German submarine U-399
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-399 |
| Ordered: | 20 January 1941 |
| Builder: | Howaldtswerke, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 31 |
| Laid down: | 12 November 1942 |
| Launched: | 4 December 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 22 January 1944 |
| Fate: | Sunk in the English Channel, March 1945[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 (22 January–2 July 1944) 11th U-boat Flotilla (1 February–26 March 1945) |
| Commanders: |
Oblt.z.S. Kurt van Meteren (22 January–2 July 1944) Oblt.z.S. Heinz Bhuse (3 July 1944–26 March 1945) |
| Operations: | 6 February–26 March 1945 |
| Victories: | One ship sunk (362 GRT), one ship declared a total loss (7,176 GRT) |
German submarine U-399 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She carried out one patrol. She sank one ship and caused another to be declared a total loss.
She was sunk in the English Channel in March 1945.
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 12 November 1942 at the Howaldtswerke (yard) at Kiel as 'werk' 31, launched on 4 December 1943 and commissioned on 22 January 1944 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Kurt van Meteren.
She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 22 January 1944 and the 11th flotilla from 1 February 1945.
The boat's first patrol was preceded by the short journey from Kiel in Germany to Horten (south of Oslo), arriving at the Norwegian port on 28 January 1945.
Patrol and loss
U-399 departed Horten on 6 February 1945. On 21 March, she torpedoed the Liberty ship James Eagan Layne "about twelve miles off Plymouth".[3] The ship was beached at nearby Whitesand Bay but settled on the bottom; at high water, only her masts and funnel showed. She was declared a total loss.
The boat sank the Dutch-registered Pacific on 26 March 1945. This ship had taken part in Operation Dynamo, the Dunkirk evacuation, in 1940.
U-399 was sunk later on the same day by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Duckworth.
Forty-six men died in U-399; there was one survivor.
Summary of Raiding Career
| Date | Ship Name | Nationality | Displacement | Fate[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 March 1945 | James Eagan Layne |  United States |
7,176 | Total loss |
| 26 March 1945 | Rosenborg |  Netherlands |
362 | Sunk |
References
- Notes
- ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1997, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 239
- ↑ "The Type VIIC boat U-399 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
- ↑ http://uboat.net/boats/u399/htm
- ↑ http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u399/html
- Bibliography
See also
- List of German U-boats
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