German submarine U-478
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-478 |
| Ordered: | 10 April 1941 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werke, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 309 |
| Laid down: | 28 October 1942 |
| Launched: | 17 July 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 8 September 1943 |
| Fate: | Sunk by a Canadian and a British aircraft northeast of the Faroe Islands, June 1944[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 (8 September 1943–1 June 1944) 3rd U-boat Flotilla (1–30 June 1944) |
| Commanders: |
Oblt.z.S. Rudolf Rademacher (8 September 1943–30 June 1944) |
| Operations: | 25–30 June 1944 |
| Victories: | None |
German submarine U-478 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 sunk by a Canadian and a British aircraft northeast of the Faroe Islands, in June 1944.[1][4]
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 28 October 1942 at the Deutsche Werke in Kiel as 'werk' 309, launched on 17 July 1943 and commissioned on 8 September under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Rudolf Rademacher.
She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 8 September 1943 for training and the 3rd flotilla from 1 June 1944 for operations.
Patrol and loss
U-478's only patrol was preceded by a short trip from Kiel in Germany to Kristiansand in Norway. The patrol itself began with the boat's departure from Kristiansand on 25 June 1944.
On 30 June she was attacked and sunk by a Canadian Canso (the Canadian version of the PBY Catalina) flying boat of No. 162 Squadron RCAF and a British B-24 Liberator of No. 86 Squadron RAF northeast of the Faroe Islands.
Fifty-two men went down with U-478; there were no survivors.[1][4]
See also
- List of German U-boats
References
- Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://uboat.net/boats/u478/htm
- ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1997, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 200
- ↑ "The Type VIIC boat U-478 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Kemp, p. 200
- Bibliography
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