German submarine U-598
Career | |
---|---|
Name: | U-598 |
Ordered: | 16 January 1940 |
Builder: | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg |
Yard number: | 574 |
Laid down: | 11 January 1941 |
Launched: | 2 October 1941 |
Commissioned: | 27 November 1941 |
Fate: | Sunk by US aircraft, July 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: |
8th U-boat Flotilla (27 November 1941–30 June 1942) 6th U-boat Flotilla (1–27 July 1942) |
Commanders: |
Krvkpt. Gottfried Holtorf (27 November 1941–23 July 1943) |
Operations: |
1st patrol: 7 July–13 September 1942 2nd patrol: 26 December 1942–8 February 1943 3rd patrol: 6 March–13 May 1943 4th patrol: 26 June–23 July 1943 |
Victories: | Sank two ships, total 9,295 GRT; damaged one ship - 6,197 GRT |
German submarine U-598 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She carried out four patrols, was a member of four wolfpacks and sank two ships; she also damaged one other.
The boat was sunk by depth charges from two US aircraft, off the Brazilian coast in July 1943.
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 11 January 1941 at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg as 'werk' 574, launched on 2 October 1941 and commissioned on 27 November under the command of Korvettenkapitän Gottfried Holtorf.
She served with the 8th U-boat Flotilla from 27 November 1941 for training and the 6th flotilla for operations from 1 July 1942 until her loss.
1st patrol
U-598's first patrol began from Kiel on 7 July 1942. She headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the 'gap' separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands. One man drowned while carrying out maintenance on hydroplanes and propellers in mid-Atlantic on 5 August.
She damaged the Standella, sank the Michael Jebsen and the Empire Corporal, all on 14 August northwest of Barlovento Point, Cuba. The Empire Corporal had, as the British Corporal, been damaged by a torpedo and bombs in the English Channel in 1940. She had been repaired and returned to service in 1942.
The boat arrived at St. Nazaire, in occupied France on the 13 September.
2nd and 3rd patrols
U-598's second sortie was to the south of Greenland; it was relatively uneventful.
Her third foray also started and finished in St. Nazaire between March and May 1943.
4th patrol and loss
The boat departed St. Nazaire for the last time on 26 June 1943. On 23 July she was sunk by depth charges dropped by two US Liberators near Natal (on the Brazilian coast).
Forty-three men died with U-598; there were two survivors.
Summary of Raiding Career
Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[3] |
---|---|---|---|---|
14 August 1943 | Empire Corporal | United Kingdom | 6,972 | Sunk |
14 August 1943 | Michael Jebson | United Kingdom | 2,323 | Sunk |
14 August 1943 | Standella | United Kingdom | 6,197 | Damaged |
References
- Notes
- ↑ Kemp, Paul: U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars, 1997, Arms & Armour, ISBN 1-85409-515-3, p. 134
- ↑ "The Type VIIC boat U-598 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
- ↑ "U598 successes". UBoat.net. Retrieved 4 February 0214.
- Bibliography
See also
- List of German U-boats
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