German submarine U-581
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-581 |
| Ordered: | 8 January 1940 |
| Builder: | Blohm & Voss, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 557 |
| Laid down: | 25 September 1940 |
| Launched: | 12 June 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 31 July 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk by a British warship near the Azores, February 1942[1] |
| General characteristics [2] | |
| 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 and ratings |
| Armament: |
|
| Service record[3] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
5th U-boat Flotilla (31 July–30 November 1941) 7th U-boat Flotilla (1 December–2 February 1942) |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Werner Pfeifer (31 July 1941–2 February 1942) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 13–24 December 1941 2nd patrol: 11 January–2 February 1942 |
| Victories: | One auxiliary warship sunk, 364 tons |
German submarine U-581 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
She carried out two patrols and sank one auxiliary warship of 364 tons.
She was sunk by a British warship near the Azores, in February 1942.
Service history
The submarine was laid down on 25 September 1940 at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg as yard number 557, launched on 12 June 1941 and commissioned on 31 July under the command of Kapitänleutnant Werner Pfeifer.
She served with the 5th U-boat Flotilla from 31 July 1941 for training and moved to the 7th flotilla for operations until her loss, from 1 December 1941 to 2 February 1942.
Operational career
1st patrol
The boat departed Kiel on 13 December 1941, moved through the North Sea, negotiated the gap between the Faroe and Shetland Islands and entered the Atlantic Ocean. She docked at St. Nazaire on the French Atlantic coast on the 24th.
2nd patrol and loss
For her second foray, U-581 left St. Nazaire on 11 January 1942. On the 19th, she likely sank the British armed trawler HMS Rosemonde North East of the Azores. There is an element of doubt because the small warship was not reported missing until this date.
The boat was sunk by depth charges from the British destroyer HMS Westcott near the Azores, in February 1942.
Four men died; there were 41 survivors.
One of U-581 's officers,[4] swam six kilometres to land. He was repatriated to Germany through neutral Spain. Sitek survived the war.
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 January 1942 | HMS Rosemonde |  Royal Navy |
364 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Kemp 1999, pp. 78-79.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 72-74.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-581". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Walter Sitek". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-581". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 4 February 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 VIIC boat U-581". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 581". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 29 December 2014.
- U-581 at Ubootwaffe