German submarine U-131 (1941)
 Emblem of U-131 | |
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-131 |
| Ordered: | 7 August 1939 |
| Builder: | DeSchiMAG AG Weser, Bremen |
| Yard number: | 994 |
| Laid down: | 1 September 1940 |
| Launched: | 1 April 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 1 July 1941 |
| Fate: | Scuttled, 17 December 1941[1] |
| General characteristics [2] | |
| Class and type: | Type IXC submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,120 t (1,100 long tons) surfaced 1,232 t (1,213 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 76.76 m (251 ft 10 in) o/a 58.7 m (192 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.76 m (22 ft 2 in) o/a 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged 9-cylinder diesel engines, 4,000 hp (2,983 kW) 2 × SSW 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (746 kW) |
| Speed: | 18.3 knots (33.9 km/h; 21.1 mph) surfaced 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 13,450 nmi (24,910 km; 15,480 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 |
| Armament: |
|
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
4th U-boat Flotilla (1 July 1941–1 November 1941) 2nd U-boat Flotilla (1 November 1941–17 December 1941) |
| Commanders: |
K.Kapt. Arend Baumann (1 July 1941–17 December 1941) |
| Operations: | 1st patrol: 27 November–17 December 1941 |
| Victories: | One commercial ships sunk (4,016 GRT) |
German submarine U-131 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
Built at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, she was laid down on 1 September 1940, launched on 1 April 1941, and commissioned on 1 July 1941, with Korvettenkapitän Arend Baumann in command.
Service history
U-131 sailed from Kiel on her first and only patrol on 27 November 1941.[3]
On 6 December she torpedoed and sank the 4,016 ton British cargo ship Scottish Trader, a straggler from convoy SC-56, en route from Philadelphia to Liverpool, south of Iceland. All 43 of the crew perished.[4]
On 17 December U-131 was spotted by a Martlet aircraft from the escort carrier HMS Audacity while shadowing Convoy HG 76 as part of the Seeräuber (English: "Pirate", lit. "Sea Robber") wolfpack.[5]
U-131 was forced to dive, while ships of the 36th Escort Group, commanded by Frederic John Walker in HMS Stork, with four other escorts; such as the destroyers HMS Exmoor, Blankney and Stanley and the corvette Pentstemon, approached to continue the attack. Detected by Stanley 's ASDIC (sonar), she was depth charged by Pentstemon, and forced to surface, due to chlorine gas coming from the batteries. Unable to dive, she attempted to escape by running at full speed on the surface. While under pursuit U-131 shot down an attacking Martlet aircraft, killing the pilot, but was then shelled by the escort group, which scored several hits. Realizing that the situation was hopeless, the crew abandoned the U-boat and scuttled her. All 47 of the crew survived and were taken prisoner.[6][1]
Wolfpacks
U-131 took part in one wolfpack, namely.
- Seeräuber (14–17 December 1941)
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[7] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 December 1941 | Scottish Trader |  United Kingdom |
4,016 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kemp 1999, pp. 75-6.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 105-6.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol of U-boat U-131 from 27 Nov 1941 to 17 Dec". U-boat patrols - uboat.net. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Scottish Trader (Steam merchant)". Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Wolfpack Seeräuber". Wolfpacks - U-boat Operations - uboat.net. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC boat U-131". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-131". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 30 September 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 IXC boat U-131". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 131". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 31 January 2015.
| ||||||||||||||