German submarine U-394
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-394 |
| Ordered: | 20 January 1941 |
| Builder: | Howaldtswerke, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 26 |
| Laid down: | 31 March 1942 |
| Launched: | 19 June 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 7 August 1943 |
| Motto: |
 |
| Fate: | Sunk, by a British aircraft and warships in the Norwegian Sea, September 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[1] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
5th U-boat Flotilla (7 August 1943–31 March 1944) 1st U-boat Flotilla (1 April–31 May 1944) 11th U-boat Flotilla (1 June–2 September 1944) |
| Commanders: |
Oblt.z.S. Ernst-Günther Unterhorst (7–18 August 1943) Kptlt. Wolfgang Borger (19 August 1943–2 September 1944) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 1 June–8 July 1944 2nd patrol: 27 July–2 September 1944 |
| Victories: | None |
German submarine U-394 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She carried out two patrols. She did not sink or damage any ships.
She was sunk by a British aircraft and warships in the Norwegian Sea in September 1944.[1]
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 31 January 1941 at the Howaldtswerke (yard) at Flensburg as yard number 26, launched on 19 June 1943 and commissioned on 7 August under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Ernst-Günther Unterhorst.
The boat was a member of two wolfpacks.
She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 7 August 1943 and the 1st flotilla from 1 April 1944. She was reassigned to the 11h flotilla on 1 June.
Her first patrol was preceded by a series of short journey from Kiel in Germany to Arendal (northeast of Kristiansand), Bergen and Narvik in Norway.
1st patrol
The boat departed Narvik on 1 June 1944. She was soon sweeping the Norwegian Sea between Jan Mayen island and the Norwegian mainland. She arrived at Hammerfest on 8 July.
2nd patrol and loss
U-394 left Hammerfest on 27 July 1944. She patrolled the Greenland and Barents seas. On 2 September, southeast of Jan Mayen, she was sunk by rockets and depth charges from a Fairey Swordfish of 825 Naval Air Squadron (this aircraft was from the escort carrier HMS Vindex), the British destroyers HMS Keppel and HMS Whitehall. The sloops HMS Mermaid and HMS Peacock were also involved.
50 men died in the U-boat; there were no survivors.
Wolfpacks
U-394 took part in two wolfpacks, namely.
- Trutz (2 June - 6 July 1944)
- Trutz (17 August - 2 September 1944)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-394". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 72-74.
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
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 394". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-394". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
- U-394 at ubootwaffe.net