German submarine U-122 (1939)
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-122 |
| Ordered: | 15 December 1937 |
| Builder: | DeSchiMAG AG Weser, Bremen |
| Yard number: | 954 |
| Laid down: | 5 March 1939 |
| Launched: | 20 December 1939 |
| Commissioned: | 30 March 1940 |
| Fate: | Missing since 22 June 1940[1] |
| General characteristics [2] | |
| Class and type: | German Type IXB submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,051 t (1,034 long tons) surfaced 1,178 t (1,159 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 76.5 m (251 ft) o/a 58.75 m (192 ft 9 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.76 m (22 ft 2 in) o/a 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Draught: | 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | Diesel/Electric 2 × MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged 9 cylinder diesel engines, 4,400 hp (3,300kW), 2 × SSW 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1000 hp (740kW) |
| Speed: | 18.2 kn (33.7 km/h; 20.9 mph) surfaced 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 12,000 nmi (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 64 nmi (119 km; 74 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Complement: | 48 to 56 officers and ratings |
| Armament: |
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German submarine U-122 was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that operated during World War II.
She was ordered on 15 December 1937 and was laid down on 5 March 1939 at DeSchiMAG AG Weser, Bremen, becoming yard number 954. She was launched on 20 December 1939 and commissioned under her first and only commander, Korvettenkapitän Hans-Günther Looff on 30 March 1940.
Service history
She carried out two combat patrols with the 2nd U-boat Flotilla. On her first foray in May 1940, she transported an 88 mm Flak (anti-aircraft gun) with ammunition, some bombs, 90 cbm (some 750 barrels (119 m3)) of fuel for aircraft and some motor oil to Trondheim during the Norwegian campaign. On 23 May she encountered an enemy submarine in the North Atlantic, but neither boat attacked each other.[3] She sank a single ship during her career, the SS Empire Conveyor on 20 June 1940.
She was declared missing with all hands after 22 June 1940 between the North Sea and the Bay of Biscay. She may have collided with the vessel San Felipe on 22 June, or been sunk by depth charges from the corvette HMS Arabis on 23 June.
Dutch and Polish authors suggest that U-122 was sunk after being rammed by the submarine ORP Wilk during the early morning hours of 21 June.[4] The captain of Wilk reported ramming a surfaced U-boat while it was attempting to dive. This version was often disputed and an alternative theory states that Wilk instead rammed and sank the Dutch submarine O-13. However, the first officer of Wilk said that the enemy submarine was rammed in front of its deck gun, which suggests that Wilk indeed sank a U-boat, as O-13 lacked such a weapon.[5]
References
- ↑ Kemp 1999, p. 66.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 105-7.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXB boat U-122". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ↑ "Dutch Submarines: The Wilk case part one". Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ↑ "WWW.ORZEL.ONE.PL - Strona po�więcona okrętowi podwodnemu z okresu II Wojny Światowej ORP ORZEŁ - Artykuły: W zderzeniu z Wilkiem". Retrieved 3 October 2014.
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
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXB boat U-122". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
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