German submarine U-163 (1941)
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-163 |
| Ordered: | 25 December 1939 |
| Builder: | DeSchiMAG, Bremen |
| Yard number: | 702 |
| Laid down: | 8 May 1940 |
| Launched: | 1 May 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 21 October 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk on 12/13 March 1943 by a Canadian warship[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) overall 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 (8 July–31 December 1941) 2nd U-boat Flotilla (1 January 1942–27 September 1943) |
| Commanders: |
K.Kapt. Kurt-Eduard Englemann (21 October–13 March 1943) |
| Operations: | Three patrols |
| Victories: |
Three ships sunk for a total of 15,011 gross register tons (GRT) one warship a total loss, (2,000 gross register tons (GRT)) |
German submarine U-163 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 8 May 1940 at the DeSchiMAG, Bremen yard as yard number 700. She was launched on 1 May 1941 and commissioned on 21 November under the command of Korvettenkapitän Kurt-Eduard Engelmann.
The U-boat's service began with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla. She then moved to the 10th flotilla on 1 August 1942 for operations. She sank three ships, totalling 15,011 tons and one warship was declared a total loss (1,130 tons).
She was sunk by a Canadian corvette in March 1943.
Operational career
1st patrol
The submarine's first patrol took her from Kiel on 21 July 1942, across the North Sea and through the 'gap' between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She arrived at Lorient, in occupied France, on 16 January. She would be based at this Atlantic port for the rest of her career. She had crossed the Atlantic Ocean and sailed to the southern Cuban coast.
2nd patrol
Her second foray took her to the area north of South America. Here she sank La Cordillera on 5 November 1942 85 nmi (157 km; 98 mi) east of Barbados. She also damaged an American gunboat, the USS Erie on 12 November and sank Empire Starling northeast of Barbados on the 21st. Her final victim on this patrol was Apóide which went down a day later. She returned to Lorient on 6 January 1943.
3rd patrol and Loss
The U-boat departed Lorient for the last time on 10 March 1943. On the 13 March 1943, she was sunk by depth charges from HMCS Prescott northwest of Cape Finisterre, Spain. 57 men (all hands) died.
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 November 1942 | La Cordillera |  United Kingdom |
5,185 | Sunk |
| 12 November 1942 | USS Erie (PG-50) |  United States Navy |
2,000 | Total loss |
| 21 November 1942 | Empire Starling | United Kingdom |
6,060 | Sunk |
| 22 November 1942 | Apalóide | .svg.png){kind=small} Brazil |
3,766 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Kemp 1999, p. 107.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 105-7.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-163". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. 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 IX boat U-163". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- U-163 at ubootwaffe.net
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 163". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2014.
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