German submarine U-179
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-179 |
| Ordered: | 28 May 1940 |
| Builder: | DeSchiMAG AG Weser, Bremen |
| Yard number: | 1019 |
| Laid down: | 15 January 1941 |
| Launched: | 18 November 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 7 March 1942 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 8 October 1942[1] |
| General characteristics [2] | |
| Class and type: | Type IXD2 |
| Displacement: | 1,610 t (1,580 long tons) surfaced 1,799 t (1,771 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 87.58 m (287 ft 4 in) overall 68.5 m (224 ft 9 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in) overall 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 10.2 m (33 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 5.35 m (17 ft 7 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged 9-cylinder diesel engines, 4,400 hp (3,300 kW) 2 × SSW 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (740 kW) |
| Speed: | 20.8 knots (38.5 km/h; 23.9 mph) surfaced 6.9 knots (12.8 km/h; 7.9 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 12,750 nmi (23,610 km; 14,670 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 213 nautical miles (394 km; 245 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Complement: | 55 to 63 |
| Armament: |
|
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
4th U-boat Flotilla (7 March–31 August 1942) 10th U-boat Flotilla (1 September–30 September 1942) 12th U-boat Flotilla (1 October 1942–8 October 1942) |
| Commanders: |
K.Kapt. Ernst Sobe (7 March–8 October 1942) |
| Operations: | One patrol: 15 August–8 October 1942 |
| Victories: | One ship sunk, 6,558 gross register tons (GRT) |
German submarine U-179 was a Type IXD2 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II.
Ordered on 28 May 1940, the U-boat was laid down on 15 January 1941 at the DeSchiMAG AG Weser yard in Bremen as yard number 1019, launched on 18 November, and commissioned on 7 March 1942, under the command of Korvettenkapitän Ernst Sobe.[3]
1st patrol and loss
U-178 sailed from Kiel on 8 September 1942 into the Atlantic, passing north of Scotland and then turned southwest through the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She headed south for the waters around Cape Town. She made her only kill on 8 October, sinking the unescorted SS City of Athens. All but one of the 99 crewmen survived. The survivors managed to recover a cat from the wreckage after the sinking.[4]
The boat was sunk by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Active west southwest of Cape Town in South Africa on 8 October 1942. Sixty-one men died, there were no survivors.
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 October 1942 | City of Athens |  United Kingdom |
6,558 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Kemp 1999, p. 91.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, p. 114.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXD2 boat U-179". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "City of Athens". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-179". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 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
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 179". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXD2 boat U-179". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
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