German submarine U-541
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-541 |
| Ordered: | 5 June 1941 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werft, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 362 |
| Laid down: | 5 June 1942 |
| Launched: | 5 January 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 24 March 1943 |
| Fate: | Surrendered, 12 May 1945 at Gibraltar; transferred to Lisahally in Northern Ireland. Sunk, January 1946 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type: | Type IXC/40 submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,144 t (1,126 long tons) surfaced 1,257 t (1,237 long tons) submerged |
| Length: | 76.76 m (251 ft 10 in) o/a 58.75 m (192 ft 9 in) pressure hull |
| Beam: | 6.86 m (22 ft 6 in) o/a 4.44 m (14 ft 7 in) pressure hull |
| Height: | 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 4.67 m (15 ft 4 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × MAN M 9 V 40/46 supercharged 9-cylinder diesel engines, 4,400 hp (3,281 kW) 2 × SSW GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors, 1,000 hp (746 kW) |
| Speed: | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) surfaced 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 13,850 nmi (25,650 km; 15,940 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 63 nautical miles (117 km; 72 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged |
| Test depth: | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Complement: | 4 officers, 44 enlisted |
| Armament: |
|
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
4th U-boat Flotilla (24 March 1942–31 October 1943) 10th U-boat Flotilla (1 November 1943–31 October 1944) 33rd U-boat Flotilla (1 November 1944–8 May 1945) |
| Identification codes: | M 51 083 |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Kurt Petersen (24 March 1943–12 May 1945) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 4 November 1943–9 January 1944 2nd patrol: 29 February–22 June 1944 3rd patrol: 6 August–11 November 1944 4th patrol: 7 April –12 May 1945 |
| Victories: | One ship sunk, (2,140 GRT). |
German submarine U-541 was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She was laid down at the Deutsche Werft (yard) in Hamburg as yard number 362 on 5 May 1942, launched on 5 January 1943 and commissioned on 24 March with Kapitänleutnant Kurt Petersen (Crew 36) in command.
U-541 began her service career with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla from 24 March 1943. She was re-assigned to the 10th flotilla for operations on 1 November, then the 33rd flotilla on 1 November 1944.
She carried out four patrols and sank one ship. She was a member of four wolfpacks.
She surrendered on 12 May 1945 at Gibraltar and was transferred to Lisahally in Northern Ireland for Operation Deadlight. She was sunk in January 1946.
Operational career
1st patrol
U-541 's first patrol began with her departure from Kiel on 4 November 1943. She passed through the gap separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands before heading out into the Atlantic Ocean.
She entered Lorient, on the French Atlantic coast, on 9 January 1944.
2nd and 3rd patrols
For her second foray, U-541 headed toward the eastern seaboard of North America.
On her third sortie, she sank the Livingston northeast of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia.
The boat was preparing to attack a convoy while on the surface in the Gulf of St. Lawrence when HMCS Norsyd opened fire; U-541 was forced to dive. She was then hunted for two days by four frigates, a minesweeper and aircraft of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), but escaped.
4th patrol
Her last patrol began in Horten in Norway on 7 April 1945. It ended with her surrender in Gibraltar on 12 May 1945.
Fate
U-541 was transferred to Lisahally in Northern Ireland for Operation Deadlight. She was sunk on 5 January 1946 at 55°38′N 07°35′W / 55.633°N 7.583°W.[2]
Wolfpacks
U-541 took part in four wolfpacks, namely.
- Coronel (4–8 December 1943)
- Coronel 2 (8–14 December 1943)
- Coronel 3 (14–17 December 1943)
- Borkum (18–26 December 1943)
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 September 1944 | Livingston |  United Kingdom |
2,140 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 105-7.
- ↑ Busch & Röll 1999, p. 393.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-541". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 30 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.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC/40 boat U-541". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 541". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 1 February 2015.
| ||||||||||||||