,408 Sunk
10 April 1942 Chr. Knudsen  Norway 4,904 Sunk

References

Notes
  1. ^ a b Rouse, Parke, Jr., "Under the Cloak of Night", United States Naval Institute Proceedings, June 1982, pp.74-75
  2. ^ Rouse suggests U-85 had been preparing to launch a raft of spies when discovered by Roper.
  3. ^ Blair, Clay, Jr. Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939-1942 Random House (1996) p.543
  4. ^ Wreck of the U-85
  5. ^ Miles Hadley, Naval Historical Center. Home Found for "Enigmatic" WW II U-boat Relic. 5 April 2003.
  6. ^ "Ships hit by U-85 - U-boat Successes - German U-boats - uboat.net". uboat.net. http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u85.html. Retrieved 2009-08-28. 
Bibliography

See also

External links