German submarine U-514
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-514 |
| Ordered: | 14 February 1940 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werft, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 310 |
| Laid down: | 29 April 1941 |
| Launched: | 18 November 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 24 January 1942 |
| Fate: | Sunk 8 July 1943[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | German Type IXC submarine  (?) |
| Type: | Type IXC submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,120 t (1,100 long tons) surfaced 1,232 t (1,213 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 76.8 m (252 ft 0 in) o/a 58.7 m (192 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.8 m (22 ft 4 in) o/a 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 9.4 m (30 ft 10 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: | 18.2 knots (33.7 km/h; 20.9 mph) surfaced 7.7 knots (14.3 km/h; 8.9 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 24,880 nmi (46,080 km; 28,630 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 117 nautical miles (217 km; 135 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[2][3] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
4th U-boat Flotilla (24 January – 31 August 1942) 10th U-boat Flotilla (1 September 1942 – 8 July 1943) |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Hans-Jürgen Auffermann (24 January 1942 – 8 July 1943) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 15 August – 9 November 1942 2nd patrol: 9 December 1942 – 12 February 1943 3rd patrol: 15 April – 22 May 1943 4th patrol: 1–8 July 1943 |
| Victories: |
Four commercial ships sunk (16,329 GRT) two commercial ship damaged (13,551 GRT) two commercial ship a total loss (8,202 GRT) |
German submarine U-514 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down by Hamburg Werft as yard number 310 on 29 April 1941, launched on 18 November and commissioned in December 1941 under Kapitänleutnant Hans-Jürgen Auffermann.
The U-boat was assigned to the 4th U-boat Flotilla for training between 24 January and 31 August 1942 and then the 10th flotilla for operations from 1 September until her loss.
Operational career
1st patrol
U-514 's operational career began with a short journey from Kiel in Germany to Kristiansand in Norway over 12 and 13 August 1942. She then almost immediately headed west into the Atlantic via the gap between Iceland and the Faeroe Islands. Her first victim was the British sailing schooner Helen Forsey in mid-ocean. Following this success, she moved toward the northern coast of South America, where she attacked five ships. One of them was the Canadian merchant vessel SS Cornwallis on 11 September 1942 off Barbados, firing six torpedoes into Carlisle Bay. These either missed or impacted on the harbor's anti-torpedo netting. After returning fire with her four-inch gun, Cornwallis sustained a strike from one torpedo that had passed through one of at least four damaged portions of the netting around 4:30 PM. The ship was beached, lest she sink in the harbor, repaired and subsequently returned to service.[4] The boat returned to occupied France, docking in Lorient on 9 November after sinking over 17,000 tons of shipping in 87 days at sea.
2nd patrol
Her second foray between 9 December 1942 and 12 February 1943, although at 66 days not as long as her first, still accounted for 15,270 tons of shipping.
3rd patrol
On her third patrol, the outbound boat was attacked twice in the same day, 17 April 1943. The first was by a Wellington of 172 Squadron RAF; the second was by a Whitley of 10 Squadron. Both attacks were unsuccessful, as was U-514 's patrol.
4th patrol
The German submarine departed Lorient on 1 July 1943 but was sunk on the 8th northwest of Cape Finisterre, Spain by rockets fitted to a British B-24 Liberator of 224 Squadron in the Bay of Biscay among a group of Spanish fishing boats.[4] This modification, although effective in this case, was not adopted for use by such an aircraft as the Liberator.
Wolfpacks
U-514 took part in six wolfpacks, namely.
- Delphin (5 January - 9 February 1943)
- Amsel (22 April - 3 May 1943)
- Specht (27 April - 4 May 1943)
- Fink (4–6 May 1943)
- Elbe (7–10 May 1943)
- Elbe 1 (10–14 May 1943)
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 1942 | Helen Farsey |  United Kingdom |
167 | Sunk |
| 11 September 1942 | Cornwallis |  Canada |
5,458 | Damaged |
| 15 September 1942 | Kioto | United Kingdom |
3,297 | Sunk |
| 28 September 1942 | Lages |  Brazil |
5,472 | Total loss |
| 28 September 1942 | Osorio | Brazil |
2,730 | Total loss |
| 12 October 1942 | Steel Scientist |  United States |
5,688 | Sunk |
| 3 January 1943 | British Vigilance | United Kingdom |
8,093 | Damaged |
| 27 January 1943 | Charles C. Pinckney | United States |
7,177 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Kemp 1999, p. 129.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Type IXC U-boat U-514". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "War Patrols by U-boat U-514". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Humphrey Metzgen and John Graham, Caribbean Wars Untold: A Salute to the British West Indies, University of West Indies Press, 2007, ISBN 976-640-203-5, ISBN 978-976-640-203-7
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-514". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 29 January 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 IXC boat U-514". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
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