German submarine U-1234

Career (Nazi Germany)
Name: U-1234
Ordered: 14 October 1941
Builder: Deutsche Werft, Hamburg
Yard number: 397
Laid down: 11 May 1943
Launched: 7 January 1944
Commissioned: 19 April 1944
Fate: Scuttled, 2 May 1945
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:Type IXC/40 submarine
Displacement:1,144 t (1,126 long tons) surfaced
1,257 t (1,237 long tons) submerged
Length:76.76 m (251 ft 10 in) o/a
58.75 m (192 ft 9 in) pressure hull
Beam:6.86 m (22 ft 6 in) o/a 4.44 m (14 ft 7 in) pressure hull
Height:9.6 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draft:4.67 m (15 ft 4 in)
Propulsion:2 × MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged 9-cylinder diesel engines, 4,400 hp (3,281 kW)
2 × SSW GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (746 kW)
Speed:19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) surfaced
7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph) submerged
Range:13,850 nmi (25,650 km; 15,940 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced
63 nautical miles (117 km; 72 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth:230 m (750 ft)
Complement:4 officers, 44 enlisted
Armament:
  • 6 × torpedo tubes (four bow, two stern)
  • 22 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedoes
  • anti-aircraft guns
Service record
Part of: 31st U-boat Flotilla
(April 1944–January 1945)
4th U-boat Flotilla
(February–May 1945)
Commanders: Kptlt. Helmut Thurmann
(April 1944–May 1944)
Kptlt. Hans-Christian Wrede
(October 1944–May 1945)
Victories: None

German submarine U-1234 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built during World War II for service in the Battle of the Atlantic. U-1234 was unusual for having sunk twice, once by accident and once as part of the great destruction of the remaining Kriegsmarine in the days before the surrender.

Service history

Constructed as a type IX submarine at Hamburg during 1943, U-1234 was delayed in her construction and did not reach full service status until almost a year after her construction began, a very long time for a U-boat. She was given to Kapitänleutnant Helmut Thurmann to command, and he began her process of mechanical testing and operational training in the Baltic Sea. Just under a month after her commissioning, whilst cruising off Gdynia on the night of 14/15 May, she was struck on the broadside by the steam tug Anton. The boat was holed and rapidly began to sink, slipping below the waves leaving her commander and most of her crew bobbing in the sea. Thirteen crew never reached the shore or the rescue boats and went down with their ship.

In October 1944, the boat was raised by divers and lifting equipment from the sea bed, and repaired and recommissioned into the Kriegsmarine. Such severe damage had been done to her vital systems however that she was no longer suitable for full combat duty, and was seconded to a training flotilla, where she remained to the end of the war. On 2 May 1945 her crew took her into the Hörup Happ off Flensberg and scuttled her to keep her from falling into Allied hands as their ground forces approached the port.

In fiction

U-1234 is also featured as a fictional submarine in the anime series Black Lagoon where it plays a vital part as the site of a treasure. In the anime, the boat was sunk by Allied warships off the coast of Jakarta during the war and remained on the ocean floor at a depth of 53 metres (174 ft) for several decades. At the time of the sinking an SS officer had brought along a painting featuring typical mythological Nazi propaganda. The painting itself would bring in a sum of $50,000 to whoever could deliver it to a collector seeking it.

References

  1. ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 105-7.

Bibliography

External links

Coordinates: 54°50′N 9°29′E / 54.833°N 9.483°E