German submarine U-426
History | |
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Nazi Germany | |
Name | U-426 |
Ordered | 5 June 1941 |
Builder | Danzig |
Yard number | 127 |
Laid down | 20 June 1942 |
Launched | 6 February 1943 |
Commissioned | 12 May 1943 |
Fate | Sunk by an Australian aircraft on 8 January 1944[1] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Type VIIC submarine |
Displacement | |
Length |
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Beam |
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Height | 9.60 m (31 ft 6 in) |
Draught | 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range | |
Test depth |
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Complement | 4 officers, 40–56 enlisted |
Armament |
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Service record[2] | |
Part of: |
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Identification codes: | M 46 323 |
Commanders: |
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Operations: |
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Victories: |
1 merchant ship sunk (6,625 GRT) |
German submarine U-426 was a
.She carried out two patrols. She was a member of seven wolfpacks. She sank one ship.
She was sunk by an Australian aircraft on 8 January 1944[1][2]
Design
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).
Service history
The submarine was
She served with the 8th U-boat Flotilla from 12 May 1943 and the 11th flotilla from 1 October of that year.
Patrols and loss
The boat's first patrol was preceded by a trip from Kiel in Germany to Bergen in Norway. U-426 then left Bergen on 5 October 1943 and headed for the Atlantic Ocean via the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. She sank the British ship Essex Lance on 15 October 408 nautical miles (756 km; 470 mi) east of Cape Farewell (Greenland). The submarine arrived in Brest in occupied France on 29 November.
Her second sortie began on 3 January 1944. On the eighth, she was attacked and sunk by depth charges dropped by an Australian Sunderland flying boat of No. 10 Squadron RAAF.
Fifty-one men went down with the U-boat; there were no survivors.
Wolfpacks
U-426 took part in seven wolfpacks, namely:
- Schlieffen (16 – 22 October 1943)
- Siegfried (22 – 27 October 1943)
- Siegfried 2 (27 – 30 October 1943)
- Jahn (30 October – 2 November 1943)
- Tirpitz 4 (2 – 8 November 1943)
- Eisenhart 9 (9 – 10 November 1943)
- Schill 1 (16 – 21 November 1943)
Summary of raiding history
Date | Ship Name | Nationality | Tonnage (GRT) |
Fate[4] |
---|---|---|---|---|
15 October 1943 | Essex Lance | United Kingdom | 6,625 | Sunk |
References
- ^ a b Kemp 1999, p. 163.
- ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-426". German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
- ^ a b c d Gröner 1991, pp. 43–46.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-426". German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
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.
- Kemp, Paul (1999). U-Boats Destroyed – German Submarine Losses in the World Wars. London: Arms & Armour. ISBN 1-85409-515-3.
External links
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC boat U-426". German U-boats of WWII – uboat.net. Retrieved 26 December 2014.