German submarine U-153 (1941)
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-153 |
| Ordered: | 25 September 1939 |
| Builder: | DeSchiMAG AG Weser, Bremen |
| Yard number: | 995 |
| Laid down: | 12 September 1940 |
| Launched: | 5 April 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 19 July 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk on 13 July 1942[1][2] |
| General characteristics [3] | |
| 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: |
Kriegsmarine 4th U-boat Flotilla (19 July–31 May) 2nd U-boat Flotilla (1 June–13 July 1942) |
| Commanders: | Wilfried Reichmann |
| Operations: | Two patrols |
| Victories: | Three ships sunk for a total of 16,186 GRT |
German submarine U-153 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II. The keel for this boat was laid down on 12 September 1940 at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser yard in Bremen, Germany as yard number 995. She was launched on 5 April 1941 and commissioned on 19 July under the command of Korvettenkapitän Wilfried Reichmann.
The submarine began her service life with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla; moving on to the 2nd flotilla for operations. She conducted two patrols, sinking three ships.
She was sunk by an American destroyer in July 1942.
Operational history
1st patrol
The boat's first patrol began with her departure from Kiel on 18 May 1942. After a brief stop in Kristiansand in Norway, she headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the gap between the Faroe and Shetland Islands. After a long southwest, south and southeast sweep, she docked at Lorient in occupied France, on the 30th.
2nd patrol and loss
She sank Anglo-Canadian on 25 June 1942 800 nmi (1,500 km; 920 mi) northeast of Antigua. The survivors were helped to lifeboats and received water and cigarettes. The following day, she sank Potlatch, about 650 nmi (1,200 km; 750 mi) east of the Virgin Islands. She also sank Ruth on the 29th about 320 nmi (590 km; 370 mi) north northeast of Barbuda.
U-153 was attacked by US A-20a aircraft of the 59th Bomb Squadron, USAAF on 6 July 1942 in the eastern Caribbean. She was sunk on the 13th near Colón, not far from the entrance to the Panama Canal, by the American destroyer USS Lansdowne.
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 June 1942 | Anglo-Canadian |  United Kingdom |
5,268 | Sunk |
| 27 June 1942 | Potlatch |  United States |
6,085 | Sunk |
| 29 June 1942 | Ruth | United States |
4,833 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Kemp 1999, p. 84.
- ↑ Gannon, Michael - Operation Drumbeat - the dramatic true story of Germany's first U-boat attacks along the American coast in World War II, 1990, Harper and Row publishers, ISBN 0-06-016155-8, p. 384 .
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 105-7.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-153". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 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-153". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- U-153 at ubootwaffe.net
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 153". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2014.
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