German submarine U-194

History
Nazi Germany
Name	U-194
Ordered	4 November 1940
Builder	AG Weser, Bremen
Yard number	1040
Laid down	17 January 1942
Launched	22 September 1942
Commissioned	8 January 1943
Fate	Sunk, 24 June 1943
General characteristics
Class and type	Type IXC/40 submarine
Displacement	1,120 t (1,100 long tons) surfaced; 1,232 t (1,213 long tons) submerged;
Length	76.76 m (251.8 ft) o/a; 58.75 m (192 ft 9 in) pressure hull;
Beam	6.90 m (22 ft 8 in) o/a; 4.40 m (14 ft 5 in) pressure hull;
Height	9.60 m (31 ft 6 in)
Draught	4.70 m (15 ft 5 in)
Installed power	4,400 PS (3,200 kW; 4,300 bhp) (diesels); 1,000 PS (740 kW; 990 shp) (electric);
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 × diesel engines; 2 × electric motors;
Speed	18.3 knots (33.9 km/h; 21.1 mph) surfaced; 7.3 knots (13.5 km/h; 8.4 mph) submerged;
Range	13,850 nmi (25,650 km; 15,940 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced; 117 nmi (217 km; 135 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged;
Test depth	230 m (750 ft)
Complement	4 officers, 44 enlisted48 to 56
Armament	6 × torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern); 22 × 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedoes; 1 × 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK C/32 deck gun (180 rounds); 1 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 AA gun; 1 × twin 2 cm FlaK 30 AA guns;
Service record
Part of:	4th U-boat Flotilla; 8 January – 31 May 1943; 10th U-boat Flotilla; 1 – 24 June 1943;
Identification codes:	M 36 350
Commanders:	Kptlt. Hermann Hesse; 8 January – 24 June 1943;
Operations:	1 patrol:; 12 – 24 June 1943;
Victories:	None

German submarine U-194 was a

Type IXC/40 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine built during World War II for service in the Atlantic Ocean. Notable for having been fitted with the new Balkon

sonar, she was a short-lived vessel, being sunk on her first and only operational war patrol.

Design

supercharged four-stroke, nine-cylinder diesel engines producing a total of 4,400 metric horsepower (3,240 kW; 4,340 shp) for use while surfaced, two Siemens-Schuckert 2 GU 345/34 double-acting electric motors producing a total of 1,000 shaft horsepower (1,010 PS; 750 kW) for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two 1.92 m (6 ft) propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to 230 metres (750 ft).^[1]

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).

2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of forty-eight.^[1]

Service history

U-194 was laid down in Bremen on 17 January 1942 and launched on 22 September. Kapitänleutnant Hermann Hesse took command upon commissioning on 8 January 1943.

Balkon group listening apparatus

The passive sonar, known as Gruppenhorchgerät (group listening apparatus) or GHG, fitted to early U-boats could not be used at periscope depth. To solve this, a new listening device, known as Balkon (balcony) fitted to a second, lower hull, was successfully tested on U-194 in January 1943.^[2]

Loss

Twelve days into her first and only patrol, U-194 was attacked and sunk by a homing torpedo from an American Consolidated PBY Catalina aircraft of VP-84 in position 59°00′N 26°18′W / 59.000°N 26.300°W / 59.000; -26.300. All 54 men aboard were lost. An initial post-war assessment gave credit for sinking U-194 to a British Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft of No. 120 Squadron RAF squadron, however this attack actually resulted in the sinking of U-200.

References

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
.

Morgan, Daniel; Taylor, Bruce (2012). "HMS Gurka". UBoat Attack Logs: A Complete Record of Warship Sinkings from Original Sources, 1939-1945. United States: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 978-1848321182
.

External links

Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type IXC/40 boat U-194". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
Hofmann, Markus. "U 194". Deutsche U-Boote 1935-1945 - u-boot-archiv.de (in German). Retrieved 30 January 2015.

[FOOTNOTEGröner199168-1] Gröner 1991, p. 68.

[2] A O Bauer (2005) Some hardly known aspects of the GHG, the U-boat's group listening apparatus

[1]

[2]