German submarine U-285
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-285 |
| Ordered: | 5 June 1941 |
| Builder: | Bremer Vulkan, Bremen-Vegesack |
| Yard number: | 50 |
| Laid down: | 7 July 1942 |
| Launched: | 3 April 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 15 May 1943 |
| Fate: | Sunk, April 1945 by British warships[1] |
| 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[2][3] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
8th U-boat Flotilla (15 May 1943–31 July 1944) 7th U-boat Flotilla (1 August–30 September 1944) 11th U-boat Flotilla 1 October 1944–15 April 1945 |
| Commanders: |
Oblt.z.S. Walter Otto (15 May–16 April 1943) Oblt.z.S. Konrad Bornhaupt 17 April 1944–15 April 1945 |
| Operations: |
Three patrols: 24 August–18 September 1943 20 December 1944–31 January 1945 26 March–15 April 1945 |
| Victories: | None |
German submarine U-285 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
The submarine was laid down on 7 July 1942 at the Bremer Vulkan yard at Bremen-Vegesack as 'werk' 50. She was launched on 3 April 1943 and commissioned on 15 May under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Otto Walter.[2]
Service history
U-285 served with the 8th U-boat Flotilla for training from May to July 1944 and operationally with the 7th flotilla from 1 August. She was then reassigned to the 11th flotilla on 1 October.[2] She carried out three patrols, sinking no ships.
The boat's first patrol was preceded by a short voyage from Kiel on 15 August 1944 to Kristiansand in Norway, arriving there on 20 August.
1st and 2nd patrols
U-285's first patrol proper took her to northwest Scotland. She docked at Bergen on 18 September 1944.
Her second sortie was west of Ireland and into the St. George's Channel, (between southeast Ireland and southwest Wales). She had passed between Iceland and the Faroe Islands and into the Atlantic Ocean. The submarine returned to Bergen on 31 January 1945.
3rd patrol and loss
The boat was attacked and sunk by depth charges dropped from the British frigates HMS Grindall and Keats on 15 April 1945 southwest of Ireland.
Forty-four men died; there were no survivors.
See also
- List of German U-boats
References
- Notes
- ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1997, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, pp. 249-250
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "The Type VIIC boat U-285 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ↑ "War Patrols by German U-boat U-285 - Boats - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- Bibliography
External links
- U-285 at u-boot-archiv.de (German)
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