| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-172 |
| Ordered: | 23 December 1939 |
| Builder: | AG Weser, Bremen |
| Yard number: | 1012 |
| Laid down: | 11 December 1940 |
| Launched: | 31 July 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 5 November 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 13 December 1943 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type IXC submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,120 t (1,100 long tons) surfaced 1,232 t (1,213 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 76.8 m (252 ft 0 in) overall 58.7 m (192 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.8 m (22 ft 4 in) overall 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in) |
| Draft: | 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × MAN M9V40/46 supercharged 9-cylinder diesel engines, 4,000 hp (2,983 kW) 2 × SSW GU345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (746 kW) |
| Speed: | 18.2 knots (33.7 km/h) surfaced 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 24,880 nmi (46,080 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) surfaced 117 nmi (217 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Complement: | 48 to 56 |
| Armament: | 6 × torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern) 22 × 55 cm (22 in) torpedoes 1 × Utof 105 mm/45 deck gun (110 rounds) |
| Service record | |
| Part of: | 4th U-boat Flotilla (November 1941–April 1942) 10th U-boat Flotilla (May 1942–December 1943) Attached to Wolf pack Eisbär (August 1942) |
| Commanders: | Kptlt. Carl Emmermann (5 November 1941–31 October 1943) Oblt. Hermann Hoffmann (1 November 1943–13 December 1943) |
| Victories: | 26 commercial vessels (152,778 GRT) |
German submarine U-172 was a Type IXC U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II.
Contents |
Commissioned on 5 November 1941, U-172 was first assigned to 4th U-boat Flotilla for training, and on 1 May 1942 was assigned to 10th U-boat Flotilla, an operational long-range flotilla. U-172 completed six patrols, and was very successful sinking 26 ships totalling 152,778 gross register tons (GRT). Her victims included the British troopship SS Orcades, sunk on 10 October 1942, and the SS Benlomond, on November 22, 1942. The only survivor of the attack on the Benlomond, Poon Lim, survived 133 days in the South Atlantic in a Carley float liferaft. Poon received a British Empire Medal from King George VI for this feat.
U-172 was sunk on 13 December 1943, in the mid-Atlantic west of the Canary Islands by Avenger and Wildcat aircraft from the escort carrier USS Bogue (CVE-9), and the destroyers George E. Badger (DD-196), Clemson (DD-186), Osmond Ingram (DD-255) and Du Pont (DD-152). The battle between U-172 and the small armada of ships and aircraft lasted for 27 hours and as many as 200 depth charges were dropped by the destroyers. Thirteen of U-172's crew were killed and 46 survived the sinking.
|
||||||||