German submarine U-512
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-512 |
| Ordered: | 20 October 1939 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werft, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 308 |
| Laid down: | 24 February 1941 |
| Launched: | 9 October 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 20 December 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk by aircraft, 2 October 1942[1] |
| General characteristics [2] | |
| Class and type: | Type IXC submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,120 t (1,100 long tons) surfaced 1,232 t (1,213 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 76.76 m (251 ft 10 in) o/a 58.75 m (192 ft 9 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.76 m (22 ft 2 in) o/a 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged 9-cylinder diesel engines, 4,400 hp (3,281 kW) 2 × SSW 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (746 kW) |
| Speed: | 18.3 knots (33.9 km/h; 21.1 mph) surfaced 7.7 knots (14.3 km/h; 8.9 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 13,450 nmi (24,910 km; 15,480 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 64 nautical miles (119 km; 74 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Complement: | 48 to 56 |
| Armament: |
|
| Service record[3][4] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
4th U-boat Flotilla (20 December 1941–31 August 1942) 10th U-boat Flotilla (1 September–2 October 1942) |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Wolfgang Schultze (December 1941–October 1942) |
| Operations: | 1st patrol: 15 August–2 October 1942 |
| Victories: | 3 commercial ships sunk (20,619 GRT) |
German submarine U-512 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built for service during World War II. Although she was short-lived, U-512 was quite a successful boat, making full use of the time she enjoyed in the entrance to the Caribbean Sea, during the Second Happy Time. She was commanded by Kapitänleutnant Wolfgang Schultze, an admiral's son and previously training captain of U-17.
The Deutsche Werft shipyard in Hamburg built her during 1941, she was completed in December, ready for her working-up period in the Baltic Sea to train her crew and iron out any engineering problems. Following this, she was detailed to cross the Atlantic Ocean and operate off the northern coast of South America in order to catch unescorted Allied shipping heading for or leaving the Panama Canal.
Service history
Departing from Kiel on the 15 August 1942, U-512 headed into the Atlantic via the Norwegian coast and the gap between Iceland and the Faeroe Islands and then to the southwest, arriving in her designated patrol zone by the second week in September. She was almost immediately successful, sinking the slow, unescorted 10,000-ton American tanker SS Patrick J. Hurley with her deck gun, claiming 17 lives.[5] A week later, a second ship was found, the lone Spanish freighter SS Monte Gorbea, which was sunk with 52 lives, despite her neutral status. This act would undoubtedly have led to Schultze's court-martial, had he returned from the patrol.[6] U-512 's final victory came on the 24 September, when another American ship, the 6,000-ton SS Antinous was sunk by two torpedoes off Venezuela.[7]
On the 2 October, while still lurking off the South American coast, U-512 was spotted off Cayenne by a B-18 Bolo aircraft belonging to the 99th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces. The aircraft flew low and dropped its bomb load directly on the boat, sinking her and 51 of her crew instantly.[8] Only one man, Matrosengefreiter Franz Machon (Polish: Franciszek Machoń) escaped the boat and was rescued from his raft by the Wickes class destroyer USS Ellis ten days later.[3]
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Ship Name | Nationality | Displacement | Fate[9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 September 1942 | Patrick J Hurley |  United States |
10,865 | Sunk |
| 19 September 1942 | Monte Gorbea | .svg.png){kind=small} Spain |
3,720 | Sunk |
| 24 September 1942 | Antionus | United States |
6,034 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Kemp 1999, p. 91.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 105-6.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC boat U-512". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "War Patrols by German U-boat U-512". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrick J. Hurley (Steam tanker)". Allied Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Monte Gorbea (Motor merchant)". Allied Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Antinous (Steam merchant)". Allied Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
- ↑ "U-Boat Crew Lists". www.ubootwaffe.net. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-512". Allied Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net. Retrieved 3 October 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.
- Sharpe, Peter (1998). U-Boat Fact File. Great Britain: Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC boat U-512". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
| ||||||||||||||