Insignia of U-766 |
|
| Career (Germany) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-766 |
| Ordered: | 15 August 1940 |
| Builder: | Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven |
| Yard number: | 149 |
| Laid down: | 1 March 1941 |
| Launched: | 29 May 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 30 July 1943 |
| Fate: | Decommissioned 24 August 1944 Surrendered 8 May 1945. Transferred to French Navy |
| Career (France) | |
| Name: | Laubie |
| Namesake: | Louis Laubie |
| Acquired: | 8 May 1945 |
| Commissioned: | 1946 |
| In service: | 1946 |
| Out of service: | 1961 |
| Fate: | Broken up, 1963 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and 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) |
| Beam: | 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) |
| Draught: | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
| Propulsion: | Diesel-electric |
| 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) |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Armament: | • 1 × C35 88 mm/L45 deck gun with 220 rounds • 5 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 1 stern) |
German submarine U-766 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was later incorporated in the French Navy, where she served as Laubie.
Contents |
U-766 was launched in Wilhelmshaven on 29 May 1943, and was commissioned on 30 July 1943 under the command Oberleutnant Hans-Dietrich Wilke. She was part of the 8th U-boat Flotilla for training until 29 February 1944, when she was transferred to the frontline in the 6th U-boat flotilla.[1]
She sailed five uneventful patrols.[2]
She was de-commissioned at La Rochelle on 24 August 1944, and was surrendered on 8 May 1945.
In May 1945 U-766 was transferred to France and brought into French service under captain Brunet. She was in a poor shape, and pieces of U-415 were used to repair her. In the process, she was also fitted with a snorkel. Her trials were accomplished by a mostly German crew composed of war prisoners, with Wilke acting as first officer.[3]
U-766 was commissioned in 1946 as Laubie (pennant number S610), in honour of Louis Laubie, an engineer killed in the wreck of the submarine Protée.[4]
Laubie was transferred to Toulon. On 17 July 1950, Laubie was accidentally rammed by the frigate Surprise as she was emerging. She managed to surface and return to Casablanca with a heavily damaged sail.[4]
In 1956, Laubie took part in naval operations of the Suez crisis as a backup to Créole.[5] On 2 May 1960, Laubie was again rammed, this time by the liner Ville de Marseille, off Algiers. Her stern was damaged over 9 metres.[3] She sustained one last accident in September 1961, when she collided with Espadon at periscope depth. Severely damaged, Laubie was decommissioned, and broken up in 1963.[3]