German submarine U-391
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-391 |
| Ordered: | 20 January 1941 |
| Builder: | Howaldtswerke, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 23 |
| Laid down: | 9 January 1942 |
| Launched: | 5 March 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 24 April 1943 |
| Fate: | Sunk, December 1943, by a British aircraft northwest of Cape Ortegal, Spain |
| 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] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
5th U-boat Flotilla (24 April–30 September 1943) 3rd U-boat Flotilla (1 October–13 December 1943) |
| Commanders: |
Oblt.z.S. Gert Dültgen (24 April–13 December 1943) |
| Operations: | 23 October–13 December 1943 |
| Victories: | None |
German submarine U-391 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She carried out one patrol. She did not sink or damage any ships.
She was sunk by a British aircraft northwest of Cape Ortegal in Spain in October 1943.[2]
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 9 January 1942 at the Howaldtswerke (yard) at Flensburg as 'werk' 23, launched on 5 March and commissioned on 24 April 1943 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Gert Dültgen.
The boat was a member of three wolfpacks.
She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 24 April 1943 and the 3rd flotilla from 1 October of the same year.
Patrol and loss
The boat departed Kiel on 23 October 1943. Passing through the 'gap' that separates Iceland and the Faroe Islands, she was attacked by a Vickers Wellington of No. 179 Squadron RAF on 28 November.
On 13 December, she was attacked and sunk by depth charges dropped from a British B-24 Liberator of 53 Squadron on the western edge of the Bay of Biscay, northwest of Cape Ortegal in Spain.
51 men died in the U-boat; there were no survivors.
References
- Notes
- ↑ "The Type VIIC boat U-391 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
- ↑ http://uboat.net/boats/u391/htm
- Bibliography
See also
- List of German U-boats
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