German submarine U-753

Career (Nazi Germany)
Name:	U-753
Ordered:	9 October 1939 [1]
Builder:	Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven
Laid down:	3 January 1940[1]
Launched:	26 April 1941[1]
Commissioned:	18 June 1941[1]
Status:	Destroyed 13 May 1943 by British and Canadian depth charges
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 × GL RP 137/c 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 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 150 km (81 nmi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth:	230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft)
Complement:	44–52 officers & ratings
Armament:	5 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 1 stern) 14 × torpedoes or 26 TMA mines 1 × 8.8 cm (3.46 in) deck gun (220 rounds) Various AA guns

German submarine U-753 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. Commissioned on 18 June 1941, she served with 3rd U-boat Flotilla until 30 November as a training boat, and as a front boat until 13 May 1943 under the command of Alfred Manhardt von Mannstein.^[1]

Service Record

On her sixty-five day fourth Patrol, U-753 sank two vessels and damaging a further two in the West Indies. Her first victim was twenty-eight days into her voyage, an American merchant vessel, the George Calvert on 20 May 1942. George Calvert was destroyed by three torpedoes off the coast of Cuba, killing three of her fifty-one man crew.^[2]

Two days later, E.P. Theriault, a British sailing ship, was attacked by U-753. She did not sink, however, and was taken back to Cuba and repaired.^[3] On the morning of the 25th of May, the Norwegian tanker Haakon Hauan was hit by one of U-753's torpedoes. This vessel also survived and was repaired. ^[4] The Norwegian tanker Hamlet, however, did not escape when she encountered the U-boat two days later. Three torpedoes were fired between eleven o'clock and noon. All thirty-six crewmembers survived the sinking and were rescued by nearby fishing boats. ^{[5] [6]}

U-753's sixth patrol had her patrolling the North Atlantic, on the European side. Twenty-five days into her forty-two day voyage on 22 February, U-753 found the ON-166 convoy in the mid-Atlantic, her target: the Norwegian Whale ship N.T. Nielsen-Alonso. The vessel had in fact been abandoned earlier that day after an attack from U-92. U-753 fired two coups de grâce and one torpedo at the ship, failing to sink it. The submarine was forced to leave after a Corvette took notice. ^[7]

Fate

U-753 set off on her seventh and final patrol on 5 May 1943. Nine days in, she was discovered 10 nautical miles (19 km) away from convoy HX 237 by a Sunderland aircraft of No. 423 Squadron RCAF. After a twenty-minute exchange of fire with the aircraft, U-753 dove when the corvette HMCS Drumheller joined the engagement. The aircraft dropped two depth charges immediately after. An aircraft from the escort carrier Biter marked the location of the Submarine with smoke flares. HMS Lagan caught up to the Drumheller and the two dropped depth charges, finally sinking U-753, all 47 crewmen were lost at sea. ^[8]

Summary of Raiding Career

Date	Name	Nationality	Tonnage (GRT)	Fate[9]
20 May 1942	George Calvert	United States	7,191	Sunk
22 May 1942	E.P.Theriault	United Kingdom	326	Damaged
25 May 1942	Haakon Hauan	Norway	6,582	Damaged
27 May 1942	Hamlet	Norway	6,578	Sunk
22 February 1943	N.T.Nielsen-Alonso	Norway	9,348	Sunk

Sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Uboat.net source". Uboat Encyclopedia. Uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-09-10. 
2. ↑ "Uboat.net source (George Calvert)". Uboat Encyclopedia. Uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 
3. ↑ "Uboat.net source (E.P. Theriault)". Uboat Encyclopedia. Uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 
4. ↑ "Uboat.net source (Haakon Hauan)". Uboat Encyclopedia. Uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 
5. ↑ "Uboat.net source (Hamlet)". Uboat Encyclopedia. Uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 
6. ↑ "Warsailors (George Calvert)". Naval Encyclopedia. warsailors.com. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 
7. ↑ "Uboat.net (N.T. Nielsen-Alonso)". Uboat Encyclopedia. uboat.com. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 
8. ↑ "Uboat.net (U-753 patrol report)". Uboat Encyclopedia. uboat.com. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 
9. ↑ http://uboat.net/boats/successes/u753html