German submarine U-168
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-168 |
| Ordered: | August 15, 1940 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG, Bremen |
| Yard number: | 707 |
| Laid down: | October 1, 1940 |
| Launched: | March 15, 1941[1] |
| Commissioned: | September 10, 1941[2] |
| Fate: | Sunk, October 6, 1944, by a Dutch submarine |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Type IXC/40 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: | 6.9 m (22 ft 8 in) o/a 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 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: |
19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) surfaced 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph) submerged |
| Range: |
25,620 nmi (47,450 km; 29,480 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h) surfaced 117 nautical miles (217 km; 135 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Complement: | 48 to 56 |
| Armament: |
6 × torpedo tubes (four bow, two stern) 22 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedoes 1 × Utof 105 mm/45 deck gun (110 rounds) AA guns |
| Service record[3] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
Kriegsmarine 4th U-boat Flotilla (training boat) 2nd U-boat Flotilla 33rd U-boat Flotilla |
| Identification codes: | M 49 033 |
| Commanders: | Kptlt. Helmuth Pich |
| Operations: |
Four patrols 1st patrol: 9 March–18 May 1943 2nd patrol: 3 July–11 November 1943 3rd patrol: 7 February–24 March 1944 4th patrol: 5 October–6 October 1944 |
| Victories: |
Three ships sunk for a total of 8,008 gross register tons (GRT) One ship damaged of 9,804 GRT |
German submarine U-168 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) built for service during World War II. Her keel was laid down on March 15, 1941 by the Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG in Bremen as 'werk' 707. She was launched on March 5, 1942 and commissioned on September 10, with Kapitänleutnant Helmuth Pich in command.[2]
Career
U-168 conducted four patrols, sinking three ships totalling 8,008 tons and damaging one other grossing 9,804 tons.[3]
1st patrol
U-168's first patrol commenced with her departure from Kiel on 3 March 1943. Her route took her through the Kattegat and Skaggerak, along the coast of Norway, through the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and into the Atlantic Ocean south and southwest of Greenland. She arrived at Lorient in occupied France on 18 May.
2nd patrol
The boat then moved into the Indian Ocean, sinking the British steam merchant ship SS Haiching 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) west southwest of Bombay (now Mumbai), on October 2, 1943.[4]
She was unsuccessfully attacked by a Catalina flying boat of No. 413 Squadron RCAF on 3 November. Four 250 lb depth charges were dropped.
The patrol terminated in Penang, Malaya (now Malaysia) on 11 November.
3rd patrol
The submarine began her third and what would turn out to be her most successful patrol when she departed Penang on 7 February 1944. She fired three torpedoes at the British salvage vessel HMS Salviking south of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on the 14th. One of the projectiles malfunctioned, but the other two were sufficiently destructive to send the ship to the bottom.
The following day she sank a Greek ship, the Epaminondas C. Embiricos about 130 nautical miles (240 km; 150 mi) north of Addu Atoll in the Maldives. The Master and the Chief Engineer were both taken prisoner and handed over to the Japanese. The former's captivity prevented disciplinary action being taken over why he had ordered the ship to be abandoned despite a lack of damage and why the vessel was stationary for two hours, despite standing orders to the contrary.
U-168 also damaged the Norwegian Fenris with her last torpedo on the 21st west of the Maldives, but had no ammunition left for her deck gun to finish the ship off which continued to Bombay under her own power.[5]
The boat returned to Batavia (now Jakarta) on 24 March.
4th patrol and loss
The submarine left Batavia on October 5, 1944. In the early hours of the 6th, while in the Java Sea, U-168 was hit by a torpedo from the Dutch submarine HrMs Zwaardvisch. The attack killed twenty-three men, with a further twenty-seven being captured.[3] In late-2013 divers found what is believed the wreck of the boat[6] though it is pointed out that alternatively it could be the wreck of U-183.[7]
Summary of raiding history
| Date | Ship | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate[8] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 October 1943 | Haiching |  United Kingdom |
2,183 | Sunk |
| 14 February 1944 | HMS Salviking |  Royal Navy |
1,440 | Sunk |
| 15 February 1944 | Epaminondas C. Embiricos | .svg.png){kind=small} Greece |
4,385 | Sunk |
| 21 February 1944 | Fenris |  Norway |
9,804 | Damaged |
See also
- List of German U-boats
References
- Notes
- ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1999, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 221.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kemp, p. 221.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "The Type IXC/40 boat U-168 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ↑ "Haiching (Steam merchant) - Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ↑ "Fenris (Motor tanker) - Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net". Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ↑ "Wrak Duitse onderzeeër bij Indonesië ontdekt - Buitenland | Het laatste buitenlandse nieuws leest u op Telegraaf.nl [buitenland]". Telegraaf.nl. 2013-11-20. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
- ↑ 11/22/13 10:15am Friday 10:15am (1945-04-23). "Archaeologists Find Sunken Nazi Sub in Indonesia with 17 Skeletons". Io9.com. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
- ↑ "Ships hit by U-162 - U-boat Successes - German U-boats". uboat.net. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
- Bibliography
- U-168 at uboat.net
- U-168 at ubootwaffe.net
- U-168 at ubootarchiv (German)
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Coordinates: 6°12′S 111°17′E / 06.20°S 111.28°E