German submarine U-402

Career (Germany)
Name: U-402
Ordered: 23 September 1939
Builder: Danziger Werft, Danzig
Yard number: Werk 103
Laid down: 22 April 1940
Launched: 28 December 1940[1]
Commissioned: 21 May 1941
Fate: Sunk on 13 October 1943 by Mark 24 FIDO Torpedo from TBF Avenger aircraft of USS Card (CVE-11)
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

German submarine U-402 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for the German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II.

U-402 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Siegfried von Forstner carried out eight combat patrols sinking 14 merchantmen and one warship during the Second World War. U-402 also damaged three other ships. For his numerous successes, von Forstner received the Iron Cross.

No ships were sunk during the first patrol from 26 October 1941 to 9 December 1941. On the second patrol U-402 damaged the 12,000-ton troopship Llangibby Castle off the Bay of Biscay on 16 January 1942, but the damaged troopship was able to make repairs in the Azores.[2]

U-402 sank the 4,753 ton Empire Antelope on 2 February 1942[3] en route to the Atlantic coast of the United States on its third patrol and then sank the 5300-ton Russian tanker Ashkabad and its escort, the 1000-ton converted yacht USS Cythera (PY-26) off Cape Hatteras on 2 May 1942.[4] During the fourth patrol, U-402 was depth charged by patrol bombers off Cape Hatteras in mid-July and suffered a battery explosion.[5] U-402 limped back to France on 5 August 1942.

U-402 torpedoed five ships from convoy SC-107 on its fifth patrol, seven ships from convoy SC-118 on its sixth patrol, and two ships from convoy SC-129 on its seventh patrol. U-402 was depth charged and damaged by the corvette HMS Gentian following the successful submerged daylight attack on convoy SC-129.[6]

U-402 shot down an attacking bomber over the Bay of Biscay following departure for its eighth patrol on 4 September 1943.[7] U-402 was sunk on 13 October 1943 by a Mark 24 FIDO Torpedo dropped by TBF Avenger aircraft from USS Card (CVE-11).[8]

Notes

  1. ^ Lenton 1976 p.180
  2. ^ Blair 1996 pp.489-492
  3. ^ "Empire - A". Mariners. http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/EmpireA.html. Retrieved 2008-11-21. 
  4. ^ Blair 1996 p.544
  5. ^ Waters December 1966 p.99
  6. ^ Blair 1998 p.329
  7. ^ Blair 1998 pp.420&762
  8. ^ Waters December 1966 p.105

References