German submarine U-62 (1939)
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-62 |
| Ordered: | 21 July 1937 |
| Builder: | Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel |
| Yard number: | 261 |
| Laid down: | 2 January 1938 |
| Launched: | 16 November 1939 |
| Commissioned: | 21 December 1939 |
| Fate: |
Scuttled at Wilhelmshaven, 2 May 1945 Wreck later scrapped |
| 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: |
5 patrols 1st patrol: 13 February–6 March 1940 2nd patrol: 4–25 April 1940 3rd patrol: 18 May–3 June 1940 4th patrol: 13 June–5 July 1940 5th patrol: 10 July–2 August 1940 |
| Victories: |
One ship sunk, of 4,851 GRT one warship sunk, of 1,350 tons[12] |
German submarine U-62 was a Type IIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that served in World War II. She was built by Deutsche Werke AG, Kiel, and commissioned on 21 December 1939.
U-62 was initially assigned to the 5th U-boat Flotilla during her training period, until 1 January 1940, when she was reassigned to the 1st flotilla for a front-line combat role.
U-62 carried out five war patrols, sinking one warship in May 1940 and one merchant ship in July.
The U-boat was scuttled in Wilhelmshaven in May 1945.
Operational career
1st and 2nd patrols
U-62 's first patrol began with her departure from the German island of Helgoland (also known as 'Heligoland'), on 13 February 1940. She crossed the North Sea to the Orkney and Shetland Islands. The return journey terminated in Wilhelmshaven on 6 March.
Her second sortie was also through the North Sea but stayed closer to Norway, beginning in Wilhelmshaven and ending in Kiel.
3rd patrol
The boat was attacked by an unidentified submarine on 24 May 1940, but U-62 evaded the torpedoes. She went on to sink the destroyer HMS Grafton off the Kwinte Buoy northwest of Ostend in Belgium on 29 May. The British warship had been employed on Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). As a result, many of the dead included soldiers.
4th and 5th patrols
Her fourth foray was through the gap between the Faroe and Shetland Islands as far as Northern Ireland, but finished in Bergen in Norway on 7 July 1940.
U-62 's final patrol was marked by the sinking of the Pearlmoor 62 nautical miles (115 km; 71 mi) on 19 July 1940 west of Malin Head, (the most northerly point on the Irish mainland).[13] Disaster almost struck on the return leg to Bergen when she was attacked by the British submarine HMS Dolphin on the 29th. She avoided the attack and entered Bergen with just 27 minutes of battery life remaining.
Training and Fate
U-62 was assigned to the 21st U-boat Flotilla as a training boat on 1 October, and was briefly commanded by Waldemar Mehl between 5 and 19 November 1941.
She was scuttled in Wilhelmshaven on 2 May 1945, shortly before the German surrender.[2]>[14]
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Ship | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 May 1940 | HMS Grafton |  Royal Navy |
1,350 | Sunk |
| 19 July 1940 | Pearlmoor |  United Kingdom |
4,581 | Sunk |
References
- ↑ Gröner 1985, p. 67.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IIC boat U-62". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Hans-Bernhard Michaelowski". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ludwig Forster". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Max Wintermeyer". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Waldemar Mehl (Knight’s Cross)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Horst Schünemann". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Dietrich Epp". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Adolf Schönberg". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Horst Slevogt". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Hans-Eckart Augustin". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-62". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
- ↑ The Times Atlas of the World - Third edition, revised 1995, ISBN 0 7230 0809 4, p. 9
- ↑ Hitler's U-boat War, by Clay Blair. Random House, 1996 ISBN 0-394-58839-8
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-62". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 62". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 1 February 2015.
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