| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-3505 |
| Ordered: | 6 November 1943 |
| Builder: | Schichau-Werke, Danzig |
| Yard number: | 1650 |
| Laid down: | 9 July 1944 |
| Launched: | 25 August 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 7 October 1944 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 3 April 1945 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type XXI submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,621 t (1,595 long tons) surfaced 2,100 t (2,067 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 76.7 m (251 ft 8 in) |
| Beam: | 8 m (26 ft 3 in) |
| Draught: | 5.3 m (17 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | Diesel/Electric 2 × MAN M6V40/46KBB supercharged 6-cylinder diesel engines, 4,000 PS (2.9 MW) 2 × SSW GU365/30 double-acting electric motors, 5,000 PS (3.7 MW) 2 × SSW GV232/28 silent running electric motors, 226 PS (0.166 MW) |
| Speed: | Surfaced: 15.6 kn (28.9 km/h) (diesel) 17.9 kn (33.2 km/h) (electric) Submerged: 17.2 kn (31.9 km/h) (electric) 6.1 kn (11.3 km/h) (silent running motors) |
| Range: | 15,500 nmi (28,700 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced 340 nmi (630 km) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h) submerged |
| Complement: | 57 officers and men |
| Armament: | • 6 × bow torpedo tubes • 23 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedoes (or 17 × torpedoes and 12 × mines) • 4 × 20 mm cannon |
| Service record[1] | |
| Part of: | 8th U-boat Flotilla (7 October 1944–15 February 1945) 5th U-boat Flotilla (16 February–3 May 1945) |
| Commanders: | Oblt. Horst Willner (7 October 1944–3 April 1945) |
| Operations: | None |
| Victories: | None |
German submarine U-3505 was a Type XXI U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 9 July 1944 at the Schichau-Werke yard at Danzig, launched on 25 August 1944, and commissioned on 7 October 1944 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Horst Willner.[1]
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Although never used in combat, the submarine achieved some degree of fame due to a rescue mission. Her commander, Captain Horst Willner, disguised his wife as a sailor and smuggled her aboard together with their three-month old baby (a crime punishable by death). The captain's family was originally to be evacuated on the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, joining a flood of refugees fleeing East Prussia ahead of the advancing Red Army, in "Operation Hannibal". Willner cancelled their places and took them onto his submarine, and so probably saved their lives since the Gustloff was sunk by the S-13 with the greatest loss of life in maritime history.
After leaving Danzig they went to Gotenhafen, where they took on board 110 children and adolescents. The refugees, including the captain's family, were safely delivered at Travemünde, Lübeck, on 2 April 1945.
Returning to Kiel U-3505 was to participate in torpedo exercises, but on 3 April was sunk in a bombing raid while in harbour. At least one sailor was killed.
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