German submarine U-401
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-401 |
| Ordered: | 23 September 1939 |
| Builder: | Danziger Werft, Danzig |
| Yard number: | 102 |
| Laid down: | 8 April 1940 |
| Launched: | 16 December 1940 |
| Commissioned: | 10 April 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk in mid-Atlantic, August 1941 by Allied warships[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: |
1st U-boat Flotilla (10 April–1 July 1941) 1st U-boat Flotilla (1 July–3 August 1941) |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Gero Zimmermann (10 April–3 August 1941) |
| Operations: | 9 July–3 August 1941 |
| Victories: | None |
German submarine U-401 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She carried out one patrol. She sank or damaged no ships.
She was sunk in mid-Atlantic, in August 1941 by Allied warships.
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 8 April 1940 at the Danziger Werft (yard) at Danzig (now Gdansk] as 'werk' 102, launched on 16 December and commissioned on 10 April under the command of Kapitänleutnant Gero Zimmermann.
She served with the 1st U-boat Flotilla from 10 April 1941 (training) and stayed with that organization from 1 July until her loss.
The boat's only patrol was preceded by the short journey from Königsberg (Kaliningrad) to Trondheim.
Patrol and loss
U-401 departed Trondheim on 9 September 1941. On 3 August she was sunk by depth charges dropped from the British destroyer HMS Wanderer, the Norwegian-crewed destroyer HMS St. Albans and the British corvette HMS Hydrangea.
Forty-five men died in U-401; there were no survivors.
References
- Notes
- ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1997, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 71
- ↑ "The Type VIIC boat U-401 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
- Bibliography
See also
- List of German U-boats
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Coordinates: 50°27′N 19°50′W / 50.450°N 19.833°W