German submarine U-385
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-385 |
| Ordered: | 15 August 1940 |
| Builder: | Howaldtswerke, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 16 |
| Launched: | 8 July 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 29 August 1942 |
| Fate: | Sunk by a British warship and an Australian aircraft in August 1944, in the Bay of Biscay[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 × 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[2] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
5th U-boat Flotilla (29 August 1942–29 February 1944) 6th U-boat Flotilla (1 March–11 August 1944) |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Hans-Guido Valenter (29 August 1942–11 August 1944) |
| Operations: |
Two patrols: 4 April–4 June 1944 9 August–11 August 1944 |
| Victories: | None |
German submarine U-385 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She carried out two patrols. She did not sink or damage any ships.
She was sunk by a British warship and an Australian aircraft in the Bay of Biscay in August 1944.[3]
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 16 May 1941 at the Howaldtswerke yard at Kiel as 'werk' 16, launched on 8 July 1942 and commissioned on 29 August under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans-Guido Valenter.
She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 29 August 1942 and the 6th flotilla from 1 March 1944.
The boat was moved from Kiel to Marviken in March 1944.
1st patrol
U-385's first patrol took her from Marviken to St. Nazaire, in occupied France via the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands.
2nd patrol and loss
The boat left St. Nazaire on 9 August 1944. On the 11th, whilst still in the Bay of Biscay, she was sunk by depth charges dropped by an Australian Sunderland flying boat of No. 461 Squadron RAAF and the British sloop HMS Starling.[3]
One man died in the U-boat; there were 42 survivors.[4]
References
- Notes
- ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1997, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 209
- ↑ "The Type VIIC boat U-385 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://uboat.net/boats/u385/htm
- ↑ http://www.u-boot-archiv.de/dieboote/u0385.html U-385 at u-boot-archiv.de
- Bibliography
External links
- U-385 at u-boot-archiv.de (German)
See also
- List of German U-boats
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||