German submarine U-60 (1939)

Career (Nazi Germany)
Name: U-60
Ordered: 21 July 1937
Builder: Deutsche Werke, Kiel
Yard number: 259
Laid down: 1 October 1938
Launched: 1 June 1939
Commissioned: 22 July 1939
Fate: Scuttled at Wilhelmshaven, 2 May 1945
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:IIC
Type:Coastal submarine
Displacement:291 t (286 long tons) surfaced
341 t (336 long tons) submerged
Length:43.90 m (144 ft 0 in)
Beam:4.08 m (13 ft 5 in)
Draft:3.82 m (12 ft 6 in)
Propulsion:2 × propeller shafts
2 × MWM four-stroke diesel engines, 700 shp (520 kW)
2 × Siemens-Schuckert electric motor, 410 shp (310 kW)
Speed:12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) surfaced
7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) submerged
Range:1,900 nautical miles (3,500 km; 2,200 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) surfaced
35–42 nmi (65–78 km; 40–48 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth:80 m (260 ft)
Complement:3 officers, 22 men
Armament:
Service record
Part of: Kriegsmarine:
* 5th U-boat Flotilla (Training )
*1st U-boat Flotilla (Operational boat)
* 21st U-boat Flotilla (School Boat)[2]
Commanders:
  • Kptlt. Georg Schewe
  • Oblt.z.S. Adalbert Schnee
  • Georg Wallas
  • Kurt Pressel
  • Oblt.z.S. Hans-Dieter Mohs
  • Lt.z.S. Otto Hübschen (acting)
  • Oblt.z.S. Ludo Kreglin
  • Oblt.z.S. Herbert Giesewetter[2]
Operations: Nine
1st patrol:
421 November 1939
2nd patrol:
1219 December 1939
3rd patrol:
921 January 1940
4th patrol:
1429 February 1940
5th patrol:
427 April 1940
6th patrol:
18 May11 June 1940
7th patrol:
30 July18 August 1940
8th patrol:
21 August6 September 1940
9th patrol:
16 September2 October 1940
Victories: Three ships sunk, for a total of 7,561 tons
one ship damaged, of 15,434 tons[3]

German submarine U-60 was a Type IIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that served in the Second World War. She was built by Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel. Ordered on 21 July 1937, she was laid down on 1 October that year as yard number 259. She was launched on 1 June 1939 and commissioned on 22 July under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Georg Schewe.

U-60 was initially sent to the 5th U-boat Flotilla for training, until 1 October 1939, when she was reassigned to the 1st flotilla for a front-line combat role. U-60 carried out nine war patrols, sinking three ships for a total of 7,561 gross register tons (GRT) and damaging one other of 15,434 GRT. She then became a 'school' or training boat with the 21st flotilla for the rest of her career.[4]

She was scuttled in May 1945 at Wilhelmshaven.

Service History

1st, 2nd and 3rd patrols

U-60 '​s first patrol meant that she left and returned to Kiel in November 1939, it involved the boat keeping close to the Norwegian coast.

She moved from Kiel to Wilhelmshaven on 4 December 1939.

The boat began her second patrol on 12 December 1939 and laid mines off Great Yarmouth on the 15th. One of them was struck by the City of Kobe on the 19th. The ship sank, one crew member was lost.

The submarine's third sortie involved patrolling the southern North Sea. It was uneventful.

4th, 5th and 6th patrols

U-60 '​s next three outings took her as far north as the eastern Scottish coast, as far east as the Norwegian coast and as far south as Belgium in the North Sea, all to no avail.

7th, 8th and 9th patrols

Nor did her run of bad luck end there. On 1 August 1940 she was attacked by the Dutch submarine O-21. That same day Junkers Ju 88s of KG 30 also attacked the boat. No damage from either assault was sustained. Things changed when she sank the Nils Gorthan 25 nautical miles (46 km; 29 mi) north northeast of Malin Head (the northernmost tip of the island of Ireland), on the 13th. After the patrol, she docked at Lorient in occupied France, on 18 August.

The boat's eighth patrol included an attack on the Volendam about 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) west of the Bloody Foreland (northwest Ireland) on 31 August 1940. The ship survived a hit from a torpedo, but while she was being docked prior to repairs being carried out, a second, unexploded torpedo was discovered lodged in the vessel's hull. U-60 was more successful with the Ulva, sinking her on 3 September 180 nautical miles (330 km; 210 mi) north northwest of Inishtrahull (the most northerly island of Ireland).

U-60 departed her French Atlantic base (Lorient) on 16 September 1940, heading for Bergen in Norway. Her route took her west of Ireland and through the gap between the Faroe and the Shetland Islands. The boat arrived in the Nordic port on 2 October.

She then moved from Bergen back to Kiel over October.

Summary of raiding History

Date Ship Nationality Tonnage Fate
19 December 1939City of Kobe United Kingdom4,373Sunk (Mine)
13 August 1940Nils Gorthon Sweden1,787Sunk
31 August 1940Volendam Netherlands15,434Damaged
3 September 1940Ulva United Kingdom1,401Sunk

References

  1. Gröner 1985, p. 67.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IIC boat U-60". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  3. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-60". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 16 November 2012.

Bibliography

External links