German submarine U-116 (1941)
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-116 |
| Ordered: | 31 January 1939 |
| Builder: | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 615 |
| Laid down: | 1 July 1939 |
| Launched: | 3 May 1941[1] |
| Commissioned: | 26 July 1941[2] |
| Fate: | Presumed sunk after 6 October 1942[2] |
| General characteristics [3] | |
| Class and type: | Submarine minelayer |
| Displacement: | 1,763 tonnes (1,735 long tons) surfaced 2,177 tonnes (2,143 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 89.80 m (294 ft 7 in) o/a 70.90 m (232 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 9.20 m (30 ft 2 in) o/a 4.75 m (15 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 10.20 m (33 ft 6 in) |
| Draught: | 4.71 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × supercharged GW F 46 a 9 pu 9 cylinder, four-stroke diesel engines, 4,800 bhp (3,600 kW) 2 × AEG GU 720/8-287 electric motors, 1,100 hp (820 kW) |
| Speed: | 16.4–17 knots (30.4–31.5 km/h; 18.9–19.6 mph) surfaced 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 18,450 nautical miles (34,170 km; 21,230 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 93 nmi (172 km; 107 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
| Test depth: | Calculated crush depth: 220 m (720 ft) |
| Complement: | 5 officers, 47 enlisted |
| Armament: |
|
| Service record[4] [5] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
2nd U-boat Flotilla (26 July 1941–31 January 1942) 1st U-boat Flotilla (1 February–6 October 1942) |
| Commanders: |
K.Kapt. Werner von Schmidt (26 July 1941–10 September 1942) Oblt.z.S. Wilhelm Grimme (11 September–6 October 1942) |
| Operations: |
Four 1st patrol: 25 April–5 May 1942 2nd patrol: 16 May–9 June 1942 3rd patrol: 27 June–23 August 1942 4th patrol: 22 September–6 October 1942 |
| Victories: |
One commercial ship sunk (4,284 GRT) One commercial ship damaged (7,093 GRT) |
German submarine U-116 was a Type XB minelaying U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She was ordered on 31 January 1939 and laid down on 1 July at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel, as yard number 615. She was launched on 3 May 1941 and commissioned under the command of Korvettenkapitän Werner von Schmidt on 26 July of that year.[4]
Service history
1st patrol
After a period of training as part of the 2nd U-boat Flotilla, U-116 was assigned to the front-line as part of the 1st U-boat Flotilla on 1 February 1942.[4] She sailed from Kiel on 4 April 1942, bound for Bergen, Norway, via Heligoland, and departed Bergen on 25 April, circling the British Isles before arriving at Lorient in occupied France, on 5 May.[6]
2nd patrol
U-116 sailed from Lorient on 16 May 1942 on a patrol to the mid-Atlantic lasting 25 days, arriving back at her homeport on 9 June, without any success.[7]
3rd patrol
U-116 was more successful on her third patrol which took her south to the coast of West Africa, attacking Convoy OS-33 south of the Azores on 12 July 1942. Soon after midnight she fired one torpedo at the 7,093 ton GRT merchant ship Cortona, causing some damage; although the ship was then sunk by U-201.[8]
Nine hours later U-116 fired two torpedoes into the 4,284 ton British merchant ship Shaftesbury, which sank in 15 minutes.[9] The U-boat returned to Lorient on 23 August, after 58 days at sea.[10]
4th patrol
For her fourth patrol, U-116 sailed under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Wilhelm Grimme. Leaving Lorient on 22 September 1942,[11]
she sent her last radio message on 6 October whilst in the North Atlantic at position 45°00′N 31°30′W / 45.000°N 31.500°WCoordinates: 45°00′N 31°30′W / 45.000°N 31.500°W, and was never heard from again. 56 men were lost with her.[2][4]
References
- ↑ Kemp 1999, pp. 92-93.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Kemp, pp. 92-93.
- ↑ Gröner, p. 116.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type XB boat U-116". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "War Patrols by German U-boat U-116". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol of U-boat U-116 from 25 Apr 1942 to 5 May 1942". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol of U-boat U-116 from 16 May 1942 to 9 Jun 1942". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Cortona (Steam merchant)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Shaftesbury (Steam merchant)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol of U-boat U-116 from 27 Jun 1942 to 23 Aug 1942". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol of U-boat U-116 from 22 Sep 1942 to 6 Oct 1942". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
Bibliography
- Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945. Der U-Boot-Krieg (in German) IV (Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler). ISBN 3-8132-0514-2.
- Gröner, Erich (1985). U-Boote, Hilfskreuzer, Minenschiffe, Netzleger, Sperrbrecher. Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815-1945 (in German) III (Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe). ISBN 3-7637-4802-4.
- Kemp, Paul (1999). U-Boats Destroyed - German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. London: Arms & Armour. ISBN 1-85409-515-3.
External links
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 116". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 2014-12-06.
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type X boat U-116". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- U-116 at ubootwaffe.net