German submarine U-165 (1941)
U-505, a typical Type IXC boat
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History | |
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Nazi Germany | |
Name | U-165 |
Ordered | 25 September 1939 |
Builder | DeSchiMAG, Bremen |
Yard number | 704 |
Laid down | 30 August 1940 |
Launched | 15 August 1941 |
Commissioned | 3 February 1942 |
Fate | Sunk on 27 September 1942 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Type IXC submarine |
Displacement | |
Length |
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Beam |
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Height | 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in) |
Draught | 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range |
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Test depth | 230 m (750 ft) |
Complement | 4 officers, 44 enlisted |
Armament |
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Service record | |
Part of: |
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Identification codes: | M 47 655 |
Commanders: |
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Operations: |
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Victories: |
German submarine U-165 was a
The U-boat's service began with training as part of the 4th U-boat Flotilla. She then moved to the 10th flotilla on 1 September 1942 for operations. She sank two ships, totalling 8,396 gross register tons (GRT), one auxiliary warship of 358 GRT and damaged three others, for 14,499 GRT. She also damaged one auxiliary warship (7,252 GRT).
An RAF aircraft with a Czechoslovak crew sank her on 27 September 1942.
Design
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18.3 knots (33.9 km/h; 21.1 mph) and a maximum submerged speed of 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph).
Service history
Patrol
The submarine's only patrol took her from Kiel on 7 August 1942, across the North Sea and into the northern Atlantic Ocean via through the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands to the Gulf of the St. Lawrence.
Her first victims were
On 6 September U-165 found convoy QS-33 and during several attacks sank the freighter Aeas and the escort HMCS Raccoon.
On 15 September U-517 attacks convoy SQ-36, and signals U-165 which can attack the next day. U-165 can sink one ship out of the convoy and damage two more ships.
Loss
U-165 had almost reached the French Atlantic ports when on 27 September 1942 an
The pilot, Plt Off Václav Študent, attacked at an altitude of 70 feet (21 m). His navigator and bomb aimer, Flt Lt Václav Kadaně, aimed six depth charges at U-165. Their explosions lifted the U-boat out of the water, but she managed to submerge to escape further attack.[4]
Shrapnel wounded three of the Wellington's crew, including the co-pilot, and a fourth crew member lost a finger. The machine gun fire also damaged the aircraft's hydraulic equipment. Študent broke off the attack, and at 19:58 hrs crash-landed the Wellington at St Eval, Cornwall. Two of the wounded Czechoslovak crew were hospitalised. However, the attack succeeded in sinking U-165.[4]
In older sources, the U-165 is listed as being lost to unknown causes, or to have run on a mine.[3][2]
Summary of raiding history
Date | Name | Nationality | Tonnage[Note 1] | Fate[5] |
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28 August 1942 | USS Laramie | United States Navy | 7,252 | Damaged |
28 August 1942 | Arlyn | United States | 3,304 | Damaged |
6 September 1942 | Aeas | Greece | 4,729 | Sunk |
7 September 1942 | HMCS Raccoon | Royal Canadian Navy | 358 | Sunk |
16 September 1942 | Essex Lance | United Kingdom | 6,625 | Damaged |
16 September 1942 | Joanis | Greece | 3,667 | Sunk |
16 September 1942 | Pan York | United States | 4,570 | Damaged |
References
Notes
- gross register tons. Military vessels are listed by tons displacement.
Citations
- ^ a b c d Gröner 1991, p. 68.
- ^ a b Blair, p. 685-687
- ^ a b Rohwer, p.158
- ^ a b c "Last Flight of Wellington T2564". Free Czechoslovak Air Force. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-165". German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
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. ISBN 1-55750-186-6.
- 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. ISBN 3-8132-0514-2.
- Gröner, Erich; Jung, Dieter; Maass, Martin (1991). U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels. German Warships 1815–1945. Vol. 2. Translated by Thomas, Keith; Magowan, Rachel. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-593-4.
- Rohwer, J.; Hummelchen, G. (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-105-X.
- Blair, Clay (2000). Hitler's U-Boat War [Volume 2]: The Hunted 1942–1945. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35261-6.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC boat U-165". German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- Hofmann, Markus. "U 165". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 – u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2014.