German submarine U-206
Career | |
---|---|
Name: | U-206 |
Ordered: | 16 October 1939 |
Builder: | Germaniawerft AG, Kiel |
Yard number: | 635 |
Laid down: | 17 June 1940 |
Launched: | 5 April 1941 |
Commissioned: | 17 May 1941 |
Fate: | Possibly sunk by British minefield 'Beech', 30 November 1941 |
General characteristics | |
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) o/a 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull |
Beam: |
6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
Draft: | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
Propulsion: |
2 × supercharged Germaniawerft 6-cylinder 4-stroke F46 diesel engines, totalling 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490 2 × electric motors, totalling 750 shp (560 kW) and max rpm: 296. |
Speed: |
17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) surfaced 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) submerged |
Range: |
15,170 km (8,190 nmi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 150 km (81 nmi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
Test depth: |
230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft) |
Complement: | 44–52 officers and ratings |
Armament: |
• 5 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern) • 14 × G7e torpedoes or 26 TMA mines • 1 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun(220 rounds) • Various AA guns |
Service record[1] | |
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Part of: |
3rd U-boat Flotilla, Training (17 May–1 June 1941) 3rd U-boat Flotilla, Front (Operational) Boat (1 June–30 November 1941) |
Commanders: |
Obtlt. Herbert Opitz, (17 May–30 November 1941) |
Operations: | Three patrols |
Victories: |
Two commercial ships sunk (3,283 GRT) one warship sunk (925 GRT) |
German submarine U-206 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 17 June 1940 by the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft yard at Kiel as 'werk' 635, launched on 5 April 1941 and commissioned on 17 May under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Herbert Opitz.
She was possibly sunk in November 1941 by a British-laid minefield.
Operational career
Part of the 3rd U-boat Flotilla, U-206 carried out three patrols in the North Atlantic.[2]
1st patrol
U-206's first patrol began when she left Trondheim in Norway on 5 August 1941; she travelled through the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and headed south, towards the west of Ireland. She sank the Ocean Victor on 9 August south of Iceland. She arrived at St. Nazaire in occupied France on 10 September.
2nd patrol
On her second foray, she sank HMS Fleur de Lys on 14 October 1941 55 nmi (102 km) west of Gibraltar and the Baron Kelvin, close to the Rock on the 19th.
3rd patrol and loss
U-206 was posted missing from about 30 November 1941. She is believed to have been the victim of a minefield laid by the RAF, (code-named 'Beech'), west of St. Nazaire. Forty-six men died; there were no survivors.
Summary of Raiding Career
Date | Ship Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) | Fate[3] |
---|---|---|---|---|
9 August 1941 | Ocean Victor | United Kingdom | 202 | Sunk |
14 October 1941 | HMS Fleur de Lys | Royal Navy | 925 | Sunk |
19 October 1941 | Baron Kelvin | United Kingdom | 3,081 | Sunk |
See also
- List of German U-boats
References
- Notes
- Bibliography
External links
- U-206 at u-boot-archiv.de (German)
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Coordinates: 47°05′N 2°40′W / 47.083°N 2.667°W