German submarine U-359
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-359 |
| Ordered: | 6 August 1940 |
| Builder: | Flensburger Schiffsbau-Ges, Flensburg |
| Yard number: | 478 |
| Laid down: | 9 June 1941 |
| Launched: | 11 June 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 5 October 1942 |
| Fate: | Sunk by US aircraft, July 1942, in Caribbean Sea[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] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
8th U-boat Flotilla (5 October 1942–28 February 1943) 7th U-boat Flotilla (1 March–26 July 1943) |
| Commanders: |
Oblt.z.S.. Heinz Förster (5 October–26 July 1943) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 4 February–18 March 1943 2nd patrol: 19 April–20 May 1943 3rd patrol: 29 June–26 July 1943 |
| Victories: | None |
German submarine U-359 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She carried out three patrols. She did not sink or damage any ships.
She was sunk by an American aircraft in the Caribbean Sea in July 1943.
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 19 June 1941 at the Flensburger Schiffsbau-Ges yard at Flensburg as 'werk' 478, launched on 11 June 1942 and commissioned on 5 October under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Heinz Förster.
She served with the 8th U-boat Flotilla from 5 October 1942 and the 7th flotilla from 1 March 1943.
1st patrol
U-359's first patrol took her from Kiel on 4 February 1943, through the Iceland / Faroe Islands 'gap' and south of Greenland. She arrived at St. Nazaire in occupied France, on 18 March.
2nd patrol
During her second foray she crossed the Bay of Biscay and then turned in a southwesterly direction. The boat accordingly headed south before sailing northwest across the Atlantic.
3rd patrol and loss
U-359 left St. Nazaire for the last time on 29 June 1943. On 26 July, she was sunk by depth charges dropped from a US Navy PBM Mariner aircraft in the Caribbean off Santo Domingo, Haiti.[3]
47 men died; there were no survivors.[4]
Previously recorded fate
U-359 was originally noted as sunk on 28 July 1943 by a Mariner aircraft P-1 of USN Squadron VP-32. (Postwar assessment). This attack sank U-159.
References
- Notes
- ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1997, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 135
- ↑ "The Type VIIC boat U-359 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
- ↑ Kemp, p. 135
- ↑ http://uboat.net/boats/u359/htm
- Bibliography
External links
- U-359 at u-boot-archiv.de (German)
See also
- List of German U-boats
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