| Career (Nazi Germany) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-553 |
| Ordered: | 25 September 1939 |
| Builder: | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 529 |
| Laid down: | 21 November 1939 |
| Launched: | 7 November 1940 |
| Commissioned: | 23 December 1940 |
| Fate: | Missing, presumed sunk, in the mid North Atlantic on 20 January 1943. All hands lost. |
| 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 7th U-boat Flotilla (Training) 1940-12-23 7th U-boat Flotilla (Front Boat) |
| Identification codes: | M 23 789 |
| Commanders: | Kptlt. Karl Thurmann 1940-12-23 — 1943-01-20 |
| Operations: | 10 patrols |
| Victories: | 14 ships sunk for a total of 71,779 gross register tons (GRT) 1 ship damaged for a total of 8,106 GRT |
German submarine U-553 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for the German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II.
Contents |
Her keel was laid down 21 November 1939, by Blohm + Voss of Hamburg. She was commissioned 23 December 1940, with Kapitänleutnant Karl Thurmann in command. Thurmann commanded her for her entire career.
On 25 April 1941 major engine trouble forced U-553 to return to base.
On 20 January 1943, U-553 sent a radio message: "Sehrohr unklar" (periscope unready for action), and was never heard from again. She had suffered no casualties to her crew until lost with all hands.
U-553 conducted ten patrols, sinking 14 ships totalling 71,779 tons and damaging one other totalling 8,106 tons.
Neal Stephenson's novel Cryptonomicon includes a fictitious U-553 which runs aground about ten miles north of Qwghlm, a fictional pair of islands, Inner Qwghlm and Outer Qwghlm, off the northwestern coast of Great Britain.