German submarine U-565
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-565 |
| Ordered: | 24 October 1939 |
| Builder: | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 541 |
| Laid down: | 3 March 1940 |
| Launched: | 20 February 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 10 April 1941 |
| Fate: | Scuttled, after being earlier bombed by US aircraft, on 24 September 1944 at position 37°57′N 23°40′E / 37.950°N 23.667°E in the Mediterranean. |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| 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 & ratings |
| Armament: |
|
| Service record[2] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
1st U-boat Flotilla (10 April 1941 - 1 July 1941) - Training 1st U-boat Flotilla (1 July 1941 - 31 December 1941) 29th U-boat Flotilla (1 January 1942 - 24 September 1944) |
| Commanders: |
|
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 8 July - 6 August 1941 2nd patrol: 1 September - 7 October 1941 3rd patrol: 3 November - 25 December 1941 4th patrol: 21 January - 17 March 1942 5th patrol: 11–30 April 1942 6th patrol: 7 May - 10 June 1942 7th patrol: 9 July - 4 August 1942 8th patrol: 16–25 August 1942 9th patrol: 31 August - 4 September 1942 10th patrol: 25 October - 13 November 1942 11th patrol: 23 November 1942 - 1 January 1943 12th patrol: 14 February - 5 March 1943 13th patrol: 8 April - 12 May 1943 14th patrol: 17 June - 23 July 1943 15th patrol: 7 September - 1 October 1943 16th patrol: 23 October - 4 November 1943 17th patrol: 6–23 November 1943 18th patrol: 12–27 December 1943 19th patrol: 15–7 March 1944 20th patrol: 1 April - 2 May 1944 21st patrol: 26 August - 13 September 1944 |
| Victories: |
3 merchant ships sunk (11,347 GRT) 2 merchant ship damaged (17,565 GRT) 2 warships sunk (6,990 tons) |
German submarine U-565 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine for service during World War II. She was laid down on 3 March 1940 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg as yard number 541, launched on 20 February 1941 and commissioned on 10 April 1941 under Oberleutnant Johann Jebsen.
Service history
The boat's service began on 10 April 1941 with training as part of the 1st U-boat Flotilla. She was transferred to the 29th flotilla on 1 January 1942 in the Mediterranean where she remained until being scuttled in 1944.
In 21 patrols she sank three merchant ships, for a total of 11,347 gross register tons (GRT), plus two warships sunk and another two merchant ships damaged.
Wolfpacks
She took part in two wolfpacks, namely,
- Arnauld (5–18 November 1941)
- Wal (10–12 November 1942)
Fate
U-565 was badly damaged by bombs dropped by US aircraft on 19 September 1944 in the Mediterranean near Skaramanga in Greece. She was eventually scuttled in Salamis by 3 depth charges on 24 September 1944.
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 March 1942 | HMS Naiad |  Royal Navy |
5,450 | Sunk |
| 23 April 1942 | Kirkland |  United Kingdom |
1,361 | Sunk |
| 18 December 1942 | HMS Partridge | Royal Navy |
1,540 | Sunk |
| 24 February 1943 | Nathanael Greene |  United States |
7,176 | Damaged |
| 27 February 1943 | Seminole | United Kingdom |
10,389 | Damaged |
| 20 April 1943 | Michigan | United States |
5,594 | Sunk |
| 20 April 1943 | Sidi-Bel-Abbès |  Free France |
4,392 | Sunk |
See also
References
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 72-74.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-565". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-565". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 May 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.
- Sharpe, Peter (1998). U-Boat Fact File. Great Britain: Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-072-9.
External links
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 565". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 28 December 2014.
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-565". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 28 December 2014.