| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-515 |
| Ordered: | 14 February 1940 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werft, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 311 |
| Laid down: | 8 May 1941 |
| Launched: | 2 December 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 21 February 1942 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 9 April 1944 |
| 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) o/a 58.7 m (192 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.8 m (22 ft 4 in) o/a 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, 4,400 hp (3,300 kW) 2 × SSW GU345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (750 kW) |
| Speed: | 18.2 knots (33.7 km/h) surfaced 7.7 knots (14.3 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 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedoes • 1 × Utof 105 mm/45 deck gun (110 rounds) • AA guns |
| Service record[1][2] | |
| Part of: | 4th U-boat Flotilla (21 February–31 August 1942) 10th U-boat Flotilla (1 September 1942–9 April 1944) |
| Commanders: | Kptlt. Werner Henke (21 February 1942–9 April 1944) |
| Operations: | 1st patrol: 15 August–14 October 1942 2nd patrol: 7 November 1942–6 January 1943 3rd patrol: 21 February–24 June 1943 4th patrol: 21–22 August 1943 5th patrol: 29 August–12 September 1943 6th patrol: 9 November 1943–14 January 1944 7th patrol: 30 March–9 April 1944 |
| Victories: | 21 commercial ships sunk (131,769 GRT) 2 auxiliary warships sunk (19,277 GRT) 1 commercial ship damaged (6,034 GRT) 1 warship damaged (1,920 GRT) 1 commercial ship a total loss (4,668 GRT) 1 warship a total loss (1,350 GRT) |
German submarine U-515 was a Type IXC U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II. She was commissioned in 1942 and sunk in 1944. U-515 completed six operational patrols and sank 23 ships, badly damaged two ships which later sank, and damaged two additional ships.
Contents |
The keel of U-515 was laid down on 8 May 1941 at Deutsche Werft AG in Hamburg, Germany, was launched on 2 December 1941, commissioned on 21 February 1942 under the command of Kptlt. Werner Henke, and attached to 4th U-boat Flotilla for training. During training U-515 conducted listening tests in early May, torpedo firing tests, and in early July tactical exercises with other U-boats. U-515 served with the 4th Flotilla until 31 August 1942.
On 1 September 1942 U-515 was assigned to an operational submarine unit, 10th U-boat Flotilla.
U-515 left Stettin on 8 September 1942 stopping at Kiel to top-off with fuel. On 11 September U-515 left Kiel for her first patrol; during which she sank nine ships, and damaged one other.[3]
On 20 October U-515 returned to her base at Lorient, France.[2]
On 7 November U-515 left Lorient for her second patrol. While patrolling the African coast, on the night of 11 November, she attacked a British depot ship (probably HMS Hecla, which was attacked on 11 November and sank on 12 November), and was subsequently depth-charged by a British destroyer (probably HMS Venomous). While patrolling the mid-Atlantic on 6 December the U-boat spotted and sank the passenger ship SS Ceramic. U-515 patrolled the Azores for about a week, then returned to Lorient on 5 or 6 January 1943.[4]
Minor repairs were carried out, and on 20 February 1943, the U-boat left Lorient for her third patrol. While patrolling the West coast of Africa, on 4 March U-515 sank the British freighter, SS California Star and on 9 March U-515 sank a second ship, the French freighter Bamako. On 29 April the U-boat was attacked by Catalina flying-boats. U-515 fired at the aircraft with her 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, but did not shoot any aircraft down. The aircraft did not cause any damage to U-515, and she submerged after the attack. During a 12-hour period on the night of 30 April and 1 May, U-515 attacked convoy TS 37 off Freetown and sank seven ships:
A few days after the attack on convoy TS 37, U-515 was re-supplied with fuel and torpedoes by U-460. She continued on her patrol and on 9 May sank the Norwegian freighter Cornville with torpedoes. On 23 June, U-515 completed her third patrol, returning to Lorient.[5] In recognition of a successful patrol, all crewmen were given long leaves and many awarded the Iron Cross, Second class.
Extensive repairs and modifications were carried out at Lorient. The after part of the bridge was expanded and equipped with 20mm anti-aircraft cannon and a 37mm flak gun. She also carried four T5 Zaunkönig acoustic homing torpedoes.[6] U-515 left Lorient on 29 August to patrol the west coast of Africa. About one week into her patrol U-515 spotted a convoy off the Azores and started to attack; however, she was detected by a convoy escort and badly damaged by depth charges, which forced her to return to base for repairs, reaching Lorient on 12 September.[7]
Repairs took six weeks and were completed by late October. On 1 November 1943, U-515 left Lorient, stopping at St. Nazaire to pick up two T5 Zaunkönig torpedoes, which were designed to zigzag to improve their chances of finding a target within a convoy. U-515 left St. Nazaire on 9 November and started patrolling off the Azores and Portuguese coast. On the morning of 18 November, she spotted a convoy, but was in turn spotted by aircraft. The U-boat submerged, but was detected by destroyers. Three destroyers depth-charged U-515 for several hours and caused major damage. The main ballast tank and reserve oil tank were ruptured; several batteries, the electronics, and the forward hydroplane motor were also damaged. U-515 fired a T-5 acoustic torpedo at one of the destroyers, HMS Chanticleer (U05), damaging it beyond repair.[6] Several more attacks were made and U-515 had nearly run out of air when the attacks finally stopped, and she was finally able to surface. Despite extensive damage, the crew decided to make repairs at sea,[8] which were completed on 22 November. U-515 started to patrol the west coast of Africa and, on 17 December, torpedoed and sank the British freighter Kingswood. Two days later she sank another ship, the British freighter Phemus. While returning to base, she sank the British freighter MV Dumana on 24 December.[6] On 16 January 1944 U-515 reached Lorient. As she was sailing into port, two British Mosquito bombers were spotted, but anti-aircraft fire from the U-boat's 2-cm guns drove them away.[9]
Major repairs were carried out on U-515, including installation of new batteries. Repairs were completed by late March and on 30 March 1944, she left Lorient. On 8 April U-515 spotted a carrier-based aircraft and submerged; an hour later she surfaced and was attacked by another aircraft. U-515 fired at the aircraft with her 3.7-cm anti-aircraft guns. The aircraft's bombs missed U-515, and U-515 failed to shoot down the aircraft, then again submerged.
On 9 April U-515 was attacked north of Madeira by destroyers USS Pope, Pillsbury, Chatelain and Flaherty. Flooding and loss of depth control forced the U-Boat to the surface, where she was sunk by rockets fired from Avenger and Wildcat aircraft and gunfire from the destroyers.[6]
Sixteen of U-515's crew were killed, but 44 survived the attack.[10] The survivors were picked up by the destroyers and later transferred to the USS Guadalcanal.[11] The commander of U-515, Werner Henke, was among the survivors. Later, in June 1944, he was shot and killed trying to escape a secret interrogation center known as P. O. Box 1142 in Fort Hunt, Virginia, while being held as a prisoner of war.[6]
During U-515's career, she sank 23 ships and damaged two others which later sank, plus damaging another two ships which did not sink. Of the 25 total ships sunk, 21 were freighters totaling 131,769 gross register tons (GRT); two warships totaling 19,277 GRT; one freighter which later sunk totaling 4,668 GRT; and one warship which later sunk totaling 1,350 tons.[12] U-515 also damaged one freighter totaling 6,034 GRT and damaged one warship totaling 1,920 tons.[12]
|
||||||||