German submarine U-79 (1941)
| Career (Nazi Germany) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | U-79 |
| Ordered: | 25 January 1939 |
| Builder: | Bremer Vulkan-Vegesacker Werft, Bremen-Vegesack |
| Yard number: | 7 |
| Laid down: | 17 April 1940 |
| Launched: | 25 January 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 13 March 1941 |
| Fate: | Sunk on 23 December 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 MAN 6-cylinder 4-stroke M 6 V 40/46 diesel engines, totalling 2,800–3,200 bhp (2,100–2,400 kW). Max rpm: 470-490 2 × BBC 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 | |
|---|---|
| Part of: |
Kriegsmarine: 1st U-boat Flotilla 23rd U-boat Flotilla |
| Commanders: |
Kptlt. Wolfgang Kaufmann (13 March–23 December 1941) |
| Operations: |
1st patrol: 5 June–5 July 1941 2nd patrol: 21 July–16 August 1941 3rd patrol: 14–18 September 1941 4th patrol: 28 September–23 October 1941 5th patrol: 29 November–8 December 1941 6th patrol: 21–23 December 1941 |
| Victories: |
Two ships sunk - 2,983 GRT; one ship damaged - 10,356 GRT; one warship a total loss |
German submarine U-79 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the Kriegsmarine built by the Bremer Vulkan-Vegesacker Werft, Bremen-Vegesack. Her keel was laid down on 17 April 1940, by Bremer Vulkan of Bremen-Vegesack, Germany as yard number 7. She was launched on 25 January 1941 and commissioned on 13 March, with Kapitänleutnant Wolfgang Kaufmann in command until the U-boat's loss.[3]
The boat was sunk on 23 December 1941 north of Sollum, by two British warships.
Operational history
U-79 conducted three patrols whilst serving with 1st U-boat Flotilla from 13 March 1941 to 30 September. She was then reassigned to the 23rd U-boat Flotilla from 1 October until she was sunk.
1st patrol
The boat's first patrol began with her departure from Kiel on 5 June 1941. Her route took her north 'up' the North Sea and through the gap separating Iceland and the Faroe Islands toward the Atlantic Ocean.
She sank the Havtor west of Iceland on the 11th and damaged the Tibia at 59°55′N 39°00′W / 59.917°N 39.000°W (southwest of the island), on the 27th.
U-79 then docked at the newly captured port of Lorient on the French Atlantic coast on 5 July.
2nd and 3rd patrols
The boat's second foray was further south than her first. She was with a group of seven other U-boats that attacked Convoy OG 69 and sank the British freighter Kellwyn about 350 nmi (650 km; 400 mi) northwest of Cape Finisterre in Spain on 27 July 1941.
She was unsuccessfully attacked with depth charges by convoy escorts near the Portuguese coast on 12 August.
U-79 's third sortie hardly left the Bay of Biscay and only lasted five days (14–18 September 1941).
4th and 5th patrols
Patrol number four necessitated the boat getting past the heavily defended British base at Gibraltar to reach the Mediterranean Sea which she had by 5 October 1941. She then negotiated the Straits of Messina [between Sicily and the Italian mainland] and moved toward the North African coast. There she encountered the British gunboat HMS Gnat and sank her 30 nmi (56 km; 35 mi) northeast of Bardia (Al Burdi) on 21 October. She reached Salamis in Greece on 23 October 1941. However HMS Gnat was salved and returned to serve as a gun platform.
U-79 returned to the North African coast for her fifth patrol at the end of November but her luck had deserted her. She returned to Salamis with nothing to show for her efforts on 8 December.
6th patrol and loss
Leaving Salamis for the last time on 21 December 1941, she was sunk a couple of days later (on the 23rd), by depth charges dropped by the British destroyers HMS Hasty and Hotspur in position 32°15′N 25°19′E / 32.250°N 25.317°ECoordinates: 32°15′N 25°19′E / 32.250°N 25.317°E. All U-79 's crewmembers (44 men) survived the attack.[1]
Wolfpacks
U-79 took part in one wolfpack, namely.
- Goeben (28 September - 5 October 1941)
Summary of raiding career
| Date | Ship | Nationality | Tonnage | Fate[4] |
| 11 June 1941 | Havtor |  Norway |
1,524 | Sunk |
| 27 June 1941 | Tibia |  Netherlands |
10,356 | Damaged |
| 27 July 1941 | Kellwyn |  United Kingdom |
1,459 | Sunk |
| 21 October 1941 | HMS Gnat |  Royal Navy |
625 | Sunk. Later salved and served as a stationary gun platform |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kemp 1999, p. 77.
- ↑ Gröner 1985, pp. 72-74.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-79". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-79". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 29 December 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.
- Bishop, Chris (2006). Kriegsmarine U-Boats, 1939-45. London: Amber Books. ISBN 978-1-904687-96-2.
External links
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 79". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-79". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 26 December 2014.