German submarine U-432

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Career
Name: U-432
Ordered: 5 June 1941
Builder: F. Schicau GmbH, Danzig
Yard number: 1473
Laid down: 14 January 1940
Launched: 3 February 1941
Commissioned: 26 April 1941
Fate: Sunk in mid-Atlantic by a French ship, March 1943[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 kn (19 km/h) surfaced
150 km (81 nmi) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) 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: 3rd U-boat Flotilla
(26 April–1 October 1941)
3rd U-boat Flotilla
(1 August 1941–11 March 1943)
Commanders: Kptlt. Heinz-Otto Schultze
(26 April 1941–15 January 1943)
Kptlt. Hermann Eckhardt
(16 January–11 March 1943)
Operations: 1st patrol:
25 August–19 September 1941
2nd patrol:
11 October–2 November 1941
3rd patrol:
10–23 December 1941
4th patrol:
21 January–16 March 1942
5th patrol:
30 April–2 July 1942
6th patrol:
15 August–4 October 1942
7th patrol
20 November–5 January 1943
8th patrol:
14 February–11 March 1943
Victories: 20 ships sunk, total 67,991 GRT;
one warship sunk - 1,340 tons;
two ships damaged, total15,666 GRT

German submarine U-432 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out eight patrols.

She sank 20 ships and one warship. Two ships were damaged.

She was a member of seven wolfpacks.

She was sunk by a French warship in mid-Atlantic, in March 1943.

Service history

The submarine was laid down on 14 January 1940 at F. Schicau GmbH in Danzig (now Gdansk) as 'werk' 1473, launched on 3 February 1941 and commissioned on 26 April 1941 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Heinz-Otto Schultze.

She served with the 3rd U-boat Flotilla from 26 April 1941 for training and stayed with that organization from 1 August for operations until her loss.

1st patrol

U-432's first patrol was preceded by short 'hops' from Kiel in Germany to Horten then Trondheim in Norway. Her first patrol proper began with her departure from Trondheim on 25 August 1941 and headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

The boat sank the Winterwijk on 10 September east of Greenland. She went on to sink the Stargad close-by on the same date. The next day she sank the Garm northeast of the previous successes.

She docked at Brest in occupied France on 19 September.

2nd and 3rd patrols

On her second foray, she sank the Ulea on 28 October 1941 east-northeast of the Azores. She finished the patrol in St. Nazaire on 2 November 1941.

The boat's third sortie commenced with her departure from St. Nazaire on 10 December 1941. This was not only the shortest patrol of her career but the only time she returned to France, (this time to La Pallice where she would be based for the rest of her time), without success, on the 23rd.

4th patrol

Her fourth patrol was carried out on the eastern seaboard of Canada and the United States, where she sank a number of ships, including the-then neutral Brazilian vessels Buarque and the Olinda on 15 and 18 February 1942 respectively. She also sent the Miraflores and the Azolea City to the bottom on the 19th and 21st.

5th patrol

U-432 had departed La Pallice on 30 April 1942. On 2 May, she was slightly damaged in an air attack on 2 May west of the Bay of Biscay. She returned to her earlier hunting grounds across the Atlantic where she sank ships such as the Zurichmoor (on the 23rd) and the Malayan Prince on 9 June.

6th patrol

The submarine encountered some resistance when she came across the Pennmar off Cape Farewell (Greenland) on 24 September 1942. A torpedo fired from the starboard quarter was avoided by evasive action. On surfacing, the U-boat was engaged by Pennmar's 4 in gun. U-432 submerged again and fired a spread of four torpedoes, one of which hit and sank the American ship.

7th patrol

For her seventh effort, the boat headed towards Africa. She sank the Poitou off Morocco on 17 December 1942.

8th patrol and loss

U-432 sank HMS Harvester on 11 March 1943 after the British destroyer was badly damaged while ramming U-444. The French corvette Aconit came to Harvester's assistance. She depth charged and sank the U-boat in mid-Atlantic.

Twenty-six men went down with U-432; there were 20 survivors.

Summary of Raiding Career

Date Name Nationality Tonnage
(GRT)		 Fate[3]
10 September 1941 Muneric  United Kingdom 5,229 Sunk
10 September 1941 Stargard  Norway 1,113 Sunk
10 September 1941 Winterswijk  Netherlands 3,205 Sunk
11 September 1941 Garm  Sweden 1,231 Sunk
17 October 1941 Barfonn  Norway 9,739 Sunk
17 October 1941 Bold Venture  Panama 3,222 Sunk
17 October 1941 Evros  Greece 5,283 Sunk
28 October 1941 Ulea  United Kingdom 1,574 Sunk
15 February 1942 Buarque  Brazil 5,172 Sunk
18 February 1942 Olinda  Brazil 4,053 Sunk
19 February 1942 Miraflores  United Kingdom 2,158 Sunk
21 February 1942 Azalea City  United States 5,529 Sunk
27 February 1942 Marore  United States 8,215 Sunk
17 May 1942 Foam  United States 324 Sunk
23 May 1942 Zurichmoor  United Kingdom 4,455 Sunk
31 May 1942 Liverpool Packet  Canada 1,188 Sunk
3 June 1942 Aeolus  United States 41 Sunk
3 June 1942 Ben and Josephine  United States 102 Sunk
9 June 1942 Kronprinsen  Norway 7,073 Damaged
9 June 1942 Malayan Prince  United Kingdom 8,593 Damaged
24 September 1942 Pennmar  United States 5,868 Sunk
17 December 1942 Poitou  Free France 310 Sunk
11 March 1943 HMS Harvester  Royal Navy 1,340 Sunk

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1997, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 106
  2. ↑ "The Type VIIC boat U-432 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 17 September 2012. 
  3. ↑ http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u432/html
Bibliography

See also

  • List of German U-boats


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