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: |
|
| Operations: |
Nine 1st patrol: 4–21 November 1939 2nd patrol: 12–19 December 1939 3rd patrol: 9–21 January 1940 4th patrol: 14–29 February 1940 5th patrol: 4–27 April 1940 6th patrol: 18 May–11 June 1940 7th patrol: 30 July–18 August 1940 8th patrol: 21 August–6 September 1940 9th patrol: 16 September–2 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 1939 | City of Kobe |  United Kingdom | 4,373 | Sunk (Mine) |
| 13 August 1940 | Nils Gorthon |  Sweden | 1,787 | Sunk |
| 31 August 1940 | Volendam |  Netherlands | 15,434 | Damaged |
| 3 September 1940 | Ulva | United Kingdom | 1,401 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Gröner 1985, p. 67.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IIC boat U-60". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-60". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
- ↑
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 IIC boat U-60". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 60". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 1 February 2015.
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