German submarine U-313
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-313 |
| Ordered: | 25 August 1941 |
| Builder: | Flender Werke, Lübeck |
| Yard number: | 313 |
| Laid down: | 11 May 1942 |
| Launched: | 27 March 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 20 May 1943 |
| Fate: | Surrendered, May 1945. Sunk in December as part of Operation Deadlight |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type: | Type VIIC submarine |
| Displacement: | 769 tonnes (757 long tons) surfaced 871 t (857 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 67.1 m (220 ft 2 in) o/a 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in) o/a 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × supercharged Germaniawerft 6-cylinder 4-stroke F46 diesel engines, totalling 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490 2 × GL RP 137/c electric motors, totalling 750 shp (560 kW) and max rpm: 296. |
| Speed: | 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) surfaced 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) Crush depth: 250–295 m (820–968 ft) |
| Complement: | 44–52 officers and ratings |
| Armament: |
|
| Service record[2][3] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
8th U-boat Flotilla (20 May–31 December 1943) 11th U-boat Flotilla (1 January–14 September 1944) 13th U-boat Flotilla (15 September 1944–8 May 1945) |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Friedrich Schweiger (20 May 1943–8 May 1945) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: a. 26 January–2 February 1944 b. 7 February–29 February 1944 2nd patrol: 15 March–13 April 1944 3rd patrol: 25 April–12 May 1944 4th patrol: 30 May–3 July 1944 5th patrol: 6–14 September 1944 6th patrol: 20–23 September 1944 26 September–8 November 1944 7th patrol: 26 September–8 November 8th patrol: 23 November–6 December 1944 9th patrol: 11 December–16 December 1944 10th patrol: 23 December 1944–17 February 1945 11th patrol: 16–29 March 1945 12th patrol: 17 April–8 May 1945 |
| Victories: | None |
German submarine U-313 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 11 May 1941 at the Flender Werke yard at Lübeck as yard number 313, launched on 27 March 1943 and commissioned on 20 May under the command of Kapitänleutnant Friedrich Schweiger.
During her career, the U-boat sailed on twelve combat patrols, but sank no ships before she surrendered at Narvik in May 1945. She was sunk in December as part of Operation Deadlight.[2]
She was a member of eleven wolfpacks.
Service history
The boat's service life began with training with the 8th U-boat Flotilla in May 1943. She was transferred to the 11th flotilla for operations on 1 January 1944. She was then reassigned to the 13th flotilla on 15 September.
She made a pair of short voyages from Kiel in Germany to Stavanger and Bergen in Norway in January 1944.
1st, 2nd and 3rd patrols
The submarine's first patrol began with her departure from Bergen on 26 January 1944. She arrived at Hammerfest on 2 February but departed again on the 7th. She finished the patrol at Hammerfest on the 29th.
U-313 spent her second and third patrols in the Norwegian Sea.
4th, 5th, 6th and 7th patrols
Her fourth sortie took her as far as a point southwest of Bear Island. On 26 June 1944, she was north of Jan Mayen Island.
The boat's fifth patrol kept her closer to the Norwegian coast.
Her sixth and seventh patrols saw the submarine docking in Skillefjord on 23 September 1944, having left Narvik on the 20th. She then left the smaller port on the 26th and returned to Narvik.
8th, 9th and 10th patrols
For her eighth sortie, she rounded the North Cape, passing Murmansk.
Her ninth patrol was relatively short, beginning in Bodenbucht on 11 December 1944, (northwest of Narvik) and terminating in Trondheim on the 16th.
If her previous patrol was brief, her tenth effort, at 57 days, was her longest and involved sailing near to the Orkney Islands. Having departed Trondheim, the boat returned to Narvik.
11th and 12th patrols and fate
Having used Harstad (northwest of Narvik) briefly and following the German capitulation, U-313 was moved, first from Narvik to Skjomenfjord, then to Loch Eriboll in Scotland on 19 May 1945 in preparation for Operation Deadlight. She was finally transferred to Loch Ryan and sunk on 27 November. According to one source, she capsized while under tow by HMS Blencathra.[4]
References
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 72-74.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-313". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "War Patrols by German U-boat U-313". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ↑ Hofmann, Markus. "U 313". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 26 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.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-313". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- U-313 at ubootwaffe.net
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 313". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 26 December 2014.