In four patrols, U-132 sank ten ships for a total of 37,280
Convoy SC-107
in November 1942.
Design
supercharged diesel engines producing a total of 2,800 to 3,200 metric horsepower (2,060 to 2,350 kW; 2,760 to 3,160 shp) for use while surfaced, two Brown, Boveri & Cie GG UB 720/8 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 750 metric horsepower (550 kW; 740 shp) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.23 m (4 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).[2]
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 17.7 knots (32.8 km/h; 20.4 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.6 knots (14.1 km/h; 8.7 mph).
2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between forty-four and sixty.[2]
Service history
First patrol
U-132 departed on her first patrol when she left
North Cape, she criss-crossed that part of the Barents Sea northwest of Murmansk
before heading further east. She sank two Soviet ships, Argun and SKR-11 Ural on 18 October.
The boat docked in Kirkenes, also in Norway, on 21 October.
Second patrol
Having moved from Kirkenes back to Trondheim in late October 1941, U-132 commenced her second foray on 15 January 1942. Her route took her due west through the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands to a point 10 nmi (19 km; 12 mi) west of Reykjavík. Here she sank USCGC Alexander Hamilton on the 29th.
She then moved to the port of La Pallice in occupied France, arriving on 8 February.
Third patrol
The boat's most successful patrol began when she left La Pallice on 10 June 1942. Having crossed the Atlantic Ocean, she attacked shipping in the Gulf of St Lawrence.
On 6 July the U-132 sank 3 ships in short order, Anastasios Pateras, Hainaut and Dinaric, all southeast of
damaged the U-boat's ballast pumps and resulted in the loss of 4 m³ of fuel.
Fourteen days later on 20 July, the submarine attacked Frederika Lensen in convoy QS-19
Grand Valée Bay
and beached, but with her back broken, she was declared a total loss.
On 29 July the U-132 sights convoy ON-113 and the next day sinks one ship from it.[4]
The boat returned to La Pallice on 16 August.
Fourth patrol and loss
U-132 left La Pallice for the last time on 6 October 1942. Operating southeast of Cape Farewell (Greenland), she was triumphant after sinking Hobbema and Empire Lynx, but was sunk, probably by falling debris from the ammunition ship Hatimura when that vessel exploded, following an attack by U-132 and U-442 on 4 November. All 47 crew members died.[5]
Had originally been recorded as sunk the next day, 5 November 1942, by British aircraft of No. 120 Squadron RAF. The 120 Squadron attack, in the same area southeast of Cape Farewell where U-132 inadvertently sunk herself, had actually been on U-89 operating nearby, causing severe damage but not sinking her.
^Helgason, Guðmundur. "Hatimura". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
^Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-132". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
Bibliography
Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). German U-boat commanders of World War II : a biographical dictionary. Translated by Brooks, Geoffrey. London, Annapolis, Md: Greenhill Books, Naval Institute Press.
Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (1999). Deutsche U-Boot-Verluste von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 [German U-boat losses from September 1939 to May 1945]. Der U-Boot-Krieg (in German). Vol. IV. Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn: Mittler.
Nazi Germany
