German submarine U-376
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-376 |
| Ordered: | 16 October 1939 |
| Builder: | Howaldtswerke, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 7 |
| Laid down: | 3 April 1940 |
| Launched: | 10 July 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 21 August 1941 |
| Fate: | Listed as missing, 13 April 1943 |
| 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 × GL RP 137/c 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][2] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
6th U-boat Flotilla (21 August 1941 – 30 June 1942) 11th U-boat Flotilla (1 July 1942 – 28 February 1943) 3rd U-boat Flotilla (1 March–13 April 1943) |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Friedrich-Karl Marks (21 August 1941 – 13 April 1943) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 15 March–1 April 1942 2nd patrol: 7–20 April 1942 3rd patrol: 29 April–6 May 1942 4th patrol: 7 June–15 July 1942 5th patrol: 5 November–8 December 1942 6th patrol: 26–28 January 1943 7th patrol: 30 January–13 March 1943 8th patrol: 6–13 April 1943 |
| Victories: | Two merchant ships sunk (10,146 GRT) |
German submarine U-376 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
The submarine was laid down in April 1940 in Kiel, launched in July 1941, and commissioned in August 1941 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich-Karl Marks.[1]
U-376 was attached to the 6th U-boat Flotilla, and was ready for front-line service from 1 March 1942. Operating from Norwegian bases, from July 1942 she served with the 11th U-boat Flotilla, and was transferred to the 3rd U-boat Flotilla, based in France, in early 1943.[1]
U-376 sailed on eight combat patrols, sinking only two merchant ships totalling 10,146 tons before she went missing in the Bay of Biscay in April 1943.[1][2]
Construction and Design
Construction
U-376 was ordered by the Kriegsmarine on 16 October 1939. She was laid down about six months later at the Howaldtswerke yard in Kiel, on 3 April 1940. Just over a year and three months later, U-376 was launched in Kiel on 10 July 1941. She was formally commissioned into the Kriegsmarine later that year on 21 August.
Design
Like all type VIIC submarines, U-376 carried five 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (four located in the bow, one in the stern) and had one 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun with 220 rounds. She could also carry 14 G7e torpedoes or 26 TMA mines and had a crew of 44-52 men. Her propulsion consisted of two supercharged Germaniawerft 6-cylinder 4-stroke F46 diesel engines that had a total of 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW). Her maximum rpm was between 470 and 490. She was also equipped with two GL RP 137/c electric motors totalling 750 shp (560 kW) and had a maximum rpm of 296. This power-train enabled U-376 to have a maximum speed of 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) while on the surface and 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) when submerged. She had range of 15,170 km (8,190 nmi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) when she was surfaced and 150 km (81 nmi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) while submerged. Her test depth was 230 m (750 ft); while her crush depth was 250–295 m (820–968 ft).[1]
Service history
1st patrol
U-376, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Friedrich-Karl Marks, left Kiel on 11 March 1942, arriving at Heligoland in the North Sea the next day.[2] She sailed on her first combat patrol on the 15th, heading north into the Barents Sea.[3] There, on 30 March she torpedoed and sank the 5,086 ton British merchant ship Induna, part of the Arctic convoy PQ-13, en -route to Murmansk.
Forty-one survivors, from the crew of 66, abandoned ship in two lifeboats in temperatures around -20°C and freezing winds. Only 30 were still alive on 2 April when they were picked up by a Russian minesweeper, two subsequently died of exposure.[4]
The U-boat arrived at Kirkenes in the far northeast of Norway, on 1 April 1942.[2]
2nd and 3rd patrols
U-376 sailed on two patrols from Kirkenes, from 7 to 20 April, and from 29 April to 6 May, without success, before sailing to Bergen in Norway in early May.[2]
4th patrol
U-376 left Bergen on 7 June 1942, sailing to the waters north of Iceland before returning to the Barents Sea.[5] where on 10 July, she sank the 5,060 ton American Hog Islander Hoosier, en route to Arkhangelsk with a cargo of 5,029 tons of machinery and explosives, and tanks as deck cargo. Part of Convoy PQ 17, the ship had been bombed the previous day by several Junkers Ju 88 aircraft of KG 30, which had disabled the engines. Taken in tow by HMS La Malouine she was abandoned when U-255 was sighted in pursuit. The drifting wreck of Hoosier was hit by two torpedoes from U-376 and sank.[6]
The U-boat arrived at Narvik on 15 July, sailing to Bergen after three days, before spending August to October at Wilhelmshaven and Kiel. She returned to Bergen on 25 October, then sailed to Skjomenfjord on 3 November 1942.[2]
5th patrol
U-376 left Skjomenfjord on 5 November to patrol the Barents Sea once more, arriving at Narvik on 8 December, having had no success.[7]
6th patrol
She returned to Bergen before setting out once more on 26 January 1943, but was attacked by Allied aircraft the next day and was forced to return to base with several crewmen wounded.[8]
7th patrol
The U-boat left Bergen on 30 January, but during the night her third watch officer was washed overboard. U-376 returned to Bergen to embark a replacement and departed the same day. This patrol took her out into the Atlantic, south of Greenland, before she arrived at her new home port of La Pallice in France on 13 March.[9]
8th patrol and loss
U-376 sailed from La Pallice on 6 April 1943 on a mission codenamed Operation Elster ("Magpie"), to take on board German Naval officers who had escaped from a POW camp at North Point on Prince Edward Island, Canada. U-376 was preceded by the mission's backup boat, U-262, which had left from the same port on 27 March, but had had to return due to a defective air vent, and sailed again on 7 April.[10]
While some believe that U-376 was sunk on 7 May 1943 off Prince Edward Island, the U-boat failed to send the mandatory radio signal to report that she had successfully exited the Bay of Biscay and was listed as having been lost on 13 April 1943.
Summary of Raiding Career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 March 1942 | Induna |  United Kingdom |
5,086 | Sunk |
| 10 July 1942 | Hoosier |  United States |
5,060 | Sunk |
References
- Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "The Type VIIC U-boat U-376". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "War Patrols by German U-boat U-376". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ↑ "Patrol of U-boat U-376 from 15 Mar 1942 to 1 Apr 1942 - U-boat patrols - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ↑ "Induna". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ↑ "Patrol of U-boat U-376 from 7 Jun 1942 to 15 Jul 1942 - U-boat patrols - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ↑ "Hoosier". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ↑ "Patrol of U-boat U-376 from 5 Nov 1942 to 8 Dec 1942 - U-boat patrols - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ↑ "Patrol of U-boat U-376 from 26 Jan 1943 to 28 Jan 1943 - U-boat patrols - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ↑ "Patrol of U-boat U-376 from 30 Jan 1943 to 13 Mar 1943 - U-boat patrols - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ↑ Hadley, Michael L. (1990). U-Boats Against Canada: German Submarines in Canadian Waters. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 170. ISBN 0-7735-0801-5.
- Bibliography
External links
See also
- List of German U-boats
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Coordinates: 46°48′N 9°00′W / 46.800°N 9.000°W