German submarine U-582
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-582 |
| Ordered: | 8 January 1940 |
| Builder: | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 558 |
| Laid down: | 25 September 1940 |
| Launched: | 12 June 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 7 August 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk by an American aircraft southwest of Iceland, October 1942[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: |
5th U-boat Flotilla (7 August–31 December 1941) 1st U-boat Flotilla (1 January–5 October 1942) |
| Commanders: |
Krvkpt. Werner Schulte (7 August–5 October 1942) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 3 January–7 February 1942 2nd patrol: 19 March–24 May 1942 3rd patrol: 22 June–11 August 1942 4th patrol: 14 September–5 October 1942 |
| Victories: |
Six ships sunk, total 38,826 GRT; one ship sunk - 46 tons (lost aboard transport ship) |
German submarine U-582 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She carried out four patrols, sank six ships of 38,826 GRT and sank a warship of 46 tons (lost aboard a transport ship).
The boat was sunk by depth charges from a US aircraft, southwest of Iceland, in October 1942.
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 25 September 1940 at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg as 'werk' 558, launched on 12 June 1941 and commissioned on 7 August under the command of Korvettenkapitän Werner Schulte.
She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 7 August 1941 for training and the 1st U-boat Flotilla for operations until her loss, from 1 January to 5 October 1942.
1st patrol
U-582's first patrol was preceded by a diversion to Trondheim in Norway to replace the stud bolts of her exhaust valves.[3] She left the Nordic port on 3 January 1942 and headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the 'gap' separating the Faroe and Shetland Islands. A lookout broke an arm in bad weather on the 10th, but she sank the Refast on the 26th off St. Johns.
She arrived at Brest in occupied France, on 7 February.
2nd patrol
Her second foray took her to the US east coast, but the pickings were thin, she returned to Brest on 24 May 1942 without any successes.
3rd patrol
She sank the Port Hunter on 12 July 1942 370 nautical miles (690 km; 430 mi) west southwest of Madeira. The ship had been carrying ammunition and depth charges as well as HMNZS ML-1090, a 46 ton patrol craft being taken from Britain to New Zealand as deck cargo. Debris from the exploding ship was found on the U-boat's casing.
She also sank the Empire Attendant a few days later (15 July) southwest of the Canary Islands.
When she sank the Honolulan on 22 July 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) south of the Cape Verde Islands, the vessel went down with her steam whistle still sounding, some two hours after being hit.
U-582 disposed of the Stella Lykes 500 nautical miles (930 km; 580 mi) south of Fogo in the Cape Verde Islands on 27 July 1942 with seven demolition charges placed by a boarding party in the abandoned ship. The U-boat had fired two torpedoes and 161 rounds from her deck gun but she remained afloat. The master and chief engineer were taken prisoner; the ship sank by the stern.
4th patrol and loss
The submarine left Brest for the last time on 14 September 1942. On the 23rd, she sank the Vibran about 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) north northeast of the Azores.
She was sunk on 5 October 1942 by depth charges dropped by a US PBY Catalina southwest of Iceland.
Forty-six men died with U-582; there were no survivors.
Previously recorded fate
U-582 was sunk on 5 October 1942 by a British Lockheed Hudson of No. 269 Squadron RAF. It was later ascertained that this attack sank U-619.
Raiding History
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 January 1942 | SS Refast |  United Kingdom | 5,189 | Sunk |
| 12 July 1942 | HMNZS ML-1090* |  Royal New Zealand Navy | 46 | Sunk |
| 12 July 1942 | SS Port Hunter | United Kingdom | 8,826 | Sunk |
| 15 July 1942 | Empire Attendant | United Kingdom | 7,524 | Sunk |
| 22 July 1942 | SS Honolulan |  United States | 7,493 | Sunk |
| 27 July 1942 | SS Stella Lykes | United States | 6,801 | Sunk |
| 23 September 1942 | MV Vibran |  Norway | 2,993 | Sunk |
* Being carried aboard the Port Hunter
References
- Notes
- ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1997, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 91
- ↑ "The Type VIIC boat U-582 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
- ↑ Gannon, Michael - Operation Drumbeat - the dramatic true story of Germany's first U-boat attacks along the American coast in World War II, 1990, Harper and Row publishers, ISBN 0-060161155-8, p. 133
- ↑ http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u582/html
- Bibliography
See also
- List of German U-boats
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