German submarine U-70 (1940)
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-70 |
| Ordered: | 30 May 1938 |
| Builder: | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
| Cost: | 4,439,000 Reichsmark |
| Yard number: | 605 |
| Laid down: | 19 December 1939 |
| Launched: | 12 October 1940 |
| Commissioned: | 23 November 1940 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 7 March 1941 by British warships[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 × AEG 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 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 80 nautical miles (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[3][4] | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
7th U-boat Flotilla (23 November 1940–7 March 1941) |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Joachim Matz (23 November 1940–7 March 1941) |
| Operations: | 20 February–7 March 1941 |
| Victories: |
One commercial ship sunk (820 GRT) three commercial ships damaged (20,484 GRT) |
German submarine U-70 was a Type VIIC submarine of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
The U-boat was laid down on 19 December 1939 at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft shipyard at Kiel as yard number 604, launched on 12 October 1940, and commissioned on 23 November under the command of Kapitänleutnant Joachim Matz to serve with the 7th U-boat Flotilla from 23 November 1940 until she was sunk on 7 March 1941.
Service history
U-70 's first and only patrol began on 20 February 1941. On 26 February she sank the 820 ton Swedish merchant ship Göteborg, south of Iceland.[5]
U-70 joined U-47, U-99, and U-A[6] in a wolfpack that attacked Convoy OB 293 south-east of Iceland on 7 March 1941. In her first attack at 04:45 U-70 damaged the 6,568 ton British tanker Athelbeach (later sunk by U-99),[7] and the 6,423 ton British merchant vessel Delilian.[8]
At 07:25 U-70 struck again and hit the 7,493 ton Dutch tanker Mijdrecht. However the Master spotted the periscope of U-70, rammed the submerged U-boat at 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph), damaging the conning tower and reported its position to the convoy escorts.[9]
Fate
At 08.15 hours, the British corvette HMS Camellia sighted U-70, which promptly dived. Until 10:30 Camellia and her sister ship HMS Arbutus attacked five times with depth charges, then Arbutus made another four attacks. In total the two corvettes dropped 48 depth charges. Finally, at 12:44, U-70 was forced to the surface and was abandoned by her crew at 60°15′N 14°00′W / 60.250°N 14.000°WCoordinates: 60°15′N 14°00′W / 60.250°N 14.000°W. Twenty-five survivors of her crew of forty-five,[3] were picked up and taken prisoner.[9][1]
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Ship | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate[10] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 February 1941 | Goteborg |  Sweden | 820 | Sunk |
| 7 March 1941 | Athelbeach |  United Kingdom | 6,568 | Damaged |
| 7 March 1941 | Delilian | United Kingdom | 6,423 | Damaged |
| 7 March 1941 | Mijdrecht |  Netherlands | 7,493 | Damaged |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kemp, p. 68.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 72-74.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-70". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Patrol of U-boat U-70 from 20 February 1941 to 7 March 1941". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Göteborg (Steam merchant)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Convoy OB-293". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Athelbeach (Motor tanker)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Delilian (Steam merchant)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Helgason, Guðmundur. "Mijdrecht (Motor tanker)". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-70". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net.
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.
- Bishop, Chris (2006). Kriegsmarine U-Boats, 1939-45. Amber Books.
- Kemp, Paul (1997). U-Boats Destroyed, German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. Arms and Armour. ISBN 1-85409-515-3.
External links
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 70". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-70". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
- U-70 at ubootwaffe.net