German submarine U-417
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-417 |
| Ordered: | 20 January 1941 |
| Builder: | Danziger Werft, Danzig |
| Yard number: | 118 |
| Laid down: | 16 September 1941 |
| Launched: | 6 September 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 26 September 1942 |
| Fate: | Sunk by a British aircraft[1][2] |
| General characteristics [3] | |
| 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 × 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: |
8th U-boat Flotilla (26 September 1942–31 May 1943) 6th U-boat Flotilla (1 June–11 June 1943) |
| Commanders: |
Oblt.z.S. Wolfgang Schreiner (26 September 1942–11 June 1943) |
| Operations: | 3–11 June 1943 |
| Victories: | None |
German submarine U-417 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She carried out one patrol. She did not sink or damage any ships.
She was sunk by a British aircraft southeast of Iceland in June 1943.[1][2]
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 16 September 1941 at the Danziger Werft (yard) at Danzig (now Gdansk), as yard number 118, launched on 6 September 1942 and commissioned on the 26th under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Wolfgang Schreiner.
She served with the 8th U-boat Flotilla from 26 September 1942 and the 6th flotilla from 1 June 1943.
Patrol and loss
U-417 was sunk on 11 June 1943 southeast of Iceland by depth charges from a British B-17 Flying Fortress of No. 206 Squadron RAF.
Forty-six men were in U-417; there were no survivors.
Aftermath
U-417 's anti-aircraft fire had been accurate. The B-17 ditched; all eight of the crew were forced to share a single dinghy. On 14 June, an American navy PBY Catalina attempted a landing but crashed. Its crew of nine found themselves adrift on two rafts. The B-17 crew were found and rescued by Jack Holmes in a British Catalina of 190 squadron on the same day of their ditching,[4] but the Americans were not found for another five days. Only one man survived, the others died of exposure.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-417". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kemp 1999, p. 124.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 72-74.
- ↑ "Air Commodore Jack Holmes - obituary". Daily Telegraph. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 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
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-417". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- U-417 at ubootwaffe.net