German submarine U-387
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-387 |
| Ordered: | 21 November 1940 |
| Builder: | Howaldtswerke, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 18 |
| Laid down: | 5 September 1941 |
| Launched: | 1 October 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 24 November 1942 |
| Fate: | Sunk by a British warship in the Barents Sea in December 1944[1] |
| General characteristics [2] | |
| 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[3] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
5th U-boat Flotilla (24 November 1942–30 June 1943) 7th U-boat Flotilla (1 July–31 October 1943) 13th U-boat Flotilla (1 November–9 December 1943) |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Rudolf Büchler (24 November 1942–9 December 1944) |
| Operations: |
Ten patrols: 3 July–21 August 1943 18 September–4 October 1943 22 October–6 December 1943 20 April–5 May 1944 20 May–8 June 1944 23–24 June 1944 11–21 July 1944 28 September–3 October 1944 9 October–10 November 1944 21 November–9 December 1944 |
| Victories: | None |
German submarine U-387 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She carried out ten patrols. She sank no ships.
She was a member of eleven wolfpacks.
She was sunk by a British warship in the Barents Sea in December 1944.[3]
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 5 September 1941 at the Howaldtswerke yard at Kiel as yard number 18, launched on 1 October 1942 and commissioned on 24 November under the command of Kapitänleutnant Rudolf Büchler.[3]
She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 24 November 1942 and the 7th flotilla from 1 July 1943. She was reassigned to the 13th flotilla from 1 November until her loss.
1st patrol
U-387 's first patrol was preceded by short trips from Kiel to Marviken, then to Bergen in June 1943. The boat's patrol proper commenced with her departure from Bergen on 3 July. She followed the Norwegian coast as far as Bodø and then headed due north as far as a point a few miles short of Svalbard. She then sailed south, passing to the west of Bear Island, docking in Narvik on 21 August. At 50 days, it was her longest patrol, but sighting the enemy did not happen.
2nd and 3rd patrols
The boat's second and third sorties were both divided into two parts. Her crew got to know the northern Norwegian, Greenland and Barents Seas particularly well.
4th, 5th and 6th patrols
The monotony of her fourth, fifth and sixth forays was not relieved by success.
7th patrol
By now based in Narvik, the submarine was carrying out her seventh patrol when she was attacked by a Norwegian-crewed Sunderland flying boat of No. 330 Squadron RAF. Enough damage was inflicted to oblige the U-boat to put into Trondheim for repairs.
8th and 9th patrols
U-387 's eighth patrol was uneventful as was her ninth, which took her to the waters around the North Cape.
10th patrol and loss
The boat left Narvik for the last time on 24 November 1944. On 9 December, she was sunk in the Barents Sea near Murmansk by depth charges dropped by the British corvette HMS Bamborough Castle.
Fifty-one men died in the U-boat; there were no survivors.[3]
Wolfpacks
U-387 took part in eleven wolfpacks, namely.
- Monsun (4–5 October 1943)
- Eisenbart (23 October - 5 December 1943)
- Eisenbart (7 December 1943 - 3 January 1944)
- Donner & Keil (21 April - 3 May 1944)
- Trutz (23–31 May 1944)
- Grimm (31 May - 6 June 1944)
- Feuer (17 September 1944)
- Zorn (29 September - 1 October 1944)
- Grimm (1–2 October 1944)
- Panther (17 October - 7 November 1944)
- Stier (25 November - 9 December 1944)
References
- ↑ Kemp 1999, p. 225.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 72-74.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-387". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
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 VIIC boat U-387". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- U-387 at ubootwaffe.net