German submarine U-476
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-476 |
| Ordered: | 10 April 1941 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werke, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 307 |
| Laid down: | 19 September 1942 |
| Launched: | 5 June 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 28 July 1943 |
| Fate: | Damaged by a British aircraft, northeast of Trondheim, May 1944; then scuttled by a German U-boat[1][2] |
| 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[3] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
5th U-boat Flotilla (28 July 1943–31 March 1944) 3rd U-boat Flotilla (1 April–25 May 1944) |
| Commanders: |
Oblt.z.S. Otto Niethmann (28 July 1943–25 May 1944) |
| Operations: | 20–25 May 1944 |
| Victories: | None |
German submarine U-476 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She carried out one patrol. She sank no ships.
She was damaged by a British aircraft northwest of Trondheim in May 1944, then scuttled by a German U-boat.[1][4]
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 19 September 1942 at the Deutsche Werke in Kiel as 'werk' 307, launched on 5 June 1943 and commissioned on 28 July under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Otto Niethmann.
She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 28 July 1943 for training and the 3rd flotilla from 1 April 1944 for operations.
Patrol and loss
U-432's only patrol was preceded by a short trip from Kiel in Germany to Bergen in Norway. The patrol itself began with the boat's departure from Bergen on 20 May 1944.
On the 24th she was attacked by a British PBY Catalina flying boat of No. 210 Squadron RAF. The damage inflicted was so serious that U-990 scuttled the boat with a torpedo the following day. U-990 had also rescued the survivors, but salvation was short-lived; she was sunk later-on, on the 25th.
Thirty-four men went down with U-469; there were twenty-one survivors.[1]
See also
- List of German U-boats
References
- Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://uboat.net/boats/u476/htm
- ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1997, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 191
- ↑ "The Type VIIC boat U-476 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
- ↑ Kemp, p. 191
- Bibliography
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