German submarine U-3519

Career (Nazi Germany)
Name: U-3519
Ordered: 6 November 1943
Builder: Schichau-Werke, Danzig
Yard number: 1664
Laid down: 19 September 1944
Launched: 23 November 1944
Commissioned: 6 January 1945
Fate: Sunk by mine, 2 March 1945
General characteristics
Class and type:Type XXI submarine
Displacement:1,621 t (1,595 long tons) surfaced
2,100 t (2,067 long tons) submerged
Length:76.7 m (251 ft 8 in)
Beam:8 m (26 ft 3 in)
Draught:5.3 m (17 ft 5 in)
Propulsion:Diesel/Electric
2 × MAN M6V40/46KBB supercharged 6-cylinder diesel engines, 4,000 PS (2.9 MW)
2 × SSW GU365/30 double-acting electric motors, 5,000 PS (3.7 MW)
2 × SSW GV232/28 silent running electric motors, 226 PS (0.166 MW)
Speed:Surfaced:
15.6 knots (28.9 km/h; 18.0 mph) (diesel)
17.9 knots (33.2 km/h; 20.6 mph) (electric)
Submerged:
17.2 knots (31.9 km/h; 19.8 mph) (electric)
6.1 knots (11.3 km/h; 7.0 mph) (silent running motors)
Range:15,500 nautical miles (28,700 km; 17,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced
340 nautical miles (630 km; 390 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Complement:57 officers and men
Sensors and
processing systems:		Type F432 D2 Radar Transmitter
FuMB Ant 3 Bali Radar Detector
Armament:
  • 6 × bow torpedo tubes
  • 23 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedoes
  • (or 17 × torpedoes and 12 × mines)
  • 4 × 2 cm (0.8 in) AA guns
Service record[1]
Part of: 8th U-boat Flotilla
(6 January–15 February 1945)
5th U-boat Flotilla
(16 February–2 March 1945)
Commanders: Kptlt. Richard von Harpe[2]
6 January 1945 - 2 March 1945
Operations: None
Victories: None

German submarine U-3519 was a Type XXI U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The Elektroboote submarine was laid down on 19 September 1944 at the Schichau-Werke yard at Danzig, launched on 23 November 1944, and commissioned on 6 January 1945 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Richard von Harpe.[1]

U-3519 was a brand new, high technology electric boat which could run constantly submerged rather than having to surface to recharge her batteries every day the way submarines until that point had had to do. Unfortunately for the Germans, these advanced vessels were only introduced to the Kriegsmarine late in 1944, much too late to influence the Battle of the Atlantic, and too late for many of them to serve in an offensive capacity at all.

With the end of the war near, training on U-boats had dropped to a minimum due to lack of fuel, falling morale and the effectiveness of allied attacks on U-boat construction and preparation. The exception to this were the new Type XXI boats, which continued to train in the Baltic Sea. To prevent this, the Royal Air Force dropped thousands of sea mines into German territorial waters, in the hope that submarines entering or leaving harbour or training in shallow waters would be lost on them. This is what destroyed the U-3519 on 2 March 1945, when she ran afoul of an air-dropped mine near Warnemünde, in position 54°11′N 12°05′E / 54.183°N 12.083°ECoordinates: 54°11′N 12°05′E / 54.183°N 12.083°E and sank to the bottom taking all 65 of her crew with her.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type XXI boat U-3519". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  2. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Richard von Harpe (German Cross in Gold)". German U-boats of World War II - Uboat.net. Retrieved 26 April 2015.

Bibliography

External links