German submarine U-549
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-549 |
| Ordered: | 5 June 1941 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werft, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 370 |
| Laid down: | 28 September 1942 |
| Launched: | 28 April 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 14 July 1943 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 29 May 1944[1] |
| General characteristics [2] | |
| 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[3][4] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
4th U-boat Flotilla (14 July–31 December 1943) 10th U-boat Flotilla (1 January–29 May 1944) |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Detlev Krankenhagen (14 July 1943–29 May 1944) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 11 January–26 March 1944 |
| Victories: |
One warship sunk (9,393 GRT) one warship damaged (1,300 GRT) |
German submarine U-549 was a Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 28 September 1942 at the Deutsche Werft yard in Hamburg, launched on 28 April 1943, and commissioned on 14 July 1943 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Detlev Krankenhagen. After training with the 4th U-boat Flotilla at Stettin, the U-boat was transferred to the 10th U-boat Flotilla for front-line service on 1 January 1944.[3]
Service history
1st patrol
U-549 departed Kiel on 11 January 1944, and sailed out into the mid-Atlantic, via the gap between Iceland and the Faeroe Islands, but had no successes. The U-boat arrived at Lorient in occupied France on 26 March after 76 days at sea.[5]
2nd patrol and loss
The U-boat left Lorient on 14 May 1944 and sailed to the waters north-west of the Canary Islands.[6] At 20:13 on 29 May 1944, U-549 slipped through the anti-submarine screen of the hunter-killer group TG 21.11, and fired three T-3 torpedoes at the escort carrier USS Block Island, hitting her with two, and severely damaging the ship which was later sunk by her escorts.[7] At 20.40 hours the U-boat fired a salvo of T-5 acoustic torpedoes, badly damaging the destroyer escort Barr (DE-576), and missing the Eugene E. Elmore (DE-686).[8] A counter-attack with depth charges was launched by Ahrens (DE-575) and Eugene E. Elmore which sank the U-boat, in position 31°13′N 23°03′W / 31.217°N 23.050°WCoordinates: 31°13′N 23°03′W / 31.217°N 23.050°W. All 57 hands were lost.[3]
Wolfpacks
U-549 took part in three wolfpacks, namely.
- Igel 1 (3–17 February 1944)
- Hai 1 (17–22 February 1944)
- Preussen (22 February - 22 March 1944)
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 May 1944 | USS Barr |  United States Navy |
1,300 | Damaged |
| 29 May 1944 | USS Block Island | United States Navy |
9,393 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Kemp 1999, p. 192.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 105-7.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC/40 boat U-549 - German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "War Patrols by German U-boat U-549 - Boats - uboat.net". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol of U-boat U-549 from 11 Jan 1944 to 26 Mar 1944 - U-boat patrols - uboat.net". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol of U-boat U-549 from 14 May 1944 to 29 May 1944 - U-boat patrols - uboat.net". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "USS Block Island (CVE 21) (Escort carrier) - Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "USS Barr (DE 576) (Destroyer escort) - Ships hit by U-boats - uboat.net". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
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
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 549". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC/40 boat U-549". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- U-549 at ubootwaffe.net
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