| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-523 |
| Ordered: | 14 February 1940 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werft, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 338 |
| Laid down: | 4 August 1941 |
| Launched: | 15 April 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 25 June 1942 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 25 August 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) 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 (3,281 kW) 2 × SSW GU345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (746 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 (25 June 1942–31 January 1943) 10th U-boat Flotilla (1 February–25 August 1943) |
| Commanders: | Kptlt. Werner Pietzsch (25 June 1942–25 August 1943) |
| Operations: | 1st patrol: 9 February–16 April 1943 2nd patrol: 22–26 May 1943 3rd patrol: 1–3 August 1943 4th patrol: 16–25 August 1943 |
| Victories: | 1 commercial ship sunk (5,848 GRT) |
German submarine U-523 was a Type IXC U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 4 August 1941 at the Deutsche Werft yard at Hamburg, launched on 15 April 1942, and commissioned on 25 June 1942 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Werner Pietzsch. After training with 4th U-boat Flotilla in the Baltic Sea, the U-boat was transferred to 10th U-boat Flotilla for front-line service on 1 February 1943.[1]
Contents |
U-523 departed Kiel on 9 February 1943 and sailed out into the mid-Atlantic.[3] On the morning of 19 March the 5,848 ton American merchant ship SS Mathew Luckenbach, part of Convoy HX-229 en route to the UK from New York, was hit by two torpedoes fired by U-527. The crew of eight officers, 34 crewmen and 26 armed guards (the ship was armed with one 4 in (100 mm) gun, one 3 in (76 mm) gun, and eight 20 mm guns) abandoned ship in three lifeboats and two rafts, and were picked up later by USCGC Ingham. Around 20:00 that evening, U-523 discovered the drifting wreck of the Mathew Luckenbach and hit her with a single torpedo, sinking the ship within seven minutes.[4] The U-boat arrived at her new home port of Lorient, France, on 16 April 1943 after 67 days at sea.[2]
U-523 sailed from Lorient on 22 May 1943, but on the 24th, still in the Bay of Biscay, she was bombed by a British Whitley medium bomber of No. 10 Squadron RAF. The U-boat was severely damaged and was forced to return to Lorient.[5]
U-523 sailed from Lorient briefly, for a voyage lasting only three days, from 1 to 3 August 1943,[6] before setting out once more on 16 August, and headed south-west.[7]
The U-boat was sunk on 25 August, west of Vigo, Spain, in position , by depth charges from the destroyer HMS Wanderer and the corvette HMS Wallflower. Seventeen of U-523's crew were killed and 37 survived the attack.[1]
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