German submarine U-419

Career (Nazi Germany)
Name: U-419
Ordered: 20 January 1941
Builder: Danziger Werft, Danzig
Yard number: 120
Laid down: 7 November 1941
Launched: 22 August 1942
Commissioned: 18 November 1942
Fate: Sunk by a British aircraft in mid-Atlantic, October 1943[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 × 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: 8th U-boat Flotilla
(18 November 194231 July 1943)
11th U-boat Flotilla
(1 August8 October 1943)
Commanders: Oblt.z.S. Dietrich Giersberg
(18 November 19428 October 1943)
Operations: 13 August8 October 1943
Victories: None

German submarine U-419 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

She carried out one patrol. She was a member of one wolfpack. She did not sink or damage any ships.

She was sunk by a British aircraft in mid-Atlantic in October 1943.[1][3]

Service history

The submarine was laid down on 7 November 1941 at the Danziger Werft (yard) at Danzig (now Gdansk), as yard number 120, launched on 22 August 1942 and commissioned on 18 November under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Dietrich Giersberg.

She served with the 8th U-boat Flotilla from 18 November 1942 and the 11th flotilla from 1 August 1943.

Patrol and loss

The boat's only patrol was preceded by a trip from Kiel in Germany to Bergen in Norway. U-419 then left Bergen on 13 September 1943 and headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. On 8 October, she was attacked and sunk by depth charges dropped by a British B-24 Liberator of No. 86 Squadron RAF.

Forty-eight men went down with the U-boat; there was one survivor.

Wolfpacks

U-419 took part in one wolfpack, namely.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Kemp 1999, p. 149.
  2. Gröner 1985, pp. 72-74.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-419". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 16 September 2012.

Bibliography

External links